Ireland's political and cultural magazine
By Michael Smith. The Children and Family Relationships Bill is the most important piece of legislation affecting parents and children for a generation. There is much that is good in the bill but this article focuses on one surprising defect: the provisions on unmarried fathers and guardianship. While the extension of automatic guardianship under the […]
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By Berni Dwan. The National Assets Management Bureau (NAMA) has written off €300m in debts for 23 major property developers, we hear. It has been reported from several quarters that representatives for the Quinn family and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) are currently negotiating a settlement of their €4.5bn case against the former Anglo […]
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By Frank Connolly As Village was going to print a writ threatening defamation proceedings against Gabriel Dooley was lodged in the High Court by Simon McAleese Solicitors acting for former Wicklow county manager, Eddie Sheehy. During the same week the editor of the Wicklow Times, Shay Fitzmaurice received a letter from solicitors McGuire McNeice acting […]
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By Frank Connolly The controversy surrounding the acquisition of lands at Charlesland, near Greystones in Wicklow by property developers Sean Mulryan and Sean Dunne in 2004 continues to haunt the local authority even since the departure last month of county manager, Eddie Sheehy. Environment minister, Alan Kelly, is under pressure from junior finance minister and […]
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Just shut up Villager is interested in the notion of ‘guest’ as applied to the ‘Tonight with Vincent Browne’ show. The status seems to be precarious. Tom Cooney, a pro-Israeli former advisor to Alan Shatter, was told to leave after interrupting, Jerry Beades was ejected after being invited to ‘shut up’ (“just leave if you’re […]
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By Frank Connolly So Johnny Ronan is back on top of the heap. According to the Sindo, the “maverick” developer is about to storm the most lucrative real estate sites in Dublin and London, with the help of US and Asian funds. The man with the magic touch has paid back €400m to get out […]
By Anthony Coughlan. Like most Labour and Social Democrat parties Labour was originally established by the Trade Unions to advance the political interests of trade unionists and workers generally. When founded in 1912 it had the joint name of the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress. The British Liberal Government had promised Home Rule. […]