Time to stop kowtowing to China over Taiwan
While seeking a place on the United Nations Security Council, you might think that Ireland, as a small independent state committed to a world order based on peace, international law and human rights, would stand up bravely for those values whenever given the opportunity. You would hope that Ireland would use its membership of the […]
Daft white-water rafting plan is anything but a capital idea
Am I the only person in despair about Dublin City Council and the almost complete absence of effective local democracy and decision-making in our capital city? I hope not. A city that could even be contemplating the “redevelopment” of the derelict, boarded-up and endangered Joyce house on Ushers Quay as a low grade hostel with […]
Let’s not be throwing shapes on issue of Irish unity
Confederal model is only viable approach in North for foreseeable future
No workable alternative to some form of direct provision
There is a world of difference between economic migration and asylum seeking in national and international law. Ireland, as a member state of the EU has certain obligations to permit EU citizens to migrate to Ireland to pursue economic activity in the state. We have entirely different and separate obligations under EU law, international law […]
Proxy voting an attempt to subvert the Constitution
Watching the procedural trench warfare at Westminster over the last weeks, you cannot fail to be struck by the consequences of not having a written constitution in the United Kingdom. To take a simple example, their hugely problematic Fixed Term Parliament Act simply could not have been enacted in Ireland. Why not? The Constitution provides […]
The North could have the best of both worlds – and both unions – if pesky politicians didn’t keep getting in the way
There clearly is a path to a Brexit deal. But there always has been one. The only problem has been the forest of red lines which the UK planted so as to render the path impassable. There always has been a “landing zone”, to use Boris’s military term, for an agreement that would be satisfactory […]