This Saturday will mark the hundredth anniversary of one of the most dramatic days in the Irish War of Independence. On Sunday November 21, 1920 the killing of 16 British intelligence and military personnel was followed by a retaliatory attack by British forces on a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary in Croke Park […]
Governments seldom fulfil promises made in pre election manifestos or even Programmes for Government. So the small and fractured Green Party can be happy that when it disappears again from public prominence, it will have left yet another toxic legacy as it did in 2011. For a party that only won 7% of the vote in the […]
As Ireland’s trading relationship with China continues to expand, so too does the interest of the Chinese Communist Party in using this as the basis for expanded political influence. Total bilateral trade between the two countries in 2019 was over $15 billion, with a balance of around $5 billion in Ireland’s favour. That in itself […]
As the Covid lockdowns continue in all parts of the island, there continues to be criticism of the heavy-handed approach adopted by both jurisdictions. The northern lockdown is due to end on Friday, but there is a strong possibility that it will be extended. First Minister Arlene Foster said earlier that she hoped that there […]
In June 2004, the Irish people voted in a referendum which inserted a new Article 9.2 into Bunreacht na hÉireann to limit the right to claim citizenship to children born here who had at least one parent who was an Irish citizen. An unforeseen consequence of the Good Friday Agreement had led to an amended […]
Much is being made here of Biden being a “friend indeed to Ireland.” Actually if you examine these paeans what you generally find is that the purveyor of this means that he will be a friend to their friends, and unlike Trump, knows some mediocre poet who is also their chum. Real cosmopolitans are our […]
One of the noticeable aspects of the Trump campaign, which Irish people would not have noticed inside the echo chamber of the lazy and biased reporting of RTÉ and other D4 emigres in Washington, was the prominence of non-white people among Republican candidates and supporters of the President. When it seemed that things were going […]
All of us will be familiar with what a PPS number is. It is a bit like a barcode that you don’t have stamped on your forehead. Any person born in the state will have one, as will anyone who comes here because it is a requirement in having any dealings with the state. You […]
As I write, the news media is reporting that at least 4 people have died and 17 more have been injured as a result of what has been declared to be a terror attack by Islamist terrorists in Vienna last night. This comes after the recent murders of a teacher in Paris and 3 people attending […]
One of the issues that have been exercising people during the Covid-19 panic has been what impact the lockdowns have had on access to essential healthcare for other life-threatening conditions. In particular there is increasing concern about the possible impact that lack of hospital referrals may be having on the long term prospects and mortality […]
A recent report conducted by the Social Policy Department at UCD for the Dublin Regional Housing Executive contains some interesting insights into the response to homelessness in the city. Among the groups who took part were Merchants Quay, Crosscare, Focus, and the Capuchin Day Centre. Seemingly, no homeless persons nor any of the smaller voluntary […]
The latest episode in ‘How the ‘Gah’ infected the country with the Plague’ came with the news that Waterford County Board is proposing to strip Dungarvan GAA club of its intermediate football title. Unlike other episodes, such as the one in which the Blackrock hurling club in Cork and it’s crazy supporters supposedly embarked on […]