North needs conciliation, not a referendum
There is an old, perhaps somewhat cynical definition of the referendum – “a process by which you get an answer you didn’t expect to a question you didn’t ask”. The kernel of truth here is that any referendum will be decided on the issue as understood by the voter – not necessarily as it was […]
Puppet masters won’t allow any Sinn Féin apology for Mountbatten
Funerary politics have their own particular potential. In the middle of a pandemic, so many ordinary citizens have been denied the opportunity to accord to their loved ones the honour and ceremonial of what is part of Irish culture – a decent funeral. In a gesture of solidarity with so many families, the British royal […]
Eye-watering rents extracted from younger generation in city centres are not sustainable
Most people do not bother with the directive principles of social policy set out in Article 45 of the Constitution. They are stated to be for the general guidance of the Oireachtas and their application is “the care of the Oireachtas exclusively” and not to be cognisable by the courts. Among those principles is the […]
We have to stop pressing for a border poll
This paper recently re-published its scathing 1951 editorial on the occasion of the resignation of Noel Browne in the wake of the Mother and Child Bill controversy. Pointing out that the Catholic church rather than the Government appeared to be the actual power in this state, the editorial asked how capitulating to the power of […]
Violence in the North highlights failure at a political level
The rash of public disorder in Loyalist areas of Northern Ireland bears all the hallmarks of behind the scenes orchestration by paramilitary groups which were understood to be dormant. It is hard to understand the motivation for such organised disorder. At one level, young rioters hi-jacking vehicles and petrol bombing PSNI patrols may have nothing […]
The dam of public patience has already cracked and broken
The official but “anonymous Government source” (the AGS) had spoken on the outlook for lifting the lockdown well before the Cabinet had its meeting to consider the matter. Most people in Leinster House have a very good idea who the AGS is – widely reputed to be a very ambitious minister who spends an inordinate […]