Ireland's political and cultural magazine
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The impact of Brexit on the internationalist agenda and international development remains to be seen. The 28 member states of the EU constitute the world’s biggest donor group, providing over half of international aid. European institutions deliver aid under the EU’s neighbourhood policy to countries such as Turkey and Morocco (the largest recipients), as well […]
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JUNE 2016 The day before Brexit, Permanent TSB shares soared amid speculation that the 75%-state-owned bank may eventually merge with another lender. Shares surged by 10 per cent though they had fallen by more than half since the government sold shares last year. Michael Noonan said: “The share price has been under pressure for a […]
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A controversial proposal to de-zone lands for a data centre in county Wicklow has been defeated by local councillors. The successful motion to retain the zoning was proposed by Councillor Pat Vance. According to the council chief executive and the Department of the Environment the zoning of the lands at Newtownmountkennedy, was “piecemeal and random.” […]
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The foundations of the historic St Mary’s church on Dublin’s City Quay are in danger of being undermined by the construction of a giant office block on its neighbouring site, according to local residents. The site is being developed by Targeted Investment Opportunities (TIO), a consortium of Bennett Construction, Oaktree Capital and NAMA (a public […]
US firms may decide not to comply with Irish Law, which is below European standards; and new regime undermines Ireland’s reputation for protecting privacy.
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The colourful former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’s new book, ‘And the Weak Suffer What they Must?’, provides insightful reading for those who want to understand how the EU and the euro-currency have reached their present pass. Varoufakis shows in his book how the EU ‘project’ is now held together more by fear of the […]
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The spectre of strict border controls surfaced during the UK referendum on membership of the European Union (EU). Certainly, it was part of the ‘Project Fear’ tactic of the Remain campaign. It has also struck a chord with many in communities on the border. However, this ignores the historical fact that controls were at their […]
When Andrius Mockus became mayor of Bogotá with its communities destroyed by drugs, crime and corruption he coined the phrase ‘citizen culture’, and called his strategy ‘subart’. The city’s cultural strategy was to encourage people to trust themselves, to take their lives into their own hands and to feel responsible as makers of the city […]
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A recent Guardian article was naïve about China’s aspiration to reduce its climate-damaging meat production and consumption.
For nearly 20 years before his death in 1989, my father, who left school at 11 and drove a mailcar for a living, railed against the undemocratic evil of the European Thing. He brought me to understand that its operation depended on replacing intelligent politicians with stupid ones for the purpose of absolute control – the […]
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We need to address the future through a new lens, that of citizenship, if arts and culture are to play their necessary role in improving the quality of life for all. In looking forward we have, firstly, to understand that we are not just dealing with a recession and its aftershocks. There is a resetting […]
A new source tells Village that Smithwick Tribunal unduly relied on double agent Fulton’s evidence that Corrigan was the colluder. Confusingly, the PSNI named someone else as the colluder
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Ireland had, until this year, an appalling record on women’s participation in politics. Men always represented at least 84% of TDs. The proportion of women TDs had never increased above 16%. Voter choice was severely restricted, with no women candidates of any party fielded in several constituencies in both the 2007 and 2011 general elections. […]
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Rupert Murdoch’s proposed move to buy up the Wireless Group (formerly UTV’s non-television assets) as June drew to a close has livened up the stolid Irish radio market with the introduction of a sharp new player. The cash offer of 315p per share has added summer excitement to a radio market so settled in its […]
Last month, the UK referendum on membership of the European Union posited a seemingly simple question and delivered an obviously complex outcome. The vote on June 23 came in with a massive turnout of 71.8 percent, the highest for any UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election. In the end, England voted by a strong […]
The Limerick 2030 Economic and Spatial plan, published in 2013, proposes a new bridge for the city. However, the plans are wading through deep controversy about the design, location, funding, timing, public consultation process and even intent.
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You would have to wonder who put this one in the Programme for Government. There seems no intention actually to do it. That, sadly, is not a new phenomenon. This time is different though. They don’t even seem to know what it is. Nonetheless they said they “would develop the process of budget and policy […]
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The charging of another former NAMA official with the leaking of confidential information has added to the already significant pressure on the agency’s chairman and chief executive and on finance minister, Michael Noonan, to concede an independent inquiry into its activities. Paul Pugh (56), from Clontarf Road in Dublin, is charged with disclosing confidential information […]
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Season 4 of ‘House of Cards’ came out on Netflix earlier this year and was gobbled up in a matter of weeks by its fans. The opening sequence will be familiar to them, a series of shimmering images of Washington DC, first in morning light and ending with the channels of motor traffic pulsing through […]
We can oppose the murderous racist right without serving the murderous technocratic centre by being clear about the principles on which we stand.
