Ireland is doing the equivalent of using its credit card to pay for groceries
State’s immediate challenge is not money but capacity. We lack the people and infrastructure needed to match current demand
Taoiseach plans all-powerful Department of Infrastructure. What could go wrong?
The worst of all worlds would be a Department of Infrastructure which takes years to assemble but is several pistons short of being a full engine
Big problems cannot be magicked away by the Taoiseach’s emphatic statements
Simon Harris has moved ahead of his problems without necessarily confronting them. Now he’s in a race against time
The Sinn Féin surge is over and its fightback has hardly begun
Undecided voters, and those who make up their minds late on, will influence the outcome of the general election
Inheritance tax is a modest payback for a massive benefit
Cutting inheritance tax benefits the offspring of the generation now leaving property behind - and their parents already enjoyed mortgage interest relief in the past
Who is Jack Chambers? Nobody knows but we’re about to find out
The new Minister must use the pre-election budget to perform an interconnected series of balances
The question is not whether we decarbonise - it’s whether we do it quickly or get left behind
We need to stop talking about climate obligations and look at the opportunities
Should Simon Harris call an early election? Gerard Howlin and Justine McCarthy debate
All attention is on when a general election should be called. Waiting until next spring carries risks – but so does an autumn election
We are distracted by personalities, but what’s really at stake in this year of elections is policy
The great issues of our times are ageing, climate, and generative AI
Ask Ukraine about the value of Irish ‘solidarity’: it is €38.80 per week
Disjointed responses to different humanitarian crises are dictated by their distance, our convenience and political opportunism
Limerick’s mayoral election will either be an embarrassing novelty or a brave new world
The vote - to be held four weeks from today - is an important experiment in extending local government. A lot rests on voters’ choice
We now know which hospitals are overspending and which are delivering. Let’s fund them accordingly
In the past, there was a formula which ensured that the worse things were, the more money you got. That’s no longer the case
Next election will herald an age of Independents
Series of flip-flops by Sinn Féin on hate speech, the Nature Restoration Law, and the recent referendums raises questions. If they can’t speak clearly for themselves, how can they speak for us?
The idea this Government has another year is constitutionally correct but politically preposterous
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs know they are franchisees of brands in decline
What counts now for flailing Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is which wins the race for the disgruntled centre
Sinn Féin has succeeded in becoming an establishment party, but perhaps too convincingly for its own good