For many, the recent scandal involving the appointment of former minister Katherine Zappone to the post of UN special envoy sums up all that is wrong with Irish politics. At this point, the choreography surrounding the appointment isn’t clear but some things are. Zappone, who was unceremoniously dumped by the Irish electorate in 2020 is […]
The real debate about Ireland’s dysfunctional housing market is not about the problem but rather about how to fix it. The prevailing view seems to be that the underlying problem exists because there isn’t enough interference in the housing market. Accordingly, the only way to fix Ireland’s dysfunctional housing market is through even more government […]
Tricky pub quiz question – who is Ireland’s Minister for Defence? The reason it’s a tricky question is that Ireland, uniquely amongst countries, doesn’t have a Minister for Defence or certainly one with sole responsibility for the defence of the country. Given that the defence portfolio is stitched on to Simon Coveney’s responsibilities as Minister […]
February 25th, 2021 marks an important milestone in Irish politics. It is ten years to the day when Fine Gael stormed to power winning a record 76 seats in the 2011 general election amid the carnage of the financial crash. After a decade of Fine Gael rule, what’s the verdict? The Fine Gael election manifesto […]
At this stage, the proverbial dogs in the street know that the Irish media is in crisis. With the setting up of the Future of Media Commission it seems that we are going to have a national conversation of sorts about just where the Irish media is going. The real question at this stage is […]
Now that Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, has picked the new Irish commissioner it seems that all is well once again in the aftermath of that embarrassing interlude widely known as golfgate. Von der Leyen got her woman and it seems that another step has been taken on the long road […]