Michael McDowell: Dublin’s planners are failing to help our capital to flourishEverybody wants the city centre to be more liveable, but recent decisions taken at the top level are actively working against that aimWed Oct 26 2022 - 05:00
Trussism threatens the very viability of the UK With the Western world facing a crisis of self-belief, the UK urgently needs to get back onto an even keel, something Liz Truss surely cannot pull offWed Oct 19 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: Once Northern Ireland leaves UK, political unionism becomes extinctConfederalism is more likely to bring true conciliation and partnership in the North and on this islandWed Oct 12 2022 - 05:00
Liz Truss government’s actions underline how the UK is run by an ‘elective dictatorship’Kwarteng’s actions - without prior cabinet approval - simply could not happen in Ireland where the Constitution demands collective responsibility from governmentWed Oct 05 2022 - 05:51
True republicans should focus on bringing about a ‘good’ united IrelandTrue republicans should devote their efforts to bringing about a “good” united Ireland over time rather than pursuing some 50% plus-one voteWed Sept 28 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: Do we have a ‘department of energy’ or a ‘department of lethargy’?There was ministerial and departmental awareness of the vulnerability of our energy supplies as early as 2007Wed Sept 21 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: We have legislated ourselves into a corner of complete energy dependenceAny suggestion Ireland was taken completely by surprise by the energy crisis and Russia’s turning of the screw ignores the hard facts of the pastWed Sept 14 2022 - 05:00
Irish energy policy is divorced from realities of a new cold warMichael McDowell: We simply cannot adopt a wing and a prayer approach to the economic survival and prosperity of our countryWed Sept 07 2022 - 04:15
Nonsense on stilts to demolish €200m Derrybrien wind farm during an energy crisisPlant that can generate 1 per cent of national supply faces destruction after An Bord Pleanála overruled inspector’s recommendation for retentionWed Aug 31 2022 - 05:00
Sinn Féin’s housing policy effectively serves notice to quit on private landlordsIt would be return to 1946 Rent Restrictions Acts which slowly expropriated landlords by denying fair market rents and right to recover possessionWed Aug 24 2022 - 05:00
Why on earth would we need a constitutional referendum on the right to housing?There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prevents Government from doing its job and providing housingWed Aug 17 2022 - 05:05
Be wary of crocodile tears of politicians over exit of private landlordsDoubling of evictions to facilitate sales is an entirely predictable consequence of changes introduced to landlord and tenant lawWed Aug 10 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: Irish presidency has no business embarrassing State over Ukraine warThe presidency has no business embarrassing the Government in its support of Ukraine’s fight to survive a cruel and immoral war of destructionWed Aug 03 2022 - 05:00
QAnon well on its way to becoming America’s new religion A fifth of Americans share some of QAnon’s beliefs, including more than 60% of Republican voters who say they believe the last election was stolenWed Jul 27 2022 - 05:00
Trans rights a question of reasonableness and common senseThere is no absolute human right to erase gendered thought and language on a widespread basisWed Jul 20 2022 - 08:52
Michael McDowell: Will Tory MPs put seats ahead of Britain’s interests?London’s hostility towards Ireland is tragic and pointless for Britain’s futureWed Jul 13 2022 - 00:30
Michael McDowell: British Labour leader Keir Starmer is right to play the long game Strategy exerts pressure on Johnson to choose between being reasonable with the EU, or staying on side with Tory party BrexitersWed Jul 06 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: The fruits of populism are ripening, falling and rottingJust wait for Trump to come up with a joint Trump-Putin 'solution' for UkraineWed Jun 29 2022 - 05:00
Can directly elected mayors really make a difference in improving our cities? Local authorities have been too slow to address key issues, notably housing, but directly elected mayors would need significant resources to do any betterWed Jun 22 2022 - 05:00
Darragh O’Brien has the fate of the Government in his handsDriving private landlords out of the market will not help his causeTue Jun 14 2022 - 19:00
Tories realising that Johnson has led them into political wildernessSlow realisation is dawning on Tories that Boris has led them into a political wilderness of tax hikes, international estrangement and sleazeWed Jun 08 2022 - 04:57
Talk of Border poll must be seen in context of some basic political realitiesIf party really believes in early poll, the very least it should do is set out its own stallWed Jun 01 2022 - 05:00
No time for wand-waving or wishful thinking on our energy supplyMichael McDowell: Eamon Ryan needs to set out a detailed and achievable energy planWed May 25 2022 - 00:00
Michael McDowell: New dynamism needed to overcome Ireland’s economic long CovidTorpor in public affairs risks creating a society stagnant and underachievingWed May 18 2022 - 05:00
Michael McDowell: Johnson will try to keep NI protocol centre stageTories see North protocol as giving them leverage with EU on economic issuesWed May 11 2022 - 00:00
Michael McDowell: Planning regulator makes a sham of local democracyReturn real planning power to elected members of local authoritiesWed May 04 2022 - 00:00
Michael McDowell: Ireland is drifting towards permanent energy crisisConsequences of oncoming events could well overshadow the economic crisis of 2008Wed Apr 27 2022 - 00:00
Michael McDowell: Renegotiation of Belfast Agreement looks inevitableProlonged suspension of Assembly most likely outcome of Northern electionsWed Apr 20 2022 - 00:00
Michael McDowell: Rich must not be allowed use farmland as vehicle for investmentIrish agriculture cannot revert to a landlord-tenant modelWed Apr 13 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Putin has overplayed his hand – but is the West bluffing?Moscow-Beijing totalitarian axis will unleash more wars if Putin is not defeatedWed Apr 06 2022 - 00:00
Council chief has no mandate for ‘aggressive’ plan to restrict cars in Dublin cityDublin citizens entitled to decide on future of city, not council executivesWed Mar 30 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: I am gobsmacked at the ambivalence of Irish Marxists to PutinSomehow the attempted annihilation of a sovereign state is the fault of the WestWed Mar 23 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Pressuring Putin the only option on Ukraine tragedyTimidity in name of diplomacy presupposes that the other side is playing by same rulesWed Mar 16 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Restoring historic buildings beats letting them crumbleIreland loses lots of architectural heritage in rush to conserve places for crowsWed Mar 09 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: We must accept severe sanctions if we are to stand for anythingMaybe the heroism of Volodymyr Zelenskiy is a turning point for world democracyWed Mar 02 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Ukraine deserves more than feather-duster sanctionsEU’s economic strength must impose measures with real muscle on RussiaWed Feb 23 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Online anonymity propels poisonous opinionUS is rife with toxic supremacist messages facilitated by internet platformsWed Feb 16 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Trump and Johnson are Murdoch’s useful idiotsMedia magnate shares responsibility for free world’s plunge into existential crisisWed Feb 09 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: We run down the Defence Forces at our perilClosure of Rathmines barracks would eliminate only Army presence in DublinWed Feb 02 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Weak response to Russia will jeopardise the international orderOnly response to Putin’s threats are massive and severe crippling sanctionsWed Jan 26 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Does it matter how Sinn Féin organises itself?Control of SF is exercised by an eight-member ‘politburo’ with a five-three Belfast majorityWed Jan 19 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Covid controls should err on side of keeping society openPolitical debate must shift from point-scoring and wisdom after the eventWed Jan 12 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Anti-alcohol law contains some utterly ridiculous legal provisionsNew Irish law is an affront to common sense and might even breach single market rulesWed Jan 05 2022 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: We must build beautiful urban structuresCity planners must nurture streetscapes and make aesthetically guided decisionsWed Dec 29 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Quidditch falls to earth with a show of intoleranceIt’s hard to take the game seriously now that it’s renaming itself over JK Rowling’s viewsWed Dec 22 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Adams lets the mask slipFormer Sinn Féin leader’s Christmas sketch video deeply offensive to IRA victimsWed Dec 15 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: With challenges of conflict, climate and Covid, these are dangerous timesClouds on our political horizons have not appeared as dark for many decades nowWed Dec 08 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: State’s energy policy generated by pie-in-the-sky politicsUnachievable targets on renewable energy erode democratic trust and cohesionWed Dec 01 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: We can’t afford to drift into another lockdownThe collective hesitation over a booster vaccine programme is hard to fathomWed Nov 24 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Parliamentary oversight needed if Covid powers to be extendedCabinet-room discussion and reaction on Liveline not what a democracy needs or deservesWed Nov 17 2021 - 01:00
