Why was William Shakespeare so hard to pin down?CULTURE SHOCK: Shakespeare leaves us as audiences gripped not by the enigma of his personality but by the enigma of human life…Sat Nov 05 2011 - 00:00
€72bn Nama 'investment' just none of our businessBRENDAN HOWLIN’S attempt to blame the Referendum Commission for the failure of the referendum on Oireachtas powers of investigation…Tue Nov 01 2011 - 00:00
We should be recovering our Magdalen history, not burying itCULTURE SHOCK: The striking thing about the Magdalen story is that its resurrection owes more to art than to politics or journalism…Sat Oct 29 2011 - 01:00
Nothing ordinary about glimpses of people power that defined raceIT SURELY tells us something about the bizarre nature of the campaign that, in the end, Michael D Higgins – colourful, passionate…Sat Oct 29 2011 - 01:00
Time to show we are no longer suckersWe have to decide that if you’re part of a toxic past, you’re not well placed to represent a decent futureTue Oct 25 2011 - 01:00
The Irish play rises again. Only this time it's in EnglandCULTURE SHOCK: I WROTE LAST WEEK about the way Dublin Theatre Festival had highlighted a crisis in the old notion of the literary…Sat Oct 22 2011 - 01:00
We should never hold election like this againAT BEST, the presidential election campaign should have given us some hope by becoming a real discussion about what kind of country…Tue Oct 18 2011 - 01:00
The new theatre: magical, visible, hiddenCULTURE SHOCK: THE 2011 DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL is, I believe, the most significant in 30 yearsSat Oct 15 2011 - 01:00
Presidential blather a mix of sweet nothingsIGNORANT OF our past, despairs of our future. Shame at home, contempt abroad. The president who will disgrace usSat Oct 08 2011 - 01:00
Tall cross at Monasterboice, ninth centuryA HISTORY OF IRELAND IN 100 OBJECTS: When hurlers and Gaelic footballers describe their ultimate ambition, they often use a …Sat Oct 08 2011 - 01:00
Course of true theatre never should run smoothCULTURE SHOCK: THERE ARE TWO Dublin Theatre Festivals, the rough one and the smooth oneSat Oct 08 2011 - 01:00
Show me the money: it's dollars that drive the best US dramaCULTURE SHOCK: IN THIS, THE GOLDEN AGE of American TV drama, there is one infallible way of separating the wheat from the chaff…Sat Oct 01 2011 - 01:00
Now the bubble has burst, we're left with our real treasuresCULTURE SHOCK: IN A BRILLIANT poem, Aerialist , in his recent collection Of All Places , John McAuliffe captures the sense of…Sat Sept 24 2011 - 01:00
McGuinness push for park is a step too farShould we appoint a head of State who could be liable to arrest for war crimes under international law?Tue Sept 20 2011 - 01:00
Rules of engagement for a decade of centenariesCULTURE SHOCK: IN THE Jesting of Arlington Stringham , by the strange and wonderful English writer Saki (HH Munro), the eponymous…Sat Sept 17 2011 - 01:00
Reckless, feckless and feral employer is all talk, talkThe British broadband company’s ‘Brighter Basics’ values is in stark contrast with its treatment of workersTue Sept 13 2011 - 01:00
A history of Ireland in 100 objects Ardagh Chalice, eighth centuryIt was found in 1868, under a stone slab in Reerasta, near Ardagh, Co Limerick, with a second, much plainer bronze chalice and…Sat Sept 10 2011 - 01:00
Still no end in sight to harm triggered by 9/11 backlashOPINION: ONE OF the instant clichés spawned by 9/11 was that “the world will never be the same again”Sat Sept 10 2011 - 01:00
In a memorable decade, why throw history out of the window?CULTURE SHOCK: HISTORY MATTERS IN IRELAND, not least because the past is so unsettled.Sat Sept 10 2011 - 01:00
The truth of Sam Shepard's curse on the American dreamCULTURE SHOCK: ASIDE ALTOGETHER from its well-established relationship with the leading living playwright of the US, it is easy…Sat Sept 03 2011 - 01:00
Beckett remade as a radio starCULTURE SHOCK: ‘ALL THE DEAD voices,” say Didi and Gogo in the most beautiful passage of Waiting for GodotSat Aug 27 2011 - 01:00
Bad politics behind great oil and gas giveawayOUR CHILDREN and grandchildren will see us as a weak and inept generation.Tue Aug 23 2011 - 01:00
Life for Irish children has finally improved after decades of neglect. But are we about to let them down again?THE LIFE OF THE IRISH CHILD: This week Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald acknowledged the State’s role…Sat Aug 20 2011 - 01:00
Break a leg or two: the stage was always set for running riotCULTURE SHOCK: Mass disorder and the theatre share a deep connection that harks back to a time before luvvies, when theatres…Sat Aug 20 2011 - 01:00
Let's make Norway joint owner of our oil and gasThe State is about to sign away almost all our resources on terms by far the worst in the developed worldTue Aug 16 2011 - 01:00
Real austerity brings inclusivity, inspiration and inventionCULTURE SHOCK: The Cultúrlann in Derry has been shortlisted for the architectural Oscars, the Stirling PrizeSat Aug 13 2011 - 01:00
Gaybo's crafted persona and the man named ByrneANALYSIS: IN THE heat of the presidential election campaign of 1990, Mary Robinson appeared on The Late Late ShowFri Aug 12 2011 - 01:00
The West is always in decline, even when it isn'tCULTURE SHOCK: Even when western domination was at its height, books predicting the collapse of western civilisation were bestsellers…Sat Aug 06 2011 - 01:00
Norris acted wrongly but should not be scapegoatTHERE IS a simple principle to be applied to the case of David Norris’s pleas on behalf of a man convicted of having sex with…Tue Aug 02 2011 - 01:00
Norway has shown us best answer to terrorismTHERE IS a deep connection between the two horror stories of the last week – the massacre in Norway and the famine in Somalia…Tue Jul 26 2011 - 01:00
Crisis goes far beyond 'bad apple' economiesIf the ‘titan’ US economy is still its testing ground, capitalism is in long-term troubleTue Jul 05 2011 - 01:00
A history of Ireland in 100 objectsPetrie Crown, second century: The Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets. The Iron Age Irish didSat Jul 02 2011 - 01:00
'Molly Sweeney' lives in the four corners of FrielCULTURE SHOCK: ONE OF Brian Friel’s best short stories is called The DivinerSat Jul 02 2011 - 01:00
The decisive and brilliant influence of Kader AsmalDuring his time in Ireland as an anti-apartheid activist, Kader showed us what a politician should beTue Jun 28 2011 - 01:00
Removal of signs shows we are going wrong wayThe removal of the iconic Ballyvaughan signposts points to three different kinds of official stupidityTue Jun 21 2011 - 01:00
