In the introductory chapter of ‘The Coddling of The American Mind’, their 2015 book about the psychological deterioration of the young generation in western countries, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt create a tragic-comic scenario Aristophanes would approve of. Seeking “the deepest and greatest of truths” from a great oracle to help them address the question […]
The Irish government has made clear the Covid vaccines will not be fully rolled-out before September, and that no significant removal of pandemic restrictions will happen until that is done. In the meantime significant sectors of the economy will remain shut. On top of that, the pandemic assistance payments (necessary to maintain public support for […]
Scepticism about the Covid vaccines, and unwillingness to take them, is vastly higher in the United States than it is in Ireland. So, you’d think, wouldn’t you, that those in power would be using every carrot available to try to entice the recalcitrant into getting their immunity jab so that we can all forget this […]
A tale of two countries. First, the United Kingdom: A FOUR-STAGE plan could see England’s coronavirus restrictions completely lifted by 21 June, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced. And now, the place that was once part of the United Kingdom, and where at least one writer for a website you are currently reading is […]
Last week, we treated you to a taste of one of the many conferences and workshops which you pay for in order for others to tell you to buck up your ideas. Specifically, groups like the Immigrant Council of Ireland are worried that you aren’t woke enough to the level of diversity they think necessary. […]
These are tough times for everybody in Ireland, and indeed, in many countries around the world. Many businesses are shuttered. Many people, having seen their jobs rendered too dangerous by covid legislation, are not working, and are on income supports. Governments themselves, in fact, are having a tough time of it: With the collapse in […]
It is no surprise that Ulster Bank is finally winding down and exiting the Irish market. The Bank has shown great commitment to Ireland and to maintaining an active presence in the Irish banking market, especially over the last decade. It has invested serious capital in writing-off losses, in technology and in corporate restructuring. The […]
Whatsapp groups have, for many people, been a vital social outlet during the long months of the Covid era. One of mine is quite eclectic: There’s a Corkonian, a Galwegian, a Cavanman, and various Dubs. So it was interesting to see the Cavan man – an avid walker – start a conversation over the weekend […]
Nigeria has a problem. A big problem. For many years now, a radical Islamist insurgency has roiled its northeast. Boko Haram (literally “books are forbidden”), a terrorist group affiliated with ISIS, and several other actors in its mould, have brutalised the residents of these regions, particularly Christians, taking many lives and displacing millions. The defeat […]
Last month, it was reported that Bill Gates, the billionaire businessman and activist on climate issues, had been buying farmland in the United States to the extent that he now owns the biggest amount of farm acres in America. Gates, who is one of the richest people in the world, has quietly bought up 242,000 acres of […]
Writing on the (belated) conviction of John McClean, the Terenure rugby coach, John McGuirk raised important questions around how and why McClean managed to avoid sanction or prosecution despite the basic facts of the matter being known to all and sundry for at least 30 years. Why, McGuirk asks, did it take the actions of […]
“It’s like the children have disappeared”. Aidan O’Rourke is pulling no punches. The lockdown of children’s sports, he says, is causing “disappearing personalities, children withdrawing entirely within themselves, right up to severe mental health, self-harm.” The GAA All-star recognises that sport might not “be a silver bullet to stop all that” but says the […]