Comment
- Shift on Muslim detention must not merely make them new blacks in US22 Jan 2009ANALYSIS: Halting Guantánamo trials is hardly enough. Obama’s plan is very welcome, but alone it is not a sufficient step in improving the US’s legal attitudes to Muslims, writes ASIM QURESHI .
- Green tenor of Obama's message rings true22 Jan 2009Barack Obama can be a credible US president on climate change. Why? Because, in a nutshell, he gets it, writes JOHN GIBBONS .
- Bush is airlifted out to gasp of pleasure as a new America emerges22 Jan 2009ONE SIMPLY wanted to be present. Freezing cold or not, a crowd of two million, whatever – solemn warnings about tight security, long lines, traffic jams, cell phones not working. In the end, one wanted to be there on the Mall before the Capitol on Tuesday at noon amid the jubilant throng and see the man take the oath of office – our first genuine author-president.
- We could be a long time waiting for a hero to rescue us22 Jan 2009Like all racial and social barriers, once broken, we are left wondering what all the fuss was about, writes QUENTIN FOTTRELL .
- Waiting for a new generation of politicians to emerge22 Jan 2009Unionists may need leadership but will have to make do. Sinn Féin’s old guard may hope to retire but must wait, writes FIONNUALA O CONNOR .
- A moment of utter integrity21 Jan 2009EYEWITNESS: The mood of the crowd was festive on Capitol Hill yesterday, a day of pride and triumph, writes Kathy Sheridan in Washington
- 'Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America'21 Jan 2009The following is the full text of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech yesterday
- Obama's call to remake America21 Jan 2009A MESSAGE OF determined realism pervaded President Barack Obama’s strong inaugural speech yesterday. Acknowledging fully the serious challenges facing the United States he said they will not be met easily or in a short space of time, but will be met in a spirit of unity. The extraordinary turnout of millions in Washington to witness the occasion gives credibility to the solemn commitment he put at the core of the speech that “starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America”.
- A rhetoric that made newness threaten less21 Jan 2009ANALYSIS: The preacher’s soaring intonations were muted in favour of reclaiming and remaking old values, writes Fintan O'Toole.
- An improbable journey to the White House21 Jan 2009The new US President has a background rich in diversity, education, activism and achievement, writes Jonathan Freedland
- Expectations exceeded only by scale of challenges21 Jan 2009THE CHALLENGES: The US faces huge problems but Obama has unprecedented goodwill, says Denis Staunton
- Following in Lincoln's footsteps21 Jan 2009THE LEGACY: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama’s spiritual father, is the president whom he most reads and admires, writes Lara Marlowe
- Challenging times for US-Ireland relationship21 Jan 2009AGENDA FOR IRELAND: AS THE world holds its breath in anticipation of what Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office may bring amid unprecedented global challenges, not even his most ardent Irish cheerleaders expect Ireland to feature prominently in the already bulging in-tray awaiting the new president in the Oval Office, wrties Mary Fitzgerald
- The 27-year-old with history at his fingertips21 Jan 2009“There’s a lot weighing on his shoulders” – Eli Saslow profiles Obama’s speechwriter
- Obama's day in the sun shows up dull Dáil tribute21 Jan 2009The two gatherings of our parliamentarians yesterday offered no sense that they are dedicated to ensuring society’s wellbeing, writes Vincent Browne
- Reality check on the way for the cult of Obama21 Jan 2009OPINION: Yes, yes, he’s wonderful – but remember Tony Blair and the realities of political office, writes Donald Clarke
- Restoration of lost goodwill and influence is Obama's challenge21 Jan 2009OPINION : Economic, political, domestic and global – the real tasks ahead are interlocked and daunting, writes Paul Gillespie
- Irish catalyst in Obama's journey20 Jan 2009ANALYSIS: Forget Moneygall. There is a more significant Irish element to the make-up of Barack Obama than a tenuous Offaly connection, writes Patrick Cosgrave
- All our children should get the same chances20 Jan 2009‘Parade’ magazine, which has a circulation of 33m copies a week in the United States, asked the president-elect to tells its readers what he wanted for his own children. In response, he wrote this open letter
- Candidates for the catwalk20 Jan 2009Barack Obama’s presidency is ‘going to be the best thing for the menswear trade since John F Kennedy’, according to Louis Copeland. But how well would our male Cabinet Ministers fare in a politicians’ fashion show, asks Catherine Cleary
- Americans ready to answer Obama's call to serve20 Jan 2009The mobilised energy of the presidential campaign is being translated into active citizenship, writes Elaine Byrne
- It is a rare moment in our history, this union and solidarity around a new leader20 Jan 2009WHEN PRESIDENT Obama takes his hand off the Bible and walks to the Capitol lectern today, he carries real power in his pocket, maybe more than any president since FDR, and some of it he has earned and some is a gift, writes Garrison Keillor
- A prayer for healing and soft landings20 Jan 2009GIVE ME A BREAK: HEALING SOMETIMES comes in unexpected ways. Everybody has a few black holes of hurt in the soul. These dark stars ache in those moments when you’re not too busy to feel. I imagine them as ragged-edged dark question marks that snag the solar plexus and beg for an answer.
- Is George W Bush the worst president in US history?19 Jan 2009Robert McElvaine says 'yes', over 60 per cent of US historians ranked Bush as the worst president. They had good reason to do so, says , while Fintan O'Toole argues 'no', that ranking Bush as the worst ever can be a way of forgetting the violence and abuse of power that have shadowed so much of US history
- Thank you, Ireland, for a wonderful stay. Keep doing what you are doing19 Jan 2009Tomorrow, as Barack Obama takes the oath of office, the US ambassador Thomas Foley will take his leave of Ireland. These are his parting thoughts.
- Time to end the dangerous 'enemy addiction' policy19 Jan 2009Allowing our policies to be driven by our enemies inevitably leads to ghastly and grisly failures, writes Tony Kinsella
- Bush mission mercifully over but sorry legacy is foreign wars and domestic woes19 Jan 2009ANALYSIS: Foreign misadventures and indulgent neglect of the economy dash hopes of a Bush vindication, writes Patrick Smyth
- Revisionist Obama will benefit from the Bush legacy19 Jan 2009OPINION: Barack Obama will be loath to throw away the tools that have kept the US safe for seven years writes Charles Krauthammer
- It's Obamarama time!17 Jan 2009The excitement is building ahead of Barack Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, which promises to be one of the biggest parties the US will ever throw
- When power becomes justice and sentiment turns into love17 Jan 2009Barack Obama went back to Chicago after visiting his relatives in Kenya in 1988 and eventually began a political career. In 1966, he was elected to the Illinois senate, graduating to the United States Senate in 2004. The rest is the moment of history the world will witness on Tuesday in Washington.
- Unravelling my Kenyan inheritance16 Jan 2009In 1988, Barack Obama went to Kenya to discover his roots, meet members of his family there and, as he puts it in his memoir Dreams From My Father , come to terms with the Old Man, the title of endearment he and his half-sister, Auma, apply to their late father, Barack senior.
- Facing the reality of deprivation15 Jan 2009It took Barack Obama time to learn how to be an effective community organiser in Altgeld, a severely disadvantaged social housing scheme in Chicago’s Far South Side. Eventually, he cracked it, however, and stayed long enough to see how activism could empower local people to demand better conditions for them and their families . . . and make their case to authority with confidence and determination, as is clear from this extract from his memoir, Dreams From My Father
- Deciding to work for Chicago's poor14 Jan 2009HIS STORY IN HIS WORDS: BARACK OBAMA left Indonesia aged 10 and spent his teen years in Honolulu, where he went to Punahou School, a coeducational college. After Punahou, he studied for two years at Occidental College in Los Angeles before moving to Columbia University in New York, where he studied political science, specialising in international relations. He graduated with a BA in 1983.
- Guided by a mother's values13 Jan 2009
- Pursuing the mysteries of an absent father12 Jan 2009BOOK EXTRACT: A Kenyan father 'black as pitch', a mother 'white as milk'; a heritage of tolerance from grandparents Gramps and Toot . . . and early innocence of racism, writes Barack Obama
- BARACK OBAMA: HIS STORY IN HIS WORDS12 Jan 2009THAT BARACK Obama is the most interesting public figure in the world today will be reinforced tomorrow week when, on Tuesday, January 20th, he is inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States of America, writes Peter Murtagh .
- Lessons we must learn from Obama's self-reflection13 Jan 2009Obama’s team is trying to temper expectations. Meanwhile, in Ireland we are permanently disillusioned, writes Elaine Byrne
- The satire industry prepares for the slump after Bush13 Jan 2009When George Bush, with his malapropisms and Homer Simpson gaffes, finally leaves the White House, the satire industry will briefly join the rest of the economy in recession
- Obama will not be a soft touch for Europeans12 Nov 2008Barack Obama is the apparent incarnation of all that Europeans could wish for but in the end, he is the president-elect of the US and he will approach Europe seeking a greater commitment to sharing America's international burdens, writes Pat Cox
- Obama's choices as president-elect are disconcerting12 Nov 2008Is Obama really serious about tackling inequality in the US? The signals are not encouraging, writes Vincent Browne
- Obama needs time to rescue US economy11 Nov 2008OPINION: First in series: America is facing enormous challenges. The solutions will be painful and will require years to bring to fruition, writes Jeffrey Sachs
- McCain will be remembered as the best we never had10 Nov 2008OPINION: IN MY previous life, I witnessed far more difficult postmortems. This one is easy. The patient was fatally stricken on September 15th - caught in the rubble when the roof fell in (at Lehman Brothers, according to the police report) - although he did linger until his final, rather quiet demise on November 4th, writes CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
- US focus moves from pleasure of rhetoric to pragmatism of action8 Nov 2008ANALYSIS: Barack Obama's battle is won - but here comes the harder bit as he sets about his work, writes Denis Staunton
- G20 nations emerging as broader forum8 Nov 2008WORLD VIEW: YESTERDAY EU leaders in Brussels, today and tomorrow G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Sao Paulo, next Saturday G20 leaders in Washington. The world's financial architecture is being refashioned by a series of emergency summits as political leaders race to catch up with and head off capitalism's financial meltdown.
- Ripple effect of Obama's rich inspiration7 Nov 2008OPINION: A FEW hours after Barack Obama's acceptance speech, my wife jokingly said to me: "You do realise that he is going to be the president of America don't you? America, not the rest of the world!", writes Bryan Mukandi
