Ireland has been slower than most other EU countries to re-open its borders to inward travel. A certain narrative is taking root, endorsed by prominent voices in the scientific community as well as in Dáil Éireann, to the effect that we should spare no effort in keeping Ireland “Covid-free.” This narrative has radicalized our thinking around […]
While events in America matter to Ireland, at least at the periphery, they’re objectively less important than events in Europe, which impact us directly. Which is why it’s odd that so much attention is being given to the riots in American Cities while no media outlet, except the one you are presently reading, bothered to […]
Up to 70 Italian cities have seen protests demanding that the current government step down over their handling of the coronavirus, and calling for an Italian exit from the EU. Protesters – including many orange vest demonstrators – called for a new government and a return to the Italian lira in place of the euro, it […]
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 […]
Easy to miss the distinction here, but it’s there, all right. He’s not praying “for the people of Europe”, or even, “to grant wisdom to European leaders”, or anything like that. He’s praying for “the unity of the European Union”. On the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church and Patroness of […]
An interesting little addendum to the story this morning about Ireland being the tenth worst country in the world for Coronavirus deaths per million people: All of the ten countries that head that list, Ireland, and the nine worse than us, are in the European Union. You have to get to 11th on the list, […]
New figures from an Oireachtas Budget Office shows that Ireland is actually exporting vast quantities of material which could, with modifications, be used for testing in the Coronavirus pandemic. Along with a lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), one of the most infuriating and difficult aspects of this crisis has been the government’s the failure […]
There’s a sense in the country, and in the wider world, at the moment, that this is the time for everyone to pull together, and that old divisions don’t really matter in the face of a genuinely existential threat to human life. In so far as possible, therefore, we’ve tried not to dole out any […]
An interesting email into us yesterday from Hermann Kelly, leader of the Irish Freedom Party, raised the question of why the Taoiseach and the Government appear to be persistently providing false information about the amount of money the Government sends to the EU annually. Speaking in Trinity College last week, the Taoiseach gave his usual […]
The European Parliament called for the legalisation of abortion in Ireland. The opinion, passed in Strasbourg by 321 votes to 122; it carried no legislative weight but provoked a storm of political controversy. It was not the first and wouldn’t be the last time institutions within the European Union would admonish Ireland for it’s pro-life […]
Before you get all outraged about the new report from the Central Statistics Office declaring Ireland the second most expensive country in Europe, take a minute and reflect that it’s probably not that surprising: Irish consumers pay the second highest prices in Europe, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office. The country also […]
Stockholm Syndrome. It is the psychological description of a state in which a captive comes to identify with their captor. On the day on which our nearest neighbour has formally departed the European Union, perhaps it is apt to reflect on this state’s relationship to that entity. There are many factors influencing the reaction of […]