The available statistical information on the Irish abortion regime is summarised in this article. The abortion regime put in place in 2018 was certainly not designed with information-gathering in mind, but we do now have two official reports from the Department of Health (2019 and 2020), and some additional information for 2019, the latter thanks […]
You cannot blame those in Fianna Fáil – led by serial rebel Marc MacSharry – who have, at the twenty-ninth hour, decided that the time has come for a change in leadership. There is nothing else, after all, left to try. The party’s performance in the Dublin Bay South bye-election was so abysmal, so humiliating, […]
Hungary, as every bien pensant knows, is beyond the Pale these days, mostly due to the decision by the Hungarian government not to facilitate the promotion of transgenderism in state schools. Of course, that is only the latest of the offences, as perceived by the establishment, to have been committed by Viktor Orban, Chief of […]
There were all sorts of rumours and speculation as the polls closed in the Dublin Bay South bye-election. The slightly higher turnout in Ringsend and Pearse Street as compared to the places where people dress up for dinner, apparently, had some pundits predicting that Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin was going to emulate Mark Ward […]
I have a lovely dog but she is a bit headstrong and erratic. For nearly a year, I couldn’t take her anywhere unless she was on a lead but gradually, over time, I would let her off the lead on walks along the footpath for an increasing among of time. Bit by bit she became […]
The saga of the ownership and governance of the National Maternity Hospital has generated much heat and contributed to a further dimming of the light – particularly in magnifying the distaste that exists for anything with a religious association. The direct victims of this – both through political posturing and media manipulation – have been […]
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that Ireland should step up its role in the European Union, and supported the EU receiving more money, as well as more powers in the area of health. The remarks were made in an address to Fianna Fáil party members this week. “I believe that the union must be able […]
Right, cards on the table, and feel free to boo at the screen if you are so minded: This writer is backing England on Sunday. Not quite to the extent of wearing an England shirt (in the part of Monaghan were I grew up, that would invite a bullet, and to the kneecap only if […]
Yesterday the Irish Government made a truly extraordinary announcement: under plans they propose to put into legislation, indoor hospitality will return in Ireland on July 26th. But only for those who have been fully vaccinated. If you are vaccinated, like me, then you will be able to sit indoors in a restaurant or a pub. […]
The great puzzle about the lockdowns has been how support for the restrictions has divided along class lines. In general, low income earners, especially manual workers, oppose the lockdowns strenuously, while high income earners – the laptop class – seem to support it strenuously. This class divide, the elite versus the workers, is reflected in the […]
There was a time when humanity’s heroes were almost invariably the champions of freedom. In politics, philosophy, story-telling, and beyond, our idols were those who fought the good fight so that people could live free and in peace. It was viscerally understood, by all of us, that freedom was a good thing and that no […]
Last night the Government succeeded in passing a last minute amendment to the Finance (Covid and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 that will allow institutional investors, otherwise “vulture funds”, to avoid paying stamp duty on housing units if they agree to lease them to local authorities. This represents a huge concession to the investors who have […]