Opinion & Analysis | The Irish Times

Garda checkpoints in Fairview, Dublin following the introduction of Level 3 restrictions. Photograph: Tom Honan / The Irish Times.

Urgent need to learn from our Covid-19 mistakes

Pete Lunn
September 21, 2020

While Ireland initially responded well to the challenge, it has now lost its way

A quiet street in Temple Bar. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Una Mullally: Why is Dublin being starved of outdoor dining spaces?

Una Mullally
September 21, 2020

Multiple ideal areas are bereft of life as the city council does nothing to help

US supreme court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg who was suffering from pancreatic cancer died at her home in Washington on Friday. She was 87. Photograph: NIcholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Ginsburg’s death puts spotlight on US supreme court’s shortcomings

Suzanne Lynch
September 20, 2020

Trump could nominate third judge for lifelong term even if he loses upcoming election

Ernest Blythe: cut the old-age pension by a shilling a week in his 1924 budget

A costly shilling – Ernest Blythe and the old-age pension

Finola Kennedy
September 20, 2020

An Irishwoman’s Diary

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly arriving at the unveiling of the Irish Government’s blueprint for living with Covid-19 in Dublin on Tuesday, September 15th, 2020. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA Wire

The five lies we told ourselves about coronavirus

Jennifer O'Connell
September 19, 2020

Jennifer O’Connell: Why we are losing faith in Project Flatten the Curve

For Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s special adviser, Brexit is a wrecking ball aimed at the British institutions he despises: parliament, the judiciary, the Tory Party, the civil service, the BBC, Oxbridge. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Fintan O’Toole: It is June 24th, 2025 – and Brexit has worked

Fintan O'Toole
September 19, 2020

But the reality is that the Brexit fantasists have failed. Only the disruptors are still standing

UK prime minister Boris Johnson (left) and former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. Photographs: Neil Hall/EPA and Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty

David McWilliams: Johnson’s UK and Milosevic’s Yugoslavia – spot the difference

David McWilliams
September 19, 2020

This could be the beginning of the end of the UK as the centre now struggles to hold

At present in Ireland it is as if we are driving the national motor vehicle towards a large tree. We have not yet changed direction enough to avoid it and we are heading towards a crash. Photograph: The Irish Times

Prof Sam McConkey: This is the beginning of the second Covid-19 wave in Ireland

Sam McConkey
September 19, 2020

Immediate and co-ordinated decisive actions are needed from all five million of us

Most people are unaware that FET courses already have better retention rates than higher education. File photograph: The Irish Times

Breda O’Brien: Why the class of 2020 should consider further education

Breda O'Brien
September 19, 2020

Undervalued system offers lots of opportunities to progress to higher education in Ireland and abroad

Restrictions in Dublin, which represents not far off half the economy’s output, will have a wider economic impact. Photograph: Getty Images

Dublin will need a rescue plan after these new Covid-19 restrictions

Cliff Taylor
September 19, 2020

Cliff Taylor: Ecosystem of life in the city centre set to take another big blow

The hope that a Biden victory would allow the world to pick up where it left off in 2016 is wishful thinking. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The days of ‘normal’ US foreign policy are over – and Joe Biden will not change that

Ruadhán Mac Cormaic
September 19, 2020

World View: America’s inward turn predates Donald Trump and will outlast him

Jim O’Callaghan: he knows that the voters would not look kindly on an old-style Fianna Fáil heave three months after the party returned to government

Pat Leahy: Ditching Micheál Martin now would be hugely damaging to Fianna Fáil

Pat Leahy
September 19, 2020

Rival Jim O’Callaghan is not stupid enough to think that a heave could be undertaken now

Eastern Promise –Frank McNally on a disorienting year

Frank McNally
September 18, 2020

An Irishman’s Diary

Micheál Martin: the Government is struggling to deal with two contradictory imperatives. One is to protect public health and the other is to avoid economic disaster. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Mixed messages and one-upmanship within Government need to stop

Stephen Collins
September 18, 2020

Major improvement in Irish test and tracing system remains a priority

Those with power in Downing Street have no regard for Northern Ireland or the DUP.

Diarmaid Ferriter: Those in Downing Street have no regard for the North or the DUP

Diarmaid Ferriter
September 18, 2020

Boris Johnson just the latest British poltician to use unionism to advance his own agenda

As my pregnancy progresses, we are now considering the ‘what ifs’ which may arise in November. File photograph: iStock

My husband can go for a pint but can’t support me giving birth?

Brienna Daly
September 18, 2020

Restrictions could impose irreparable emotional damage on pregnant women

“The bollards are part of a trial to discourage motorised drop-offs and make the place safer for children.”

Season’s Greetings – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of autumn 2020

Frank McNally
September 17, 2020

An Irishman’s Diary

Phil Hogan resigned his position as European commissioner for trade following Golfgate. Photograph: EPA/Stephanie Lecocq

Political accountability in Ireland is alive and doing okay

Bobby McDonagh
September 17, 2020

New Covid-19 oversight committee is not a mudguard for the Government

Jedward taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles in June. Photograph: Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images

Finn McRedmond: Cometh the hour, cometh the Jedward

Finn McRedmond
September 17, 2020

How the woke warrior twins capitalised on a zeitgeist and schooled the A-listers

Boris Johnson claims the European Commission has threatened a ‘food blockade’ of Northern Ireland, which is clearly incorrect in the sense of physically preventing goods arriving from Britain. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/AFP via Getty Images

Newton Emerson: Brussels is threatening the North's food supply

Newton Emerson
September 17, 2020

Both the EU and UK are cynically using Northern Ireland as a bargaining chip

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Editorials

The Irish Times view on the global fight against Covid-19: Leadership matters

Lessons should be drawn from worldwide experiences about the value of classical governing skills

The Irish Times view on spit hoods: They should be phased out

The Policing Authority has voiced repeated opposition to so-called spit hoods given to gardaí

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Our Columnists

Una Mullally

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Una Mullally: Why is Dublin being starved of outdoor dining spaces?

David McWilliams

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David McWilliams: Johnson’s UK and Milosevic’s Yugoslavia – spot the difference

Breda O'Brien

Breda O'Brien -

Breda O’Brien: Why the class of 2020 should consider further education

Cliff Taylor

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Dublin will need a rescue plan after these new Covid-19 restrictions

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