Israel has accused Irish politicians of anti-Semitism before
It should come as no surprise that the Israeli foreign minister should accuse the Irish Taoiseach of antisemitism. After all, the spokesman for the same Minister’s department of foreign affairs levelled the exact same charge against the members of the Seanad who voted in the majority to pass the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) […]
Living in rural locations should be a feasible choice
If you look at large-scale maps of Ireland 100 years ago, you will see little black rectangles representing homes occupied by rural dwellers scattered across the landscape in varying degrees of concentration. The population was not as concentrated geographically or as urbanised then as it is today. Of course, that reflects a very different society, […]
Where was the ‘parity of esteem’ talk when Fine Gael was riding high in the polls?
A novel feature of the post-election political landscape is that the new government’s life will coincide very closely with the five-year cycle for the local and European Parliament elections. This probably means that there will be few opportunities for voters to express their views or for new names to prove themselves on the political stage before the next general election which […]
We are heading for an election result replete with uncertainty
In the last few weeks, I have written here about Friday’s election on three occasions. I make no apology for what I have written. The first piece was about the real reasons to be wary of Sinn Féin, the second about the dangers of a phoney competition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who the majority of people want to govern together in coalition, and the […]
Middle Ireland needs a new government. Independents might provide it
Is there an adult in the room? This is a question that is now being frequently asked among objective observers of the general election campaign which will end with voting in nine days’ time. Some fundamental realities seem to escape the minds of the participants. The first is that we will be governed by a coalition which […]
Courting of Labour is the worst type of cynicism
This general election campaign is in danger of descent into farce. That danger is real. The people of Ireland are not fools. They know that a general election is about deciding which people and which policies will govern us for the next five years and where the balance of power in the next Dáil will […]