The apparent resurgence of ‘Green Politics’ at local, national and EU level has been the focus of significant commentary in recent times. For many, this is a welcome development that signals the arrival of a renewed global consensus on the various ecological and biodiversity challenges that confront us. This was certainly the reaction of the […]
An absolutely astonishing report in the Irish Times this morning. No, scratch that. A report in the Irish Times that really should be astonishing, but of course, isn’t: Senior figures in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil believe they can progress to negotiations on a coalition government with the Green Party on the basis of the […]
Since the western world re-set its priorities following the Covid-19 outbreak, one of the most noticeable consequences was that the measures taken to stem the disease’s advance had some really interesting, positive, unanticipated, collateral consequences for the environment. It might have seemed that the climate agenda had been shelved in the face of a more […]
Irish people will have let out a huge sigh of collective relief this afternoon with the news that, amidst the unprecedented crisis afflicting the country, our best and brightest were assembling in the national legislature to come up with ideas to mitigate the worst of it for the people. Until now, the Coronavirus epidemic has […]
Antifa links in the Irish establishment? Ben Scallan reports on the Burkean’s claims that they have uncovered connections between the radical Left and those with power in Irish society. See more here: https://www.theburkean.ie/ #gript
Politics is supposed to be a simple enough activity. The basic idea is that various parties put forward ideas for how the country should be governed, the voters choose between the various offerings, and the people who get the largest number of seats in the parliament then have the power to form a Government that […]
In Ireland we like to name our coalition Governments – from 1994 to 1997, we famously had the “rainbow Government”, led by John Bruton. This week, Sinn Fein were talking about “a left coalition” comprising themselves and every other assorted left winger in Leinster House – sort of a Marxist pick-n’mix box of chocolates, where, […]
You might not have noticed, but this was supposed to be the Climate election. It was all decided relatively far in advance of the thing, with most of the narratives pre-scripted. Young voters, emboldened and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion, and Saoirse McHugh, were supposed to rise up and push Ireland to the international […]
The Green Party have released their election manifesto this week, you can read a copy of it HERE. It’s a brave document, in parts good, in parts a reminder of why the Green Party have the reputation they do. As you read it you find yourself repeatedly agreeing with the normal parts of the manifesto […]
Because of our proportional election system, Ireland is nearly always governed by a coalition between at least two political parties. The last majority, one party Government was elected in 1977, when Jack Lynch promised everything short of Nirvana to win the election, and then fell from power shortly thereafter when it became apparent that he […]
25-year-old New Zealand MP Chlöe Swarbrick has won fame on social media after this week dismissing an elderly Parliamentary heckler with the ‘viral quip, “OK boomer’”; the derogatory expression, ‘which refers to the baby-boomer generation’, has ‘gained popularity among young people on social media in recent months as a way of brushing off the views […]
One of the problems that the Green movement has is that every so often it has to tell the truth about what it actually wants. This doesn’t happen very often, of course – most of the time they get away unchallenged with benign sermons about the new green economy and a just transition and how […]