This election wasn’t a lurch to the left, but a victory for Keep The Other Lot Out politics
Given that the vast majority of important decisions for Ireland’s future will continue to be made in Government Buildings, Leinster House, the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Berlaymont in Brussels (in no particular and quite changeable order) for the next four years, rather than in Áras an Uachtaráin, the outcome of last Friday’s election should be […]
What exactly does Vladimir Putin hold over the cowardly Donald Trump?
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, was subjected to a second brutal Trump ambush in the Oval Office last Friday. This time, the cameras were not allowed to witness the idiot king’s brutish behaviour. But the Financial Times broke the story, which was based on accounts of eyewitnesses, that Donald Trump engaged in a shouting match, swearing at Zelenskiy, throwing […]
Liberals must stop adopting lazy-minded, woke stances on complex issues
I recently listened to a fascinating The Irish Times podcast interview between Hugh Linehan and Ronan McCrea, a law professor in the University College London and sometimes contributor to this newspaper, in relation to his latest book, The End of the Gay Rights Revolution. This book is a must read for anyone who is seriously interested in the effects of LGBTQIA+ activism […]
Ireland should not be told by Brussels or Washington what to do about policing speech
We have to wise up to the drift of events across the European Continent. There are many in our establishment who make the argument that Ireland needs to be at the centre of EU affairs where we can aspire to “punch above our weight”. They argue that unless we are at that centre we will […]
Why I didn’t nominate Maria Steen for the presidency
I have been elected to Seanad Éireann on three occasions after standing as a liberal republican candidate. My record as a parliamentarian since 1987 has been consistently liberal on social and economic matters. I have taken the liberal side in successive referendums such as the divorce, marriage equality, Oireachtas powers and the Repeal the Eighth referendums. I […]
This is the age of Mad Hatter Tea Party politics featuring Donald Trump as the Queen of Hearts
When Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy, made introductory remarks at the first sitting of this session of Dáil Éireann, she drew attention to the use of social media to propagate anonymous falsehoods and anonymous abuse against elected public representatives. Few would disagree that the combination of anonymity with opportunities of mass publication transforms the context and […]