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Fintan O’Toole: It is time for Sinn Féin to come in from the cold

Fintan O’Toole: It is time for Sinn Féin to come in from the cold

A real democratic alternative has to include the biggest party of radical change

Tue Feb 04 2020 - 05:00
Fintan O’Toole: ‘Brexternity of endless uncertainty’ starts today

Fintan O’Toole: ‘Brexternity of endless uncertainty’ starts today

Brexit as advertised – all the benefits of being in the EU, none of the costs – was a fantasy

Fri Jan 31 2020 - 23:17
Fintan O’Toole: It is politically easier to keep spending on bad policies than to shift to good ones

Fintan O’Toole: It is politically easier to keep spending on bad policies than to shift to good ones

Political parties must be honest about what it takes to get real fiscal prudence

Tue Jan 28 2020 - 05:00
Fintan O’Toole: The terms of Brexit hold a great irony

Fintan O’Toole: The terms of Brexit hold a great irony

Issue of a populist project without a people, nationalist project without a nation remains

Sun Jan 26 2020 - 17:07

Fintan O'Toole: Safety-first politics has had its day

We have devised the most risk-averse political system in the democratic world. But more of the same is no longer the safe bet

Tue Jan 21 2020 - 11:59
Fintan O’Toole: Ten big questions for incoming politicians

Fintan O’Toole: Ten big questions for incoming politicians

In choosing a government, we should think of the major challenges between now and 2025

Sat Jan 18 2020 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Will Election 2020 be another story of cynical politics and patronage?

Fintan O’Toole: Will Election 2020 be another story of cynical politics and patronage?

Our politicians think we are not interested in long-term policies. The election will test if their cynicism is justified

Tue Jan 14 2020 - 08:10
Fintan O'Toole: Why do we fear the ghosts of dead policemen?

Fintan O'Toole: Why do we fear the ghosts of dead policemen?

Are Ireland’s wars truly over? For some people, there is still a hierarchy of victims

Sat Jan 11 2020 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Trump administration weaponises its talent for lying

Fintan O’Toole: Trump administration weaponises its talent for lying

False claim of involvement in 9/11 attacks used to justify Suleimani assassination

Tue Jan 07 2020 - 05:00
Fintan O’Toole: Five big questions for the coming decade

Fintan O’Toole: Five big questions for the coming decade

Can we decarbonise the global economy? Will democracy die? Could Ireland unite?

Sat Jan 04 2020 - 06:00
Recalling the Celtic Tiger: Insightful overview of the excitement and excess

Recalling the Celtic Tiger: Insightful overview of the excitement and excess

Book review: Fintan O'Toole on the effects, symptoms and consequences of Ireland’s economic boom

Sat Jan 04 2020 - 00:00
Fintan O’Toole: Varadkar’s vacuous slogan reveals mean streak

Fintan O’Toole: Varadkar’s vacuous slogan reveals mean streak

The Taoiseach’s campaign for the election will revive his catchphrase about ‘people who get up early in the morning’

Tue Dec 31 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: 2019 was a bit like Game of Thrones – lots of action, no climax

Fintan O’Toole: 2019 was a bit like Game of Thrones – lots of action, no climax

Year in Review: 2019 was a year of lots of extraordinary activity but not much movement

Sat Dec 28 2019 - 00:06
Fintan O'Toole: We need to sing a Christmas lullaby to ourselves

Fintan O'Toole: We need to sing a Christmas lullaby to ourselves

Embedded in the Nativity is the universal human experience of being cared for

Tue Dec 24 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Did the Irish Times ‘No Child 2020’ project work?

Fintan O’Toole: Did the Irish Times ‘No Child 2020’ project work?

There was some progress on child poverty in 2019, but many of the problems grew worse

Sat Dec 21 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O'Toole: The big question of the last decade is...

Fintan O'Toole: The big question of the last decade is...

The Decade in Culture: t’s up to us to reclaim the private self from Google and Facebook

Sat Dec 21 2019 - 05:00
Fintan O’Toole: UK election saw three big pillars of political stability crack on a single day

Fintan O’Toole: UK election saw three big pillars of political stability crack on a single day

The fragile UK is now in the hands of a man with the touch of a chicken strangler

Tue Dec 17 2019 - 07:50
Fintan O’Toole: Boris the loveable buffoon beats Johnson the charlatan

Fintan O’Toole: Boris the loveable buffoon beats Johnson the charlatan

Key voters know the British PM is a liar but they choose to collude with the spectacle

Tue Dec 10 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Labour's failure in this election will be due to Jeremy Corbyn

Fintan O’Toole: Labour's failure in this election will be due to Jeremy Corbyn

It is tragic that a potentially transformative moment for Britain depends on this man

Sat Dec 07 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: A banal moment in Brussels is a black joke on Ireland

Fintan O’Toole: A banal moment in Brussels is a black joke on Ireland

The departure of the last UK member of the EU commission has poignancy for Ireland

Tue Dec 03 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: All that austerity was a mistake. Awfully sorry

Fintan O’Toole: All that austerity was a mistake. Awfully sorry

A German official admits the cruel cuts imposed on Ireland were unnecessary

Sat Nov 30 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Schools with immigrants producing tomorrow’s Irish speakers

Fintan O’Toole: Schools with immigrants producing tomorrow’s Irish speakers

Blanchardstown school turns coping with 51 languages into a new way of teaching

Tue Nov 26 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Ireland’s well-off live five years longer than its poor

Fintan O’Toole: Ireland’s well-off live five years longer than its poor

People in the top layer of Irish society get five years more of life than those at the bottom

Sat Nov 23 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Brexit not the pure shining prize it once seemed

Fintan O’Toole: Brexit not the pure shining prize it once seemed

In Leave heartlands, people must decide if Brexit dream still worth sacrificing all else for

Tue Nov 19 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: How Donald Trump will survive impeachment

Fintan O’Toole: How Donald Trump will survive impeachment

The facts of the Ukrainian scandal are utterly damning, but that won’t matter

Sat Nov 16 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole on Brexit satire: It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious

Fintan O’Toole on Brexit satire: It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious

Books by @BorderIrish and Led By Donkeys are among the best satires of the Brexit era

Sat Nov 16 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O'Toole: What if Corbyn offered Sinn Féin a Border poll?

Fintan O'Toole: What if Corbyn offered Sinn Féin a Border poll?

Party’s voters have a right to know on what terms abstentionism might be abandoned

Tue Nov 12 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: What will EU demand for supporting us on Brexit?

Fintan O’Toole: What will EU demand for supporting us on Brexit?

In backing Ireland on the Border, the EU has been acting in its own interests too

Sat Nov 09 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Concern over hardcore porn is not moral panic

Fintan O’Toole: Concern over hardcore porn is not moral panic

We are doing something to our kids that has never been done before

Wed Nov 06 2019 - 05:00
Fintan O'Toole: Life in Direct Provision limbo is cruel and shameful

Fintan O'Toole: Life in Direct Provision limbo is cruel and shameful

Direct provision is based on the lie that even if the experience is miserable, it will be short

Tue Nov 05 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Gay Byrne held the key to Ireland’s locked room of secrets

Fintan O’Toole: Gay Byrne held the key to Ireland’s locked room of secrets

There is no other country in which light entertainment could lead into such dark territory

Tue Nov 05 2019 - 00:05
Fintan O’Toole: Boris Johnson has joined the undead

Fintan O’Toole: Boris Johnson has joined the undead

Brexit will never be laid to rest. It may even be destined to meander on forever

Sat Nov 02 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Do Fine Gael MEPs ever think about their own recent ancestors?

Fintan O’Toole: Do Fine Gael MEPs ever think about their own recent ancestors?

Migrant workers, like our ancestors, are heroes and heroines of the global economy

Tue Oct 29 2019 - 06:02
Fintan O’Toole: Northern Ireland is being detached from the UK. Get ready for it

Fintan O’Toole: Northern Ireland is being detached from the UK. Get ready for it

English nationalism is changing the political architecture of these islands

Sat Oct 26 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Johnson’s treachery will be turned on Ireland if and when it suits him

Fintan O’Toole: Johnson’s treachery will be turned on Ireland if and when it suits him

Deal with Brussels limits damage to Ireland by increasing damage to Britain

Tue Oct 22 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: DUP has foolishly trusted Johnson – who will always put Brexit over union

Fintan O’Toole: DUP has foolishly trusted Johnson – who will always put Brexit over union

Northern Ireland will be in the United Kingdom by law, but European Union by fact

Fri Oct 18 2019 - 01:00
Fintan O’Toole: Tories must grasp the profound stupidity of their approach to the North

Fintan O’Toole: Tories must grasp the profound stupidity of their approach to the North

Brexit deal depends on Britain restoring disinterest towards Northern Ireland

Tue Oct 15 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Everybody knows Ireland’s fiscal rules are daft

Fintan O’Toole: Everybody knows Ireland’s fiscal rules are daft

Rules that shape budget are part of disastrous response to banking crisis

Tue Oct 08 2019 - 07:17
Fintan O’Toole: Will Brexit end like Emmerdale or Crossroads?

Fintan O’Toole: Will Brexit end like Emmerdale or Crossroads?

If only the scriptwriters could kill off half the cast, or pretend it was all just a bad dream

Sat Oct 05 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O'Toole on Tim Robinson's Experiments on Reality: Illuminating insight on the material world

Fintan O'Toole on Tim Robinson's Experiments on Reality: Illuminating insight on the material world

Book review: Tim Robinson etches his moments on nature for us in indelible sentences

Sat Oct 05 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Boris has destroyed what is left of UK’s credibility

Fintan O’Toole: Boris has destroyed what is left of UK’s credibility

British government has broken its own solemn legal and political commitments

Thu Oct 03 2019 - 14:52
Fintan O’Toole: There is a pretence the British union is to be saved at all costs

Fintan O’Toole: There is a pretence the British union is to be saved at all costs

The British PM declared himself minister for the union – a sure sign it’s in trouble

Tue Oct 01 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Greta Thunberg is a prophet, preacher, rulebreaker, avenging angel

Fintan O’Toole: Greta Thunberg is a prophet, preacher, rulebreaker, avenging angel

The climate activist is incapable of blocking out truths the rest of us prefer not to think about

Sat Sept 28 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Michael O’Leary’s golden ticket is for a ride to nowhere

Fintan O’Toole: Michael O’Leary’s golden ticket is for a ride to nowhere

Revolt against staggering bonus shows culture of ‘incentives’ running out of road

Tue Sept 24 2019 - 08:23
Fintan O’Toole: We must let Boris Johnson declare his genius

Fintan O’Toole: We must let Boris Johnson declare his genius

A version of the Northern Ireland-only backstop would be a triumph of Irish diplomacy

Sat Sept 21 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: Ireland’s Apple appeal is a disastrous miscalculation

Fintan O’Toole: Ireland’s Apple appeal is a disastrous miscalculation

Government should withdraw the appeal and apologise to our neighbours

Tue Sept 17 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O’Toole: For the first time since 1171, Ireland is more powerful than Britain

Fintan O’Toole: For the first time since 1171, Ireland is more powerful than Britain

There is far too much at stake to take any pleasure in this bizarre political reversal

Sat Sept 14 2019 - 06:00
Fintan O'Toole: In a world ruled by babies, we have to grow up fast

Fintan O'Toole: In a world ruled by babies, we have to grow up fast

With adults such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson acting like children in high office, children are providing leadership

Tue Sept 10 2019 - 06:00
The vices that led Johnson to power are useless when you have to wield it

The vices that led Johnson to power are useless when you have to wield it

Fintan O’Toole: Johnson’s stock of trust is fatally low, not least in Dublin

Mon Sept 09 2019 - 10:04
British politics this week like the mad scenes in King Lear

British politics this week like the mad scenes in King Lear

Boris Johnson’s Brexit ploy has always been innately absurd

Sat Sept 07 2019 - 06:00
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