Dublin City needs planned and aesthetically pleasing redevelopment
One of the least debated and perhaps most important issues confronting Ireland in the 21st century is that of planning our built environment. For the last century and a half, our urban areas and in particular our built up city areas have been allowed to develop in a haphazard, often ugly,and unplanned way. When you […]
Stolen election narrative will sustain Republicans in opposition
“If Donald Trump carries the banner of my party, I think it taints conservativism for generations to come. I think his campaign is opportunistic, race baiting, religious bigotry, xenophobia. Other than that he’d be a good nominee.” Those are the words of Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, spoken in 2016. He commented that choosing […]
It’s much too soon to dance on Trump’s grave
I don’t intend dancing on Donald Trump’s grave. The simple reason is that he is not dead politically and remains in office. There is absolutely no reason to believe that an egotist of his proportions is minded to accept the verdict of the American people so clearly expressed in the popular vote and in the […]
Profound issues at stake over free speech and Islam
Our Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief to all citizens and provides that the State will not endow any particular religion. In the 1960s our Supreme Court developed a theory that the Constitution guaranteed unenumerated rights to citizens in addition to those rights explicitly mentioned in the 1937 text. The court held that these unenumerated […]
We must check if this Covid-19 lockdown is really necessary
When the March lockdown started, planning was done to augment Ireland’s hospital capacity. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Health Minister Simon Harris and HSE CEO Paul Reid held a press conference on 1st April in the huge auditorium at Citywest. Posing with newly installed beds, they announced 450 stepdown beds in the arena and 1, 000 further […]
What exactly is the price of accepting this Nphet advice?
I had intended writing this week about the decapitation of Samuel Paty and asking whether in a republic such as ours, constitutional, charitable and legal status and protection should be afforded to any religion which does not condemn outright the killing or punishment of apostates and heretics by state or non-state actors wherever in the […]