Afghanistan was not and could never be the forward bastion of liberalism
In retrospect (which is of course always wiser), it might well have made more sense for the Nato forces which expelled the Taliban from Kabul in 2001 to have settled for a regime of regional and tribal warlords with a weak central government rather than aspire to the creation of a unitary liberal parliamentary democracy […]
There is a better way to levy local property tax
There has been the usual annual controversy about the decisions of elected members of local authorities in the greater Dublin area to “reduce” local property tax by 15% below the amount which home owners in their areas would otherwise be liable to pay. These decisions are frequently opposed by the unelected management who make a […]
Merrion Gates more important than Merriongate
David McWilliams has again raised the issue of relocating Dublin port. As someone who promoted that idea strongly in the past, I have a few tips for him. Dublin Port Company is radically opposed to the idea and will campaign very heavily for the port staying where it is (subject to its own agenda of […]
TV licence system is a grotesque failure
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has commissioned a report into the financial state and prospects of RTÉ. That report suggests that RTÉ is facing both acute financial problems and an existential crisis. The solution, predictably, is more public funding. I buy the idea that if we want good quality public service broadcasting it involves two […]
Archbishop in no position to talk about groupthink
It would be grossly unfair to dismiss out of hand the words of the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, spoken by way of homily on Reek Sunday at Westport at the weekend. He drew attention to what he views as media and political group think that tends to view and debate matters of religion […]
It’s probably just as well England lost Euro 2020
Joe Humphreys wrote here on Monday about the emotional reactions of most Irish people to England’s defeat at the hands of Italy at Wembley on Sunday. Correctly, he pointed out that the average Irish soccer fan had ambivalent emotions in relation to the England team’s successes. After all, Irish soccer fans are intensely involved – […]