US president elect Donald Trump. Over 140 pro-Trump fake-news websites were manned by youngsters in the Macedonian town of Veles, writing fake news stories to generate clicks for cash. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images Una Mullally: Pro-Trump propaganda shows fakery has gone viral

Fake news was clickbait frivolity until its Orwellian role in the US election race

Fr Brendan Hoban: Ireland’s last priests are a lost tribe
  • Brendan Hoban
  • November 21, 2016

As we grow old as priests, we realise how little care, esteem or affection is in our lives

File image of ASTI teachers on strike. Photograph: Cyril Byrne John Geary: Public sector pay talks are a matter of urgency
  • John Geary
  • November 21, 2016

Delays risk further claims and will undermine the credibility of union leadership

US secretary of state John Kerry speaking at the COP22 climate change conference in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday. Photograph: Reuters/Mark Ralston Breda O’Brien: breaking the silence on climate change

Irish people may not realise how important the conversation is on climate change

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg: “The idea that fake news on Facebook . . . influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea.” Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPA Fake news in US election becomes bad press for Facebook

World View: Social media giant faces questions over accountability as editor of feeds

The worst harm Donald Trump might achieve would be to deprive us of our belief in democracy. Photograph: AP Photo Trump should fear democracy more than it fears him
  • Philip Pettit
  • November 19, 2016

Contestatory form of democratic power should contain new president’s excesses

Taoiseach Séan Lemass and president Éamon DeValera signing the proclamation to dissolve Dáil Éireann in March 1965. Photograph: INM/Getty Images Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland needs a new leader in critical times

Kenny is a ruthless survivor with no vision and Martin’s FF is entrenched in tribalism

Instead of focusing on a rail route used by 73 people, Alan Kelly needs to get behind the National Broadband Plan, which could improve life for nearly a million households. Photograph: Michael Smith/Getty Images Cliff Taylor: Ballybrophy needs broadband not railway lines

Forget the trains – rural TDs needs to work on speeding up the broadband service

Given the precedents set by the Luas drivers and gardaí, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe faces a horrendously difficult task in trying to hold the line. Photograph: Cyril Byrne Stephen Collins: some home truths about public sector pay claims

It has not registered that pay rises for public servants mean cuts in services or tax increases

Facebook: “A friend of mine said she could no longer deal with waking up, grabbing her phone, and scrolling through other people’s drivel.” Photograph: Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images Una Mullally: I never liked Facebook, but now I am actually worried about it

The mindless new channels we’ve created across social media are screwing us up

Donald Trump and sons Eric and Donald Jr attend a “Celebrity Apprentice All Stars” press conference in 2012. The property mogul became a reality TV megastar in 2004 as the ringmaster of “The Apprentice”. Photograph: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images Noel Whelan: Election shows that publicity is key to winning

Above all else, Donald Trump’s shock victory comes down to his massive celebrity

Donald Trump: “He did three or four rallies a day in the places that mattered, where his core voters got to see him in person.” Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Ryanair marketing boss gives verdict on winning Trump campaign
  • Kenny Jacobs
  • November 18, 2016

As Hillary Clinton discovered, a massive media spend is no guarantee of victory

Children in the Bab al-Salama camp: “There could be no prospect of rearing a family in Syria.” Photograph: Saleh Abo Ghaloun/AFP/Getty Images Out of Syria: ‘My wife and children are trapped back home’
  • Mustafa
  • November 18, 2016

It is approaching a year since I saw my then pregnant wife and our little girl

Donald Trump, played by Alec Baldwin on Saturday Night Live, right, was easily the most parodied candidate in US election history and he still won Oliver Callan: Donald Trump has killed satire
  • Oliver Callan
  • November 18, 2016

Satire exaggerates to make a point but just serves to confirm prejudice

Campaigns with contempt: “If they ever get their referendum, their contempt may lead to the same type of shock result liberals have just experienced here in the US.” Repeal campaign making the same mistake as Hillary Clinton
  • Phelim McAleer
  • November 17, 2016

Pro-abortion activists not addressing the concerns of people who want to be convinced

National Museum of Ireland - earmarked as a temporary home for the Seanad Colum Kenny: A radical idea to solve Seanad accommodation problem - it should get on the road
  • Colum Kenny
  • November 17, 2016

Forgot the museum plan, a Seanad roadshow to village halls would show a spirit of reform

US president Barack Obama met with US president-elect Donald Trump in the White House last week. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images People chose Trump for same reason they chose Obama
  • Kevin Cunningham
  • November 17, 2016

The electorate were looking for ‘change’ – a disruption in the existing system

Arlene Foster could lead unionism broadly and generously. She cannot do this with petulance and bad grace. Photograph: PA Newton Emerson: All Arlene Foster is learning in office is arrogance

Brusque DUP First Minister needs to tone down the tantrums

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote in the recent US presidential election. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA Kathy Sheridan: What can liberals learn from the US election?

Donald Trump won amid a complete disregard for what he was actually saying

Gerry Adams at the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Gerry Adams: Northern Ireland must be given special status within the EU
  • Gerry Adams
  • November 16, 2016

Brexit need not mean Brexit for the North’s citizens, who have a right to EU citizenship

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump points at the gathered media during his walk through at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, US. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters Journalists are helping to create a dangerous consensus
  • Declan Lawn
  • November 16, 2016

Brexit vote and US election showed media’s failure to ask the really difficult questions

Demonstrators protest on sidelines of COP22 climate conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Sunday. Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images Trump set to wreck international climate action
  • Joseph Curtin
  • November 15, 2016

President-elect’s plans will lead to dramatic rise in US emissions at critical time for planet

Prof Harry G Frankfurt, moral philosopher at Princeton University. In his treatise On Bullshit he directs his fire at members of his own profession. World Philosophy Day: We need to start talking about life’s ‘meaning’

If the world stops making sense, call the philosopher

Disputed legacy: British soldiers patrol the Bogside, Derry, in November 1971. Photograph: Darde/AFP/Getty Picking over the past in Northern Ireland is a waste of time and money
  • Chris Ryder
  • November 14, 2016

Files should be sealed until historians can make a measured analysis of the past 50 years

Capitol Hill, the seat of the United States Congress: might Trump’s success inspire a counter-movement aiming not just to restore the status quo but to fulfil the best ideals of American democracy? Equal voting rights needed to defeat Trumpism
  • Daniel Geary
  • November 14, 2016

It is no accident that it is non-whites who are disproportionately underrepresented

Katie Hopkins: In booking her, the Late Late Show placed itself on par with the worst of the barrel-scraping nighttime radio phone-in shows. Photograph: Ian Gavan/Getty Images I’m not angry at ‘Late Late Show’ over Katie Hopkins – I’m embarrassed

Making people roar at each other for entertainment value on serious issues is so over

Beyond the new horizon there are several possible positives to be gleaned from Donald Trump’s victory. Photographs: Getty Images Donald Trump presidency may have a silver lining

Election of divisive figure could turn out to be the kick some venerable institutions need

‘A great deal of Trump’s success could be attributed to voters not being able to stomach the prospect of four years of Hillary Clinton.’ Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters Breda O’Brien: People of faith need to uncouple from Trump

US religious right’s view of president-elect mirrors left’s stance on Hillary Clinton

Demonstrators protest against US president-elect Donald Trump in Oakland, California. Photograph: Peter DaSilva/EPA Why Donald Trump’s victory makes America great
  • Meghan Kelly
  • November 12, 2016

Robust democratic process underlines people’s will is still sovereign in the US

Donald Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, on the day before the US election. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty World View: Election result challenges everything the US stands for

Donald Trump’s foreign policy priorities will change the international order

Donald Trump’s touting of protectionism struck a chord with those desperate for some solution to their declining incomes. Photograph: Christopher Gregory/Getty Images Ireland has no equivalent to out-of-touch Washington elites

But Irish party system has lessons to learn from Donald Trump’s US victory

’Notions of community and civility have taken a battering during this election but that does not mean they are dead, given that Trump also managed to generate much disgust and distress in the US.’ Photograph: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Diarmaid Ferriter: Civility has withstood Trump’s assault

In dealing with the incoming US president, Ireland should not let self-interest rule

Displaced children, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, play in Khazer refugee camp, east of Mosul, in Iraq earlier this week. Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters We have moral obligation to help child asylum-seekers
  • Meg McMahon
  • November 11, 2016

Ireland must uphold rights of children and help alleviate their suffering

A trader reacts during TV coverage of Donald Trump’s victory speech. Photograph: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg Cliff Taylor: Donald Trump will make lower corporate tax a priority

Enticing back profits from US corporations overseas could be a popular early move

US president-elect Donald Trump – “vulgar, abusive, anti-immigrant, misogynistic and narcissistic, and he has been elected despite this”. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Trump is everything we do not want our children to be

We can deal with incoming US president without abandoning our self-respect

As iniquitous as it may seem, the vote of a college graduate/artist/creative/urban professional carries the exact same weight as that of someone living in a trailer park. Dems the rules. Photograph: Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters Brian Boyd: Liberal Snowflakes resort to ‘voter shaming’ over Trump victory

The people who punched the ballot for Obama in 2008 and 2012 (a good vote) but this time punched for Trump (a bad vote) are now being asked to explain themselves

Glasnevin Cemetery: The France-Ireland Memorial intends to recall, honour and pay tribute to the contribution of Irish men and women to the defence and freedom of France François Hollande: France’s gratitude to Ireland will be set in stone
  • Francois Hollande
  • November 11, 2016

‘By recalling this shared history we will rediscover purpose of the European project’

In Lisbon, Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave “paced the stage like a man who had lost his keys, clutching a tiny iPad as a life raft”. Photograph: Andre Kosters/EPA “Dear Web Summit, Pint soon? Yours, Ireland.”
  • Oliver Callan
  • November 11, 2016

Paddy Cosgrave’s creation is a global Irish brand as big as Tayto but as disliked as Bono

The ASTI had walked away from the collegiality of the INTO and TUI and the shelter of the wider public sector unions within the Lansdowne agreement. Photograph: Eric Luke Joe O’Toole: Demise of the Lansdowne Road agreement greatly exaggerated
  • Joe O'Toole
  • November 11, 2016

ASTI nearly took door off hinges in their rush to get back into parlour of conciliation

The man’s impetuousness, his shooting his mouth off, must horrify Americans accustomed to some dignity in their commander-in-chief. But they have voted for a joker, an entertainer-in-chief. They must now take the baggage that comes with it. Photograph: Timothy A Clary/AFP Calm down everybody: Donald Trump is not the worst and won’t go unchallenged
  • Simon Jenkins
  • November 10, 2016

Trump is a New York wheeler-dealer, not a redneck from the backwoods. He is no Reagan ideologue

Donald Trump after the first presidential debate: The minute he dipped his toe in the water, broadcast media rushed to him for ratings. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Media collaboration with Trump serves as salutary lesson

In a post-truth society where facts don’t matter, a surreal campaign was run on the lowest common denominator of hate

Democratic election night party: Trump may have hit a nerve among younger women who demand a better future but now sit shocked with the potential outcomes. Photograph: John Taggart/Bloomberg On the brink of history, American women were punched in the gut
  • Mary Lou Quinlan
  • November 10, 2016

Biggest lesson of Trump’s bragging showman campaign is that we cannot take decades of progress on feminism for granted

David Ervine at Stormont in 2006: the former PUP leader spun a story of working-class roots straight out of a Ken Loach movie. Photograph: Reuters Middle-class sectarianism claims are a terrible cliché

Violence of UDA and UVF still being traced to North’s drawing rooms

Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Sixty-two per cent of Americans living in small cities or rural places voted for Donald Trump. Photograph: Hilary Swift/The New York Times Colm Tóibín: Trump agenda will be felt for generations to come
  • Colm Toibin
  • November 10, 2016

Jaded Clinton trumped by toxic formula of surprise, menace and excitement

“Donald Trump – of those notably small, notably grabby, hands – brought four of Bill Clinton’s sexual accusers to the first presidential debate.” Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Anne Enright: Never has male anatomy been so waved about in politics
  • Anne Enright
  • November 10, 2016

Never in a million years could you imagine a female politician behaving like Trump

Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill: she was the wrong choice of candidate for the Democrats. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters Liberals and Democrats put Donald Trump in the White House
  • Thomas Frank
  • November 9, 2016

Hillary Clinton was wrong candidate, an insider when the States yelled for an outsider

GOP supporter Georgia Touloumes (86) of Venetia, Pa, expresses joy with her family as more states are announced for Donald Trump on early results. Photograph: Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) Thomas Friedman: The US wanted change and will get it
  • Thomas Friedman
  • November 9, 2016

Donald Trump must adapt his personality and politics if he is not to break America

Supporters of Donald Trump rally in front of the White House in Washington. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters Lara Marlowe: The world has just become a more dangerous place

Anger and disillusionment that propelled Trump to power is an epidemic in the West

President-elect Donald Trump arrives for his election night rally at the New York Hilton. Photograph: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Fintan O’Toole: The United Hates of America has raised its middle finger to the world

There is still another America, an America that will wake up feeling it has lost its country

“Governments need to clearly state what big-picture outcomes they wish to achieve. People want leadership. That’s why we elect governments.” Photograph: Eric Luke Government needs vision and delivery plan for public-sector pay
  • Turlough O'Sullivan
  • November 9, 2016

Cabinet must behave like a corporate entity to end uncertainty on public pay policy

Former UK ambassador Dominick Chilcott laying a wreath at the State event marking the deaths of British soldiers in the Easter Rising at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. Photograph: Eric Luke Criticism of Easter Rising commemoration way off the mark
  • Martin Mansergh
  • November 9, 2016

Events marking 1916 part of Decade of Centenaries which respects all traditions

Barack Obama: what he discovered – and what his successor will learn – is that every presidency lasts for only a brief moment in time. Photograph: Al Drago/The New York Times Obama passes the baton: an unfinished presidency
  • Michael D Shear
  • November 8, 2016

It will now be up to someone else to complete the change he envisaged and set in place

There is a particular kind of fear we know to be especially corrosive of democracy – status anxiety. When people are afraid of losing a status they have or have had, they turn nasty. Photograph: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images Fintan O'Toole: Trump is a symptom not the disease

Victory for Clinton would not mark end of crisis of democracy in United States

Pope Francis: has broken new ground by appointing two women to influential posts in the Vatican administration; as director of the Vatican museums and as deputy director of the Holy See’s press office. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP Vatican commission may lead to formal ministry for women
  • Msgr Tom Stack
  • November 8, 2016

Pope Francis has indicated a need to have women in more serious roles in church life

An Irishman's Diary

Olga Murphy. Photograph: Kim Haughton/UNHCR The ‘Magyar from Moyross – An Irishman’s Diary on a refugee’s journey from Hungary to Limerick in 1956
  • Ciarán D’Arcy
  • November 21, 2016

Our Columnists

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Una Mullally: Pro-Trump propaganda shows fakery has gone viral

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Breda O’Brien: breaking the silence on climate change

Diarmaid Ferriter Diarmaid Ferriter -

Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland needs a new leader in critical times

Cliff Taylor Cliff Taylor -

Cliff Taylor: Ballybrophy needs broadband not railway lines

Editorials

Papal: The quality of mercy

The view of the Vatican remains that abortion is a grave sin

Deficiencies and dysfunction re-surface in Irish maternity services

Unannounced inspection concluded Coombe hospital’s operating theatres posed a safety risk and were not “fit for purpose”

Letters

Canada, our old reliable friend
‘Target times’ and emergency care
Targeted approach to science as career
Coming to terms with Easter Rising
Time not right for student loan plan
Tobacco is not a normal product
Climate change and public opinion
Broadband and education
Michael Harding’s poetic licence
Pay and conditions in the public service

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