Truss cannot be forgiven or excused for what has happened
The spectacle of political implosion in the Conservative party is no reason for schadenfreude (joy at misfortune of another) among Irish and European democrats. But the Truss premiership has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for Britain. She cannot be forgiven or excused for what has happened. Truss and her allies ruthlessly hunted Sunak, […]
Once Northern Ireland leaves UK, political unionism becomes extinct
I firmly believe that the project of Irish independence has- eventually – been a great success. I disagree with those who argue that the armed struggle for our independence between 1916 and 1922 was unjustified because Home Rule as sought by the Redmondites would have brought about independence in a non-violent political evolution. On the […]
UK has degraded its systems of governmental checks and balances
The revelation that Kwazi Kwarteng committed Britain to a programme of unfunded tax cuts and unfunded borrowing without even discussing the abolition of the 45% tax rate for highest earners with any cabinet colleague except Liz Truss had many Irish people scratching their heads. Ireland has a written constitution which radically differs from the non-constitutional […]
True republicans should focus on bringing about a ‘good’ united Ireland
Now that Northern Ireland is not, and never can be, “a protestant state for a protestant people” (a misquotation of Sir James Craig), the question of denominationalism in politics north and south of the border needs to be revisited. What Craig said was actually slightly different. In the course of a debate in Stormont in […]
Do we have a ‘department of energy’ or a ‘department of lethargy’?
The Government was due to “unveil” its options in relation to energy supply security on Monday. But now we are told there will be a month-long public consultation process on foot of the much-delayed Cepa consultancy report looking at options which was published this week. And – wait for it – at the end of […]
We have legislated ourselves into a corner of complete energy dependence
Nine EU coastal states have signed a declaration which commits them to supplying 10 per cent of the EU’s energy needs by 2050. That’s 28 years from now. The present output of EU offshore wind is 28 Gigawatts (28GW). Ireland committed to a target of 7GW by 2030 but Eamon Ryan, the Green Party leader […]