Politics
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Leaderless
Rural Ireland faces depopulation and outward migration. This is fed by limitations in access to transport, broadband and many services and supports which also undermine the quality of life for those who want to stay. However, rural Ireland maintains strong local communities. Its economic value and social role in agriculture and associated activities, mean that […]
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AbortiON/OFF referendum
The demand for change was evident before the general election. The hope was that the 32nd Dáil would finally deliver the necessary reform. But ultimately what the Programme for Government proposes is more waiting when it comes to repealing the 8th amendment and expanding access to abortion services. The commitment to a Citizens’ Assembly in […]
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The unfairest deal
In June 2016, a major report substantiated rumours of multiple serious flaws in elderly care services. The norm, it says, is disorganisation and inconsistency. Social workers state that as many as half of their clients processed for long-term institutional care would not have needed it if suitable home supports had been available. Although the number […]
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The first ever World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul last month, is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with our world and our politics today. It brought the global political theatre, which has replaced real action at the UN in recent years, to new lows. These lows are all the more reprehensible when the lives […]
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Male bastions. We do them well here. It is not just that they are extensive. It is that they are so resilient to challenge and evasive of scrutiny. There is an award for most things these days. Why not one for ‘Male Bastion of the Year’? Portmarnock Golf Club would be a repeat winner. It […]
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Note: This article has been updated since publication in May’s Village magazine. The Irish courts recently awarded €75,000 damages for a defamatory comment published on Facebook. Digital Rights Ireland described this judgment as a “wake-up call for a lot of people” that the law of the land also applies online. When did we reach this […]
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In fairness to Flood
In his lengthy critique of the planning tribunal and its first sole member, Justice Feargus Flood, in the April edition of Village, Anthony Harris manages to avoid any mention of why his former client and Dublin assistant city and county manager, the late George Redmond, was the subject of corruption findings by the inquiry. He […]