If you were to ask a progressive parent in Ireland, or indeed most of the western world, about their attitude to teenage sexual activity, the chances are that at some stage you would hear somebody say words to the effect of “if they are going to do it, let’s make sure it’s as safe as […]
A story, from the Irish Times, to lift the spirits. After all, if we at Gript can’t cheer a Professor telling a bunch of layabout students that they are illiterate dunces who don’t belong in a University, well, dear reader, what are we even for? Dr Paul Stokes, a lecturer in the sociology department, delivered […]
Not many people, likely, remember the name of Richard Reid, or the way he changed a small part of our lives forever. On December 22nd, 2001, Reid, an American national who had, nonetheless, fallen into the fever-swamps of radical Islamism, boarded a plane in Paris, France, bound for Miami, Florida. About halfway through the flight, […]
That flat line in the graph below represents cases in the State of Texas over the past thirty days. Texas lifted its lockdown, mask mandate, and all covid restrictions…. Nearly sixty days ago. In Ireland, you’ll recall, the alleged symptoms of our “going wild at Christmas” (which is now an unchallengeable part of our national […]
Young Fine Gael is not an organisation that customarily evokes our sympathy, here at Gript. It is, after all, the youth wing of the largest party of Government – a Government that has, over the past year, led an almost relentless assault on people’s civil liberties and freedoms. Signing up to Young Fine Gael means, […]
Many Irish people will be familiar with the old English phrase to describe an atmosphere of complete chaos: “It’s Bedlam in here”. Fewer, perhaps, will be aware of where the phrase comes from. In the 1300s, London’s first hospital for the mentally unwell was opened – St. Mary’s Bethlehem hospital, better known as Bedlam. In […]
If you think you’re having a hard time of it in Lockdown, then spare a thought for the poor souls in Hollywood. Bear in mind, before you read this, that just seven years ago, the Oscars pulled in forty million live viewers, making it one of the biggest television events in the world. This Sunday, […]
Give Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe some credit: The last time he was in the news, it was because he was the politician with sufficient foresight to realise that Fine Gael’s proposal to honour the Dublin Metropolitan Police would be unpopular, and his intervention resulted in that pleasant pre-pandemic month we all spent debating the […]
The trouble with writing about Ireland at the moment is that it is increasingly difficult to convey to the reader the full scale of the insanity that is going on, while not ending up sounding like a hysteric yourself. But nonetheless, it is important, too, to record things that are true, and here’s a statement […]
If you were scouring the Sunday Newspapers yesterday for a word of criticism of the Government’s plan to give an amnesty, and path to citizenship, to thousands of illegal immigrants, you will have been disappointed. Pieces like that do not tend to make the Irish newspapers. Part of it, of course, is the fear that […]
At about two o’clock yesterday afternoon, RTE’s “liveline” programme erupted into one of those classic “liveline” debates that makes the country tick. The subject, of course, was the announcement by the Department of Education that from yesterday forth, all new toilets in Irish schools, as well as all renovations of existing toilets in Irish schools, […]
Photo Credit: Sinn Féin Flickr (CC attribution) Over the last week, Sinn Fein and its legion of online activists have gone to war with the Irish Independent’s Philip Ryan, who has diligently and thoroughly reported on the party’s “Abú” voter contact logging system. The story has divided people: If you’re a Sinn Fein supporter, then […]