This article is co-authored with Dara J Clooney Since the foundations of the state, our country has been ruled by two dominant parties. These parties are historically distinguishable only by their loyalty to two different men in the bitter division over the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and many often say, Fine Gael and Fianna […]
The Keelings controversy about has brought public attention to how EU and related member state legislation allows agencies – and those who contract migrant workers from them – to avoid domestic minimum wage and other requirements. As everyone knows, the current furore began when a photo published was which showed some of the 189 migrant […]
There was, in case you missed it, an opinion poll at the weekend, in the Sunday Business Post. Fine Gael is once again the most popular party in Ireland. Sinn Fein is roughly standing still from where it was at the recent election. Fianna Fáil is, well, hoping that the lockdown won’t prevent a priest […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed startling failures of leadership across much of the Western world but could the increasingly harmful strategies abopted by various Western nations be redirected to achieve a sustainable response? It is perhaps time to accept that the proverbial horse has bolted, with the near certainty that tens of thousands having […]
Uncertainty is terrifying. Loneliness is unbearable. Death is painful. Born from the onslaught of Covid19, the three have joined forces to hit us where it hurts the most. With the exception of key workers who are required to work, most of us abide by the necessary isolation restrictions, some with family and some alone, and […]
As an American President once said, “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal”: “Home heating costs will rise as a carbon tax hike takes effect from today. The move, which was announced in the budget last October, will see increased carbon tax on […]
For those of you who haven’t read it, because you didn’t take first year sociology in Trinity (thanks very much, taxpayers) let me save you the trouble: One of these days you’re all going to realise that you’re slaves of the bourgeoisie, and rise up against them to fulfil your own potential. The only problem […]
Both history and fiction fascinate us by showing simultaneously how much and how little the human condition changes over time. We no more live in the ‘real’ world than any generation that has gone before us. Like previous generations, we live within a capsule that is defined as much by what it ignores, cuts off, denies as […]
As reported recently by Gript a controversial sex education programme that taught children as young as six about touching their “private parts” has been withdrawn by a council in Britain following a backlash from parents. “Following an outcry from parents The Christian Institute wrote to Warwickshire County Council saying parents were considering legal action. The […]
James Annan is a climate scientist involved in climate prediction, who has made a number of well-known bets against people who disagree with him around climate predictions. In March, he and his associate Julia Hargreaves were looking at the pandemic modelling and predictions that the government in the UK were relying on. Even though it […]
Last week, Harvard Magazine published a hit-piece on homeschoolers. In an interview with Prof. Elizabeth Bartholet, a professor with Harvard Law School, the article highlighted the dangers and risks homeschooling poses to children, and even to democracy. So concerned is Prof. Bartholet that she has run a workshop in Stanford University on the issue, and […]
Events are moving rapidly with regard to the formation of a new government. It seems widely expected that a decision may be made today. At the heart of this is whether Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael agree to most of Green Party demands, including “red line” of annual cuts in carbon emissions of 7% until […]