Referendum debate should not be based on misinformation
Now that the two referendums have been fixed for March 8th – International Women’s Day – it becomes all the more important that public debate on the proposed amendments to the Constitution should not be based on misinformation. There is not just one legal or interpretative meaning for these amendments. Given that they were guillotined through the […]
Is there now is any justification for amending the Constitution?
The Supreme Court decision in the O’Meara case was made in the context of articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution as they stand – before any of the proposed amendments to article 41. The court found that confining widowed people’s social welfare entitlement to those who had been married was unconstitutional insofar as it […]
The sad truth is we do not have urban planning anywhere in Ireland
I was reminded when reading Una Mullally’s piece on the proposal to demolish the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre at the top of Grafton Street and to replace it with a rather dull, monolithic building of the controversy which accompanied the present centre’s construction in the first place. It replaced a diverse set of buildings on St Stephen’s […]
Voting No is wisest option in upcoming blindman’s buff referendums
The Government plans to have two referendums on 8th March to amend our Constitution. One is to amend Article 41.2 of the Constitution to remove the acknowledgment that women’s role in the home is something essential for the common good and to remove an obligation on the State to “endeavour to ensure that mothers shall […]
Can Joe Biden devise a strategy to pull ahead of Trump?
This is election year in the United States. As things stand, the Democrats look set to nominate Joe Biden and the Republicans seem on course to select Donald Trump to contest the election in November. And in such a contest the odds currently favour Trump. Can Biden devise a strategy to pull ahead of Trump? If he thinks that […]
Before Metrolink becomes a money pit, let’s look at alternatives
It was reported recently that enabling works on the site of the new National Maternity Hospital on the campus of St Vincent’s hospital are to commence shortly. Some €46 million has been earmarked for these works which consist of removing staff from existing buildings and carrying out of groundworks for the new building. The public procurement process […]