Government must communicate and act as a team during indefinite pandemic
It is now clear that we are going to have to live with COVID-19 in our midst for the indefinite future. The consensus is that we simply cannot succeed in a strategy of killing off completely the virus on the island of Ireland by a re-imposed total lockdown. We are not geographically isolated like New […]
The public will not endure a second lockdown
There was something very unreal, in political terms, in recent commentary on the subject of another general lockdown. It seems to me to be a political impossibility. The public endured the March lockdown with patriotism, fortitude and a clear belief that it was a once-off event designed to prevent a Covid tsunami from collapsing our […]
Would a Biden presidency be good for Ireland?
There is general agreement in Europe that an end to the presidency of Donald Trump cannot come soon enough for a whole series of reasons including the re-establishment of multi-lateralism and an end to the chaotic and aggressive aspects of his international economic policies. After all he seems to loath the EU. Few now write […]
Shelbourne statues debacle raises important issues
It might be tempting to regard the removal of the four statues from the front of the Shelbourne Hotel as a silly season story of little consequence. But there are important issues in play here. Let’s get one thing straight at the start. The statues do not depict slavery in any way. The figures are […]
Trumpism is dying but still dangerous
Whether or not Donald Trump, Secretary of State Pompeo or Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin really care about the risk of transmission to the communist regime in Beijing of personal data including facial recognition by ByteDance, the Chinese company that now owns the social media platform TikTok is unclear. The White House has leapt on the […]
Why is official Ireland silent on the plight of China’s Uighur population?
Ireland’s political and diplomatic establishment spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money securing a seat at the United Nations Security Council. To what end? Do we wish, as a small state, to have our viewpoint and values heard at the top table? If so, what do we, as a nation or state, have […]