The fifteen year old who was gang-raped by a bunch of older men in a Dublin hotel is, the Irish Times and Irish Independent told us yesterday, “troubled”: A 15-YEAR-OLD girl deemed at high risk of sexual exploitation was reported to have been “coked out of it” while spending the night at a Dublin city […]
The kind of audio you must listen to two or three times because you don’t really believe he said it the first time. But say it, he did: Phil Hogan finally telling the truth as he explains how two tier Ireland really works "If they knew I was a commissioner or politician the Gardai wouldn't […]
For years the left has prided itself on being on the side of inclusion and equality for everyone, and has attacked the right for engaging in racism, xenophobia and bigotry for bringing attention to issues such as immigration and national identity and pursuing policies that put their own citizens first. Yet there is one type […]
“So will they be sent home if they refuse to wear the mask?”, asked Richard Downes on Prime Time last night. “Yes absolutely, everybody is expected to wear the mask” replied the Minister for Education, Norma Foley. Good news, if, like me, you are the husband of a teacher, or indeed if you are a […]
The public’s reaction to Golfgate has been swift and brutal. Indeed, it has now occasioned more public mea culpa’s than you could shake a stick at. Yet still the public and political appetite for scalps, of both the EU and judicial variety has not been sated. No doubt this lamentable saga, with all its […]
To lose one agriculture minister might be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two, the IFA might have said to the Taoiseach last night, is just rank carelessness: Cullinan said: “We are very concerned about the disruption caused by the loss of two Ministers for Agriculture since the new government was formed, and reports that […]
If reports are to be credited, British intelligence appears to have successfully moved against one of the aspirant IRAs – namely those claimed to be in the New IRA and those in the left-wing grouping, Saoradh. The scuttlebutt is that MI5 recruited a leading member of the organisation in question who embarrassingly it would seem […]
Last Saturday, thousands of people took part in a rally calling for many of the Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted, and arguing that mask-wearing and vaccinations should not be mandatory. Whatever your feelings on the aims of the rally, it’s safe to say that the demonstration was much bigger than the media had expected it to […]
Identity politics is as much about the collapse of old identities as the forging of new ones. The current discussion about how the centenary anniversary of Ireland’s partition should be marked shows how radically political identities can be re-constructed over time. When Michéal Martin stood up in Dail Éireann about a year ago and declared […]
Since March of this year, or perhaps earlier, it’s safe to say that opinions greatly differ with regard to all things related to Covid19. However, in the midst of much disagreement and what has become a very contentious subject where one can hardly express an opinion that goes against the WHO or RTE without being […]
It is important, generally, to try and not get personal when it comes to the people who govern us. For the most part, they are doing their best. Being wrong, as they regularly are is a human fault, not one that is specific to one party, or one person. Politicians want to be remembered well, […]
The International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) exists to hear appeals on the decisions of the International Protection Officer on applications for protection in the state. In plain English, it’s the body which decides whether an asylum seeker is properly entitled to asylum in the state. People appearing before it, then, have a right to expect […]