What impetuous zeal explains EU’s article 16 debacle?
The demands of the news cycle are notorious. But we rely on senior figures in government, whether elected or unelected, not to succumb to their addiction for short-term approbation and to get things right. The euro-debacle over Article 16 of the Irish Protocol was a case in point. The EU Commission is not elected. It […]
Second impeachment will strengthen Trump
The House of Representatives put forward an article of impeachment against Donald Trump and 10 Republicans crossed the floor to impeach the president. A bare majority sufficed. The constitution of the United States provides that the Senate conducts a trial “on oath or affirmation” and a two-thirds majority is required to convict him. Achieving such […]
Church, State and society all owe redress over homes
A somewhat fractious debate has emerged on whether responsibility, legal or moral, for the awful neglect and ill-treatment of Ireland’s unmarried mothers and their children lies with the State, the churches, or with society at large. It is a combination of all three. A duty of acknowledgment of responsibility and of redress lies with all […]
Ireland appears to have a last-minute approach to mass vaccination
It is relatively straightforward to make a statutory instrument under the Health Act 1947 imposing, in varying degrees, local, regional or national lockdowns. By the stroke of a ministerial pen, an economic sector can be closed down, severely restricted, or permitted to trade as normal. The term “NPHET” means National Public Health Emergency Team. It […]
New housing process will allow ugly and dysfunctional development
The Government has fixed a target for the building of 25,000 homes for 2021. On top of an output of 18,000 for 2020, a year of pandemic crisis, this new target is good news – and it will be even better if it is reached or exceeded. Massive progress on homebuilding is a political imperative. […]
Is democracy in the US still sound and resilient?
For nearly five years now I have been writing about Donald Trump, as candidate and as President. From the very beginning of his bid for the presidency, I was filled with fear and foreboding. There was something about him that seemed to threaten the very foundations of democracy in America and wherever it exists across […]