The President is not bound to silence on all matters of public interest
The President, Michael D Higgins, raised some eyebrows by making comments recently on the issue of soldiers’ pay and in relation to the beef dispute. It wasn’t the first time he has done so. He had in the past made political comments, including comments on the values and ethics of neo-liberal economics in 2013 and […]
UK voter lightning storing up in the clouds
Extreme Unction – this is my new nick-name for Jacob Rees Mogg, who as a conservative catholic will appreciate being given the old name rather than the post Vatican II label “sacrament of the sick”. As he lay languidly on the government front bench listening to the debate on Brexit, Rees Mogg symbolised all of […]
Special status for Northern Ireland could be of great assistance in regenerating its economy
I have been making the point for some time in these columns that the DUP is living on borrowed time in terms of its hold on the Tory administration. Theresa May, while in office, knew full well that her capacity to govern depended on keeping a day to day parliamentary majority in the House of […]
Ireland is collateral damage in a very English struggle between the Tory right and everyone else
We are approaching the endgame in the battle between the right wing of the Tory party and Ireland. It is not a battle between the UK and Ireland. Nor is it a battle between Britain and Ireland. It isn’t even a battle between England and Ireland. Ireland and England are no longer enemies. The great […]
Drew Harris reforms of Garda could have an immediate impact
Although we are now effectively in the countdown to a general election and although the chances are that the legislation promised by the Government to implement the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing may not be enacted in the lifetime of this Dáil, the very good news is that no legislation at […]
The EU is politely but firmly calling Boris’s bluff
In the era of fake news and spin-masters, the coverage of the Boris visit to Merkel and Macron by the Tory media in Britain should come as no surprise. Victory salutes and breakthroughs were trumpeted. Boris was accorded a triumph by the right-wing newspapers who were ardent supporters of Brexit. But the truth is very […]