Children’s hospital, Metrolink and bike shed are all symptoms of a deep governmental malaiseLike Britain, we suffer from advanced administrative sclerosis, but we’re in complete denialWed Sept 25 2024 - 06:00
Ireland must tackle the ‘pull factors’ that attract asylum applicants A proposal to charge asylum seekers with jobs €15 or €25 a week for accommodation is a pathetic responseWed Sept 18 2024 - 06:00
Housing crisis will not be solved by Sinn Féin or Coalition Idea that local authorities can deliver housing faster than building contractors is daft ideological posturingWed Sept 11 2024 - 06:00
A €336,000 bike shelter is cheap compared with cost of transforming Leinster House libraryIndependent Senators have been trying to see OPW plans to transform the beautiful members’ library at Leinster House into a ‘main committee room’ for the Dáil, to no availWed Sept 04 2024 - 06:00
Why is our capacity to deliver infrastructure projects worse now than it was in the 19th century?A railway was built from Dublin to Cork with little more than a shovel and a pick in the 1840s. Today the Shannon pipeline project will take 15-20 years from conception to completion - and that’s if all goes wellWed Aug 28 2024 - 06:00
Ireland is in no position to accept 25,000 homeless migrants claiming asylum every yearIt is idle to debate whether ‘Ireland is full’. But it is not idle to acknowledge the glaring truth that Ireland is in no position to accept 25,000 homeless migrants claiming asylum every yearWed Aug 21 2024 - 06:00
Trump’s ‘conversation’ with Musk reveals dangers that were not made explicit until now Former US president lauds Russian leader while being profoundly hostile to the European UnionWed Aug 14 2024 - 06:00
Is the Metrolink really the best way to provide a rail link to Dublin Airport?A new strategy review document favours building a surface railway to serve Dublin airport by linking it to the Dublin suburban network at ClongriffinWed Aug 07 2024 - 06:00
A Trump presidency will embolden Putin and Netanyahu and present a dreadful danger for the worldMichael McDowell: The future of the United States is now at stake as never before. Bound up in that is the viability of liberal democracies around the world in the face of totalitarianismWed Jul 31 2024 - 06:15
Our party whip system is too severe. Politicians should be able to vote with their conscienceBritish and American systems do not quake at the thought of governments losing votes via their supporters who disagree with the majorityWed Jul 24 2024 - 05:47
Seanad is an institution chosen by graduates and stuffed with political wannabesWith reform repeatedly promised and not delivered, the only way to fix the lack of Seanad reform it is at the next Dáil electionWed Jul 17 2024 - 06:00
Let’s not make the ill-conceived Dublin traffic plan the subject of a culture warSloganeering about “populism” is over the top when discussing real peoples’ real concerns for their cityWed Jul 10 2024 - 06:00
Democrats need to find an alternative to Biden-Harris ticketMichael McDowell: The recent debate proved Biden is well past his political sell-by date and urgent action is required to prevent the unthinkable of Donald Trump reclaiming the White HouseWed Jul 03 2024 - 06:00
Brexit has been a disaster but Britain will not admit itSelf-inflicted economic, diplomatic and strategic damage will be blamed on Rishi Sunak by Tory media and not on Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss or the Brexit-cheerleading media itselfWed Jun 26 2024 - 06:00
Uncontrolled asylum acting as a cover for economic migration needs a more radical responseThe question needs to be asked why Ireland, on the geographical periphery of the EU, is facing 30,000 claims for international protection each yearWed Jun 19 2024 - 06:00
Sinn Féin collapse does not mean voters want the current Government to get another runThe mutual backslapping between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael marked a watershed moment in Irish politics, but voters need more choices than just a hard-left coalition or the status quoWed Jun 12 2024 - 06:00
Michael McDowell: The biggest problem of the housing crisis is the Department of HousingSuccessive ministers in the department have failed utterly to appreciate this factWed Jun 05 2024 - 07:00
Michael McDowell: Irish ‘sneaking regarders’ of Trump are naive about the threat he poses to democracyMichael McDowell: Democracy has never hung on such a fraying thread since the dark days of the 1930sWed May 29 2024 - 06:00
We are victims of a disgraceful campaign of concealment by GovernmentReferendums are not mere political games. What we now know happened should have political consequenceWed May 22 2024 - 06:00
Michael McDowell: Simon Harris’s Duracell bunny, frantic honeymoon approach to being TaoiseachA recently announced Dublin taskforce is typical of the campaign to counter falling support for Harris's governmentWed May 15 2024 - 06:00
Ireland’s capacity to control migration in a policy-driven, sustainable way is brokenWhile the Rwanda option remains on the UK’s statute book, Irish courts will be obliged to refuse deportation of migrants refused asylum to the UKWed May 08 2024 - 06:00
Parents must guide how sex education is taught in schoolsDiscussion of gender identity among children and adolescents has become much more prominent in the last decade. Questions remain about the extent to which schools should deal with such complex issuesWed May 01 2024 - 06:00
If the worst happens, who would come to Ireland’s defence? We are acutely vulnerable to threatThe Irish State now has fewer than 10,000 trained military members that it could call up in the event of an emergencyWed Apr 24 2024 - 06:00
EU asylum pact is in danger of being rushed through without scrutinyA massive black hole has opened up between the Oireachtas and the EU legislative processWed Apr 17 2024 - 06:00
Escalation of the conflict in Gaza may be exactly what Netanyahu wantsIsraeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu may have calculated that widening the conflict frames him as someone fighting an existential war for Israel’s survivalWed Apr 10 2024 - 06:00
Republicans who do not respect unionists or recognise State are standing in way of united IrelandCommemorative and funeral marches by non-State actors wearing uniforms are polarising, ridiculous and ultimately unrepublicanWed Apr 03 2024 - 06:00
Sinn Féin is this island’s best resourced political party, the beneficiary of a legacy of barbarismThe effects of the Provisional movement’s fundraising campaign are still visible in Irish politics, north and southWed Mar 27 2024 - 06:00
Israel must be firmly told ‘enough is enough’Cynically choking off food, water and medical supplies to defenceless, vulnerable and suffering people is utterly unforgiveableWed Mar 20 2024 - 06:00
No matter how we try to airbrush reality, mothers and fathers are not the sameEven if we live in an era where the duties of parenting are becoming more fairly shared, it is the case that parental and other caring duties fall more on womenWed Mar 13 2024 - 06:00
Wholly implausible to suggest amendments will have no serious consequence It is not only the law of intestacy or taxation that is likely to be involved by the proposed constitutional amendments, there are wide-ranging legal implicationsWed Mar 06 2024 - 06:00
Referendums ask us to insert a toothless aspiration and approve some vague-minded proposals about marriageWe are offered assurances that nothing much will change - and passionate claims that the amendments are importantWed Feb 28 2024 - 06:00
Has anyone thought about what happens when a durable relationship ends? Chaos will arise from competing 'family' arrangements existing with no clarity as to when and how they begin, exist, and endWed Feb 21 2024 - 06:00
No true republican should wish for the failure of Northern IrelandOne important truth has emerged from Andrew Trimble’s thoughtful TV documentaryWed Feb 14 2024 - 05:30
A Yes vote on the family referendum is a vote for a foreseeable and avoidable messIf it is passed, the durable relationship family will be elevated to being an “institution” with rights “inalienable and imprescriptible”Wed Feb 07 2024 - 06:00
It’s not fanciful or contrived to ask questions about ‘throuples’ in referendum debateImplications of the proposed amendments to constitutionally detach ‘family’ from ‘marriage’ remain very real and obvious for many areas of law, including family lawWed Jan 31 2024 - 05:57
Do we want a society in which non-marital relationships are the easier, equal and growing norm?Handing the role of determining what is or is not a durable relationship to the courts seems unnecessary and unwise because of its knock-on effects for marriages and the familyWed Jan 24 2024 - 06:00
The sad truth is that we do not have urban planning anywhere in IrelandIf Dublin is to become a liveable thriving urban community, we need vision and the means to make that vision a realityWed Jan 17 2024 - 06:00
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it: voting No is wisest option in upcoming blindman’s buff referendumsThe Constitution does not confine women’s choices in any way, therefore no amendments are needed. And what are ‘durable relationships’?Wed Jan 10 2024 - 05:45
Can Joe Biden devise a strategy to pull ahead of Trump?The US economy is doing well. But even if that continues, it will not of itself re-elect Biden. Nobody fears that Trump will crash the economyWed Jan 03 2024 - 06:00
Before Metrolink juggernaut becomes a money pit, let’s look at alternativesWhat is it about the Irish State that causes massive delays and overspends on nearly every big project?Wed Dec 27 2023 - 06:00
Sheer foreseeability of what is happening in Gaza robs Biden’s handwringing of all credibilityDo intelligent Israelis not see that they are, in the words of the Old Testament, now sowing the wind and will reap the whirlwind?Wed Dec 20 2023 - 06:00
Judicial appointments Act may be deemed constitutional, but it is still a dog’s dinnerIf the Government does not want to appoint shortlisted applicants to judicial office, it can ask the Judicial Appointments Commission to re-run its selection process. Is this conducive to judicial independence?Wed Dec 13 2023 - 05:44
Politicians losing touch with public opinion on thorny issue of migrationCentral question not whether migration is good or bad — core issue is whether we regulate effectively or allow it become a free-for-allWed Dec 06 2023 - 06:20
We need to get real: the entire system of criminal justice is in crisisDublin’s image has been severely damaged by last week’s rioting, but some of the most vulnerable and deprived communities have been most damagedWed Nov 29 2023 - 06:00
It’s hard to see how having a Bloody Sunday Bridge advances bridge-buildingAnd what message does it send to unionists if we start erasing the word ‘royal’ from our institutions?Wed Nov 22 2023 - 06:00
As David Norris discovered, it matters a lot who is appointed to the Supreme CourtOnly the Government is entrusted to decide whether the Supreme Court should be liberal or conservative in characterWed Nov 15 2023 - 06:00
Prospect of an early election is looming large in the imaginations of many in Leinster HouseA general election in mid-April/early May of 2024 must have its attractions for Leo Varadkar and Fine GaelWed Nov 08 2023 - 06:00
How far will Rishi Sunak’s government go to deny the slaughter in Gaza?Those protesting against what some western politicians justify in Gaza are not advocating terrorism; they are demanding that mass killing, terrorising and brutalising stopWed Nov 01 2023 - 06:15
Grotesque notion of ‘super-majority’ would have killed Belfast Agreement The idea that a minority of 42% of voters could in perpetuity keep 58% of Northern Ireland voters within the United Kingdom against their wishes is political nonsenseWed Oct 25 2023 - 06:00
Israel’s retribution on the people of Gaza is exactly what Hamas plannedSuccessive Irish governments have failed us by tolerating the EU’s acquiescence to the creeping annexation of the West BankWed Oct 18 2023 - 06:00
