Who are the activists and the NGOs who have contributed to stirring up tensions in the past week, especially around the suggestion that bias might have motivated Garda actions leading to the death of George Nkencho? And why are so many of them funded by the hard-pressed Irish tax-payer? These people range from elected TDs […]
One of the unforeseen consequences of the closure of the midland peat-burning power stations is the threat to thousands of jobs in the horticulture sector because of the sudden shortage of horticultural peat. Last year, Bord na Mona suspended all peat harvesting on its bogs, and peat-burning power stations were closed down ahead of schedule, causing “significant shock” to […]
Residents of Blanchardstown and other parts of north county Dublin say they have endured 24 hours of violence and intimidation following the death of George Nkencho, an African man who was shot by Gardai after he attacked staff at a Eurospar armed with a knife. According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nkencho punched a manager in the store, […]
The facts about the shooting in Hartstown today (Wednesday 30th), as currently known, are straightforward, and distressing. George Nkencho, a man of African origin, in his late 20s, entered a Eurospar shop in Hartstown and threatened staff with a large knife. One staff member is currently in hospital after being seriously injured. The Gardai were […]
Prof Ray Kinsella has provided a succinct appraisal of what the Brexit deal means for Ireland – not so much in relation to economic matters, but as a reflection of where the Irish state and the island as a whole stand in relation to the EU as a political entity. He notes in particular how […]
As Niamh pointed out here several weeks ago, those cancelling the Christmas are in good company. Cromwell would not be the sort of chap you would normally name check when issuing decrees. Nor would the Bolsheviks, Nazis and the current Chinese regime who have also attempted to out rightly suppress the most important celebration in […]
There’s an old rather twee song entitled If you’re Irish come into the Parlour written in 1920 by Dublin pantomime performer Shaun Glenville and Frank Miller. “If your name is Timothy or Pat, as long as you’re from Ireland, There’s a welcome on the mat.” Well, that was the theory. Now, if you happen to […]
James Connolly is often cited by the current liberal left movement as an icon, even though most of them either never believed in, or have ceased to believe in, Connolly’s goal of an independent sovereign Republic based on the generally understood concept of justice. Connolly was not a statist who advocated the replacement of private […]
One of Ireland’s outstanding and prolific writers and intellectuals, Desmond Fennell turned 90 last year. Since the late 1950s, he has published over 30 books and pamphlets dealing with what he himself described as the condition of the human person in Ireland. That has been the basis of philosophy in the western tradition for several […]
The publication of an ESRI report on forecast population growths and consequent housing requirements was published on December 14. The report, Regional Demographics and Structural Housing Demand at County Level was compiled by TCD research professor Adele Bergin and Abian Garcia Rodriguez of the ESRI. As John McGuirk noted yesterday, all the forecasts contained are dependent on arbitrary […]
On Friday, Eirgrid announced that peak electricity demand had been surpassed twice in the previous seven days. It was ironic that this came on the day that the first of two midlands peat stations, Shannonbridge in County Offaly, were officially closed. The remaining peat station at Lough Ree will shut down next Friday. The reasons given by Eirgrid […]
With the Citizenship referendum of 2004 again in the news, as the political “elite” plan ways to overturn that democratic decision, the current statistics available are worth looking at in the context of where the asylum process currently stands. A request under the Freedom of Information Act elicited the following data from the International Protection […]