Brussels must learn from Merkel’s failure to bring her people with her
As coalition talks between Germany’s CDU, CSU and SPD parties have cleared the first hurdle, it looks likely that Angela Merkel will end up heading a grand coalition government in the next eight weeks. Including Martin Schulz in the government will inevitably raise questions about his recent proposal for a new EU treaty leading to […]
Adams and Foster have brought about an easily offended polarisation of politics north of the border
One dispiriting aspect of our times is the somewhat schizophrenic desire of a goodly number of people to be simultaneously accorded the right to anonymously abuse others in social media and in comment boxes in on-line publications while objecting vigorously to being subjected to, or even being made aware of, statements by others which they […]
Defence is just one area where Ireland has to be very careful in adopting stances at the EU Council these days
Article 42 of the Lisbon Treaty provides that the common security and defence party “shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy”. The article also states that this would entail the “progressive framing” of a “common Union defence policy” which would lead to a common defence policy “when the European Council […]
Ireland’s diplomatic agenda is now very tricky but at least we have time and space to build on this week’s outcome
When I wrote here last week that things were going to get tougher for Leo Varadkar this week and signalled problems for the DUP if there was to be any question of an East-West customs border within the EU, I frankly admit that I did not envisage the utter omni-shambles that was to follow when […]
Donald Tusk’s early Christmas present to Leo Varadkar is a mixed blessing
It’s been a very tough week for Leo Varadkar. And it’s just got tougher. When Donald Tusk gave Leo a seemingly unlimited discretion to determine whether the UK had made a sufficient commitment on the Irish border question to permit the Brexit talks to proceed to the second stage on 14th December, it was a […]
A general election will do nothing to resolve the current political dispute
As a starting point in any general election campaign, a Taoiseach whose party has lost two percentage points and has just over one quarter of voters’ support, is in a very poor place indeed. Still more worrying is a poll finding that you are within one percent (or the margin of error) of the support […]