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
Michael McDowell: New Dublin transport strategy a sick jokeStrategy centred on increasing bus and bicycle usage in the city over the next 10 yearsWed Nov 10 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Sinn Féin move on non-jury courts not all it seemsThe party will never countenance trial of any Provisional member by any non-jury courtWed Nov 03 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Bedsit ban offers a warning on future income supportsUnintended consequences can cancel out positive effects of well-meaning initiativesWed Oct 27 2021 - 01:00
Sinn Féin needs reality check on historic prosecutions from TroublesParty demanded line be drawn on Troubles-era crimes in Republic during peace processWed Oct 20 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Is it time for return of the Progressive Democrats?Recent Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll shows FF and FG trailing far behind Sinn FéinWed Oct 13 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: NDP is a smokescreen for political incoherenceDevelopment on island needs good, safe, fast communication with both road and railWed Oct 06 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Low corporation tax rate is about pragmatism not inferiorityAdopting an a priori ideological approach to corporate tax policy without considering the risks and benefits is irresponsibleWed Sept 29 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: A rail feasibility study is always good for a positive headlineWe really do need a truthful feasibility study on the many planned, shelved, semi-shelved and promised rail projectsWed Sept 22 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Green policies are increasingly divorced from realityClimate change does not require us to become a nation of eco-hobbitsWed Sept 15 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Trump, like the Taliban, may be on way back inDespite infrastructure Bill, blood-stained exit from Kabul may poison voters’ view of BidenWed Sept 08 2021 - 01:00
There is a better way to levy local property taxCurrent local property tax arrangements raise many issues to do with tax equityWed Sept 01 2021 - 07:42
Afghanistan was not and could never be the forward bastion of liberalismWe face a future of friction between the civilisation equivalents of tectonic platesWed Aug 25 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Fall of Afghan government may have merely brought forward inevitableWould a bloody civil war in Afghanistan have served any purpose?Wed Aug 18 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Merrion Gates more important than MerriongateFuture of Dublin Port and low-lying areas of the bay need to be faced up toWed Aug 11 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: TV licence system is a grotesque failureRTÉ’s crisis is financial but State broadcaster must refresh itself for post-Covid revampWed Aug 04 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Archbishop in no position to talk about groupthinkThose who argue for infallibility now find themselves marginalised in public debateWed Jul 28 2021 - 00:47
Michael McDowell: When do we accept awful things cannot be undone?Realpolitik may require a line be drawn over atrocities in pursuit of greater goodWed Jul 21 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: It’s probably just as well England lost Euro 2020Wembley was being woven into Downing Street’s narrative about ‘global Britain’Wed Jul 14 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Ireland in no position now to guarantee supply of electricity from renewablesIreland is pursuing irreconcilable goals - increasing demand for electricity by 40%, hoping it can be done with renewable capacityWed Jul 07 2021 - 01:00
Michael McDowell: Does State need to lead fight against climate change?Difference between ambitious and less so targets for planet almost insignificantWed Jun 30 2021 - 01:00
