From 2012 to 2017 the decision to relocate the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street to a site on the Elm Park campus of St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, owned by the Religious Sisters of Charity, created sustained levels of public controversy. Indeed, the proposal was attacked from every side of the political and cultural […]
Normally, we don’t cover the usual blather from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs here at Gript for the simple reason that it is all rather predictable: You will get condemnations of anything Israel does, bland statements about how great the European Union is, and complete and utter silence on anything unpleasant done in any […]
How seriously, you might ask, should we take this? https://twitter.com/RepKevinBoyle/status/1391746352888025090 The answer, alas, is not very seriously at all. Which is exactly, of course, what someone would say if they were a person in the media who had been compromised by UK intelligence. You will just have to take my word on it that nothing […]
The controversy over where Bobby Sands wished to be buried has focused attention on the content of the comms sent out from the H Blocks, and the manner in which they have been apparently selectively used, and perhaps edited for political purposes. The communications were usually in the form of tiny notes, sometimes written on toilet paper, […]
My colleague Gary Kavanagh made an observation last night which will stick with me for some time: The great trick of Irish policymakers, he said, has been to convince people that the consequences of their decisions are in fact the consequences of Covid, and that there was never any other way. No matter what happens, […]
We will put this in the category of “darkly amusing”: https://twitter.com/CloHiggins/status/1391083611860967426 You might wonder why a “wheelchair friendly” park bench is something that anybody would bother to invent. After all, people in wheelchairs – not through choice, of course – are not lacking for somewhere to sit down. Life has forced them to take a […]
The recent ad hominem attack by Thomas Ryan, the Zero covid fan, on non-conforming scientists in a response to Independent TD, Michael McMamara, could be described as an approach designed to shut down challengers to the status quo. The above represent an extreme and small fringe group of scientists who have been largely proven wrong. […]
One of the most widely-believed myths in Irish politics is the idea that the main political battleground is a conflict between the leftwing parties, like Sinn Féin and People Before Profit, and “rightwing” or “conservative” parties, like Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. In reality, Ireland has no political rightwing at all. In fact, the madness […]
After many skirmishes along the boundaries between Church and State, between traditional faith values and post-modern liberal ones, it appears the question of who should control the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in Irish schools may be the one to finally draw a hard, new line in the sand between goverement and hierarchy. The question […]
A peer-reviewed study of doctors performing late-term abortions in Ireland was conducted by three University College Cork academics. It was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and can be viewed here. The study revealed that late-term abortions were taking place in Ireland, and that one method of abortion being used was feticide. […]
Once again the latest statistics from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment prove that the restrictions on the domestic economy and the movements of Irish citizens within their own localities, does not seem to have impacted on the overseas corporations who operate here. The number of work permits issued in April was 999, which […]
Photo credit: Houses of the Oireachtas There are, perhaps, few better jobs in Ireland than being a member of Seanad Eireann. It’s true, of course, that the salary (basic pay of €69,474) is not quite at the level of a TD (basic pay of €98,113), but that ignores quite a few other advantages. For example, […]