On the same day that the Irish Times reports that Dublin City Council faces a six-year wait to start housing projects, the Minister for Children Roderick O’Gorman has announced a government commitment to asylum seekers that they will get the keys to their own accommodation after four months and will be able to work after […]
I don’t often get an email from a colleague in Scotland asking how I’m weathering the power cuts in Texas. But I did last Friday, after the worst was over. For much of last week, millions of Texans had to endure the loss of electric power, and all that entails, during some of the coldest […]
This morning, the Government has announced the publication of its White Paper on Direct Provision, designed as agreed in the Programme for Government, with the objective of ending the current inadequate system of assessing and accommodating people who arrive here seeking asylum. But this proposed solution would appear to be much worse than the problem. […]
There’s only really one question to ask here, about this tweet last night from Zero-Covid advocate (and, you’ll remember, advocate of looking for ways to increase anxiety and insecurity in the population) Professor Anthony Staines: Has….. has he ever actually met a six year old? Let's also bring in the wearing of masks in primary […]
Is the tide of public opinion…… finally turning? There is strong support for reopening society and the economy as soon as possible, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll, with only a minority favouring a long lockdown until the virus has been eliminated. The poll also shows that the zero-Covid approach is not […]
In February of last year, The Babylon Bee published a satire story titled, “California Bill Prohibits Stores From Selling Toys That Don’t Actively Confuse Children’s Sexuality.” The Bee noted: “The law will ensure no more anti-science ‘boy aisles’ or ‘girl aisles’ like the ones used in deplorable states. Now shoppers can search the entire store before finding the gender nonconforming toy […]
According to data from Oxford University, Ireland has had “non-essential” businesses locked down for a whopping 163 days since last January, which is longer than any other country in Europe. By comparison, Germany was closed for 34 days, Denmark for 15 days, and Estonia for 45 days. https://twitter.com/Ben_Scallan/status/1364873772617064450 Meanwhile, Ireland had 857 deaths per million, […]
A notable tweet here, and from a notable source: Marc MacSharry would not, it’s fair to say, be known as a member of the vanishingly small west-brit wing of Fianna Fáil. If someone like him is urging the country to go cap in hand to the hated blonde ruffian in downing street asking for aid, […]
We live in wondrous times. Not only are our own Gardaí taking time off from tackling the nefarious Visit Granny Who Lives 6km The Other Side of the Town racket while multi-tasking by Dancing Against the Pandemic, but other police forces are also pitching in. The good folk of Liverpool, now that it has been […]
Are humans as smart as crows? Once the BBC poses a question like that, you already know the answer. In a new series, Chris Packham’s Animal Einsteins, the naturalist investigates “how nature’s masterminds measure up against human brainpower”. However, Telegraph reviewer Anita Singh notes that the first episode “had an air of being cobbled together” with old footage of animals […]
Before April 2018, few people outside Ethiopia had heard about Abiy Ahmed. Then he became the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, removed most of the political restrictions that had weighed down Ethiopians for years, brought a lingering war with Eritrea to a peaceful end, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and led his countrymen in planting a […]
February 25th, 2021 marks an important milestone in Irish politics. It is ten years to the day when Fine Gael stormed to power winning a record 76 seats in the 2011 general election amid the carnage of the financial crash. After a decade of Fine Gael rule, what’s the verdict? The Fine Gael election manifesto […]