Politics

  • The Power of Hope (and of a little humour)

    July 1, 2009 @ 2:04 pm | by Harry

     There was a time when I couldn’t get enough of Maureen Dowd in the New York Times but I have tired of the formula, and the over-cleverality, and the devices, and verbal pony tricks.  I have switched loyalties to Paul Krugman (him of Erin go Broke fame) and Thomas Friedman in the same paper. Both are required reading, especially when it comes to the big issues like the economy, climate change, and the future of society.

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  • Have They All Had Charismadectomies?

    June 30, 2009 @ 5:30 pm | by Deaglán

    The summer won’t be as quiet politically as previous years. We are awaiting important reports from ‘An Bord Snip Nua’ and the Commission on Taxation and, of course, the Greens will be wrestling very publicly with their consciences.

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    The great are only great because we are on our knees: Big Jim Larkin statue in O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photograph by Frank Miller)

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  • What will replace Questions and Answers?

    @ 12:00 pm | by Harry

    …. another Questions and Answers, of course.

    Most people who have more than a passing interest in Irish politics would have looked at the last episode of Q and A last night.

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  • Crocodile Tears for Michael Jackson?

    June 29, 2009 @ 7:16 pm | by Deaglán

    The prolonged mourning for the late Michael Jackson is  becoming distasteful. No doubt he had a great musical and theatrical talent and, of course, anyone’s death is a tragedy, especially the demise of one who was still relatively young and had a lot more to offer in artistic terms. 

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  • The Boom - what it really meant.

    June 25, 2009 @ 2:14 pm | by Harry

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    A couple of years ago after yet another glowing IMF report about Ireland, the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern famously commented: “The boom is getting boomer.”

    It was always goingt to be a spectacular boom. But there we were thinking it was all to do with economics when it was about the deafening noise that was made when the bubble burst.

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  • Nasty Nettle of Property Tax

    June 24, 2009 @ 3:20 pm | by Deaglán

    The political scene is overcome with ennui and sluggishness. The warm weather contributes to a mood where everybody wants to be somewhere else, preferably on a beach with a long, cool drink in hand.

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    Wolfe Tone: admirer of the ‘men of no property’

    (Photograph by Cyril Byrne)

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  • Once More into the Breach on Lisbon

    June 20, 2009 @ 3:45 pm | by Deaglán

    Given the number of bad weeks he has had since becoming Taoiseach, it was about time for Brian Cowen to have a good one. He got his guarantees and  his  protocols on the Lisbon Treaty and even managed to convey the impression of a little “Brit-bashing” along the way.

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    Did Brian really put Brown in his box in Brussels? (Photograph by Frank Miller from May 2008 at Stormont)

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  • Solitary Courage of a Hero of Our Time

    June 19, 2009 @ 2:23 pm | by Deaglán

    If you haven’t already done so, please read today’s column in The Irish  Times by John Waters (click here). It concerns a hero of our time, Dr Cyril Daly, who was a lone voice against corporal punishment in schools way back in the 1960s. 

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    Columnist John Waters (Photograph by Frank Miller)

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  • Rope a dope?

    June 17, 2009 @ 12:59 pm | by Harry

    I am looking at Brian Cowen on the TV screen in the office, drudging through Taoiseach’s Questions. The Dáil this week has been like a burst balloon  or a wind without sails or an end-of-season clash between two mid-table teams.

    There has been a sense of tiredness - maybe it’s anti-climax - after the elections season and the emotion of the debate on the Ryan report. Nobody has whipped themselves into a froth of fury this week. There have been some more wringing of hands by parties (mainly the Greens) about the future and all the dreadful things that may be in store.

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  • Could Our Political Parties Organise a Booze-Up in a Brewery?

    June 15, 2009 @ 1:23 pm | by Deaglán

    Here’s a little saga that may or may not speak volumes about the political set-up in this country. The story begins with a news report by yours truly last week on a report from the Standards in Public Office Commission about the funding of political parties. flag-1.jpg

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