Asylum conventions are outdated and in urgent need of a rethink
The results of a Red C poll published in the Business Post at the weekend probably spoiled breakfast for many ministers and their advisors. Apart completely from the poor showing in terms of political support for the Coalition parties, the poll dealt with issues relating to asylum seeking, refugee accommodation, and location of accommodation centres […]
The Northern Ireland elections saw no seismic shift
The impression created by the majority of the media is that the local elections in the North show dramatic change. But change from what? In the 2022 Assembly elections (where turnout was 62%), Sinn Féin got 30% of the seats with just over 29% of the first preference ) votes. In last week’s local elections […]
We fret about bilingual labels on beer cans, yet ignore gambling
In January 2022, I wrote here about what I claimed were ridiculous aspects of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 which require every case of wine, spirits or beer imported into Ireland to be broken open and a bilingual label in English and Irish pasted on to each and every bottle or can warning of the […]
The decline of the House of Windsor has implications for Ireland
I have made a habit of abstaining from routine public comment about the British royal family for a number of reasons. The first is that they are human beings and are obvious targets for facile criticism and ridicule. The second is that, as an Irish republican, I consider that they have little or no significance […]
Why stop with Berkeley? Cicero was a slave owner too
Trinity College is an independent university and is as free to name re-name or de-name any part of its campus as any other Irish university. Given that the Berkeley library was only built in the 1960s and was quite recently described by the college on its 50th anniversary as a “brutalist gem” in architectural terms, […]
Local authority housing powers are a work of fiction
At the very heart of the present Government’s problems lies a radical collapse in the capacity of our organs of state to translate plans and policies into action on the ground. I was reminded of this recently when Darragh O’Brien proudly informed the Seanad that house completions last year were at their highest since 1975. […]