The Dancing Queen Prime Minister may find that in Brussels it takes two to tango
The unstated plan of the hardline Brexiteers is to use the threat of a no-deal Brexit as leverage in a hoped for negotiation with the EU in which, they hope, the UK will end up with a tariff-free free trade deal with the EU, access to the Single Market and the unfettered right to conclude […]
The rise in anti-Semitism and other forms of racism must not be ignored and must be countered
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. In Ireland the official Holocaust commemoration takes place today in the Mansion House. It has taken place each year with the help of sponsorship of the Irish government initiated by me since 2003. As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in that government, I took the first opportunity to […]
Sinn Féin is an undemocratic movement masquerading as a conventional political party
I categorise myself as and aspire to be a liberal Irish republican. By that I mean that my politics are based on liberal democracy in a state which is governed by the free will of a majority and which accords protection to the rights and liberties of all of its citizens equally. The term “republican” […]
Trump’s America is increasingly a case of America coming last
The very fact that Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, has resigned and has joined a long line of discarded Trump appointees raises the obvious question as to the fitness of Trump to remain in office. The churning in his cabinet appointments demonstrates without more that he is and was unsuitable for office and […]
The Democrats need a new face on their posters in 2020
To those of you who, like me, have a very low regard for Donald Trump, 2019 promises to be a year in which his mettle will be tested severely and hopefully exposed for the horror that it is. It isn’t yet clear whether his trade war with China was one of the major contributory factors […]
A recent visit to Belfast exposed a gulf in political perception
Having visited Belfast this week in the company of fellow independent members of Seanad Eireann with a view to engaging with a wide spectrum of civic society and political actors, I noticed an increasing gulf in political perception between those active in civil society and those temporarily inactive in political society as members of the […]