It is important, generally, to try and not get personal when it comes to the people who govern us. For the most part, they are doing their best. Being wrong, as they regularly are is a human fault, not one that is specific to one party, or one person. Politicians want to be remembered well, […]
They should really have extended this invitation to the Taoiseach, too, since he’s the one who made the decision: Following this evening’s unexpected announcement the GAA invites Dr Ronan Glynn and NPHET to present the empirical evidence which informed the requirement for the Association to curtail its activities. The Association will tonight be issuing an […]
Former leader of the SDLP, John Hume, has died, his family have announced in a statement. He was 83 years old, and passed away after a short illness. He had lived with dementia for several years and was rarely seen in public in recent years. Hume led the SDLP from 1979 to 2001, and won […]
Summer 2020 is another kind of new normal. There’s a strange feel to it like all the other resets since March 12th when the country went into indefinite lockdown. This is arguably one of the better parts of new normal The little fishing village of Ballycotton with its signature island and lighthouse has been on […]
In the last few days we learned that the Department of Social Protection has been busy tracking down people who have had the temerity to take a holiday while in receipt of Covid-19 welfare support – and punishing them by cutting off that payment. 104 people have had their Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) stopped “as […]
What’s the world coming to when you can’t trust a politician to cut their own salary without actually increasing it by accident? Clarified this evening: voluntary pay cuts taken by the previous Govts lapsed when new Govt was formed, so today's 10% is effectively a renewal of those cuts. e.g. Taoiseach's salary €207,590; Varadkar had […]
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has announced that Ireland will be paying more into the EU recovery fund than we will be getting out. In other words, we will be paying for the repair of other countries at the expense of Irish taxpayers. Ben Scallan comments #gript
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has spoken out against the Government’s new deal with the European Union, saying that Ireland’s record contribution to EU funds amounts to “supporting everyone’s recovery except our own”. The Government signed off on the deal in Brussels yesterday, and it will see Ireland becoming the fifth largest net contributor to the […]
Contributors to this site have been among those pointing to the startling decline of Fianna Fáil which, despite having finally secured the temporary position of Taoiseach, appears increasingly rudderless. Its support among the electorate has nose dived since a poor enough 22% in the general election, to as low as 14% according to some recent […]
Just when we thought we had Coronavirus over us, we’re now facing the prospect of mass protests in Limerick: and grossly insulted. There are 3 Government TDs out of 4 in Limerick City, yet Micheál Martin has felt it appropriate to insult all the people of Limerick City with this decision. It's strange if he […]
We hear all how Sinn Féin represents change from the Fianna Gael/Fine Fáil monopoly. But nobody ever stops to ask – what kind of change does Sinn Féin actually represent? Ben Scallan comments #gript
The Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, Éamon Ó Cuiv, has said the party’s vote is “collapsing” and that it will become “irrelevant” if it enters into government under the programme currently being put to the vote by the party members. Responding to an opinion poll published in the Irish Mail on Sunday which showed Fianna […]