Still plenty of water in the well of the Troubles era for writers to draw onAnna Burns should pay no more heed to politically motivated criticisms than Heaney or McGahernSat Oct 20 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland’s position on climate change is a very dark jokeThe gulf between the Government’s rhetoric and action has grown to farcical proportionsSun Oct 14 2018 - 13:07
It’s hard to know what the DUP is about anymoreArlene Foster does not seem to have contributed to the welfare of the North for a long timeSat Oct 06 2018 - 05:00
The island priests: piety and poitín on the edge of IrelandNowhere was the relationship between the clergy and parishoners more sharply observed than on offshore islandsSat Sept 29 2018 - 05:30
Diarmaid Ferriter: England has always used the Border for its own gainTory Brexiteers still fail to grasp the complexity and centrality of the issueSat Sept 29 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Political concepts inform role of presidentPresidency free to promote strong sense of justice not always State-approvedSat Sept 22 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Role of women in the home remains enigmaConstitution’s article 41.2 has never been tested in terms of gender rightsSat Sept 15 2018 - 05:00
‘Leo Varadkar: A Very Modern Taoiseach’ is shallow, flimsy and exaggeratedDiarmaid Ferriter on a premature analysis that fails to prove its pointSat Sept 08 2018 - 06:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Lotto price rises have not helped those in needFar too little focus goes on how lottery funds are distributedSat Sept 08 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: What ever happened to free education in Ireland?Ireland has a long established ‘educational market’ with middle and upper classes free to migrate to private service provision to make up for deficits in the public systemSat Sept 01 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Irish Catholicism is rooted in class prejudiceThe Catholic Church’s historical mix of charity and snobbery gave rise to crueltySat Aug 25 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: ‘Cultural Catholic’ is a euphemism for lazy hypocriteAmid Church failures to confront decades of abuse, Ireland still has devoted believersSat Aug 18 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: An election will be good for the integrity of the presidencyMichael D Higgins has to do something without precedent; separate the office from the candidate as a sitting presidentSat Aug 04 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Truth of what lies beneath Tuam home must be uncoveredIt is unacceptable that confusion over site has been allowed drag on for four yearsSat Jul 28 2018 - 05:00
A bloody difficult woman? Theresa May isn’t nearly difficult enoughDiarmaid Ferriter: The PM’s Brexit strategy is to limp on. She should face down her criticsSat Jul 21 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Pope’s visit might save us from Mother Mary MadiganPerhaps she could lead a merry band of female dope smokers, fornicators and papal protestersSat Jun 30 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: We can’t let dark past define Irish social historyContemporary emotion can cloud historical assessment and destroy nuanceSat Jun 23 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Semantics and Ireland’s tax statusDepartment of Finance persists in denying Ireland is world’s biggest tax havenSat Jun 16 2018 - 05:00
The Cambridge History of Ireland: A mammoth, inspiring workTom Bartlett’s four-volume edition is a marvellously satisfying 1,500-year surveySat Jun 02 2018 - 07:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Who fears to speak of May 1968?Critics argue social revolution sparked by Paris protests has run its courseSat May 26 2018 - 05:00
Tom Murphy confronted the Famine’s legacy of silenceDiarmaid Ferriter: He went early and courageously to uncomfortable placesSat May 19 2018 - 05:00
Higgins is right that history should be compulsory for Junior CertWe should be aware of the ignorance the downgrading of history has generated elsewhereSat May 05 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: British indifference to Irish Border is indefensibleBorder is being taken as seriously as the boundary commissioners in Spike Milligan’s ‘Puckoon’Sat Apr 28 2018 - 05:00
Sinn Féin and the conscription crisisFor the newly-galvanised party, 1918 was characterised by protest, piety, propaganda, prison and ultimately political triumphTue Apr 24 2018 - 00:00
The Pro Life Campaign’s definition of love is cruelDiarmaid Ferriter: It is a strange kind of love that denies a teenage rape victim an abortionSat Apr 21 2018 - 05:00
Northern politicians must sort out their own problemsSurely the point of the Belfast Agreement was the opportunity afforded for self-determination?Sat Apr 14 2018 - 05:00
Catholic morality has been replaced by a destructive sexualityDiarmaid Ferriter: Ireland’s attitudes towards sex are still hugely problematicSat Apr 07 2018 - 05:00
Anti-abortion movement trusts politicians only when it suits themDiarmaid Ferriter: Eighth Amendment was result of efforts in 1983 to politicise abortionSat Mar 31 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Pope’s visit will do little for image of church in IrelandWomen looking to be taken seriously in Church organisation will still be ‘shouting from outside’Sat Mar 24 2018 - 05:00
As Schmidt has taught Ireland’s rugby team, so he can teach the rest of usDiarmaid Ferriter: Grand-slam coach ended ‘glorious’ failures with proper organisationSat Mar 17 2018 - 19:57
Kindling the Flame: 150 years of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation by Niamh Puirséil – striking the right balanceA measure of the INTO’s resilience is that it had 7,000 members in the North by 2017Sat Mar 17 2018 - 06:00
We must listen to civic unionism’s concerns about Irish language ActState intervention may only deepen divide and it could prove counterproductiveSat Mar 17 2018 - 05:00
Varadkar’s spin strategy undermines his leadershipDiarmaid Ferriter: Taoiseach should learn from Blair on the dangers of the ‘constant campaign’Sat Mar 10 2018 - 05:00
Ireland 1916-2016 review – rigorous, accessible and often irreverentRoy Foster and others show the humanities’ role in urgent contemporary debateSat Mar 03 2018 - 06:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: The snow makes me think of Tom Crean’s brother CorneliusThe Creans’ legacy reveals much about loyalty and service as we approach War of Independence centenarySat Mar 03 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Both sides to the Brexit debate can lay claim to ChurchillIn recent years, the Tory simplification of British history has been nakedly politicalSat Feb 24 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Irish banks have abused customers for centuriesHistory shows that our financial institutions have consistently mistreated the publicSat Feb 17 2018 - 05:00
Most TDs not remotely interested in ending Dáil gender imbalanceDiarmaid Ferriter: Women in Dáil have been quite a nuisance over the decadesSat Feb 10 2018 - 05:00
Around the world with Norman Davies: a powerful history lessonBeneath Another Sky is an ambitious project – both travel guide and historical narrativeSat Feb 03 2018 - 06:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland faces a day of reckoning on abortionThe State is finally confronting the consequences of the 1983 referendumSat Feb 03 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Abortionist Mamie Cadden was no Vera DrakeCruel backstreet operator was product of decades of denial and legal ambiguitySat Jan 27 2018 - 05:00
Detective Gerry O’Carroll owes Joanne Hayes an apologyDiarmaid Ferriter: The retired garda still insists Hayes gave birth to the Cahersiveen babySat Jan 20 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Paddy Harte’s courage is still neededThe Fine Gael TD sought to open eyes on both sides in the North in the face of great hostilitySat Jan 13 2018 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Time for Ireland to recognise PalestineGovernment has opportunity to take lead within EU on Palestinian questionSat Jan 06 2018 - 05:00
100 years of slow progress since women got the vote2018 should be year women are afforded ‘high place in the councils’ of a free IrelandSat Dec 30 2017 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Romantic notions no match for ugly realities of warThe focus extends to the Civil War and this reveals some of the book's strongest materialSat Dec 23 2017 - 06:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Ireland should learn from 1921 treaty to avoid future problems with Brexit dealNegotiations of 1921 show need for Brexit talks to be built around legal claritySat Dec 16 2017 - 05:00
The DUP acts as if Brexit is everyone else’s problemBy reverting to the ‘Ulster Says No’ sloganeering it may well end up being the big loserSat Dec 09 2017 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Department of Justice has history of dismissing challengesPast shows Government not unpractised in contempt for those exposing wrongdoingSat Dec 02 2017 - 05:00
Diarmaid Ferriter: Gerry Adams’s career ends in irony not failureSF revolutionary politics have led party to being open to be FG’s junior partnerSat Nov 25 2017 - 05:00
