Time to re-open our democracy
Now that building sites are reopened and retail is returning to normal, the question arises as to how our democratic institutions have performed and will perform in the wake of the pandemic. Assuming that the Indian variant does not derail reopening our social and economic lives, we must examine how our democracy has functioned during […]
Atrocities require us to look forward, not back
The British ambassador, Paul Johnston, wrote here yesterday that he agreed in one part with last Saturday’s editorial criticising indications from Downing Street of an intention to halt prosecutions in respect of crown forces involvement in historic killings during the Troubles as “a distressing and irresponsible move”. Specifically the ambassador agreed with the editorial’s proposition […]
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 […]