Sinéad O’Sullivan: People in Ireland want to know where our money goes. The answer is depressingIreland spends €250,000 training doctors to work in Australia. That’s just one symptom of a much bigger problem
Stop demonising one-off rural housing. Not everyone wants to be surrounded by neighboursIf town and village life is so much more sensible and attractive, why do so few people choose to live over the shop?
Nigel Farage’s success is the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party meme come to life It’s a bit late now for the British media to start asking hard questions about the Reform UK leader
Ireland’s nuclear debate generates a lot of hot air but no clean energyThere’s little serious analysis making the case for nuclear power in Ireland as part of energy and climate policy
Renewed talk of nuclear power is a ‘distraction tactic’Why are a number of centrist Irish politicians suddenly aligning their views on nuclear with the US and European far right?
How do we get from a cattle fair in Macroom in 1992 to the possible next governor of California?Steve Hilton recognised early that oligarchic fascism could be dressed up as anti-elitism. And the signs were there at a Macroom cattle fair in 1992
Nigel Farage’s success gives Ireland an urgent deadlineAt what point are citizens in the North entitled to say they do not want to live in a country run by Farage?
All hell wouldn’t break loose if Irish people were allowed a few cans in the parkIn plenty of other European cities, drinking in public places in moderation is permitted. Only in Ireland is it associated with anarchy
Why is the US conspiracy theorist who championed ‘pizzagate’ so interested in Ireland?American conspiracy theorists and figures in the alt-right media ecosystem were paying close attention during the recent fuel protests
One phrase has always annoyed me: ‘Remember there’s always someone worse off than you’Am I supposed to take comfort or pleasure in the greater hardship of others? Or is it that there’s a suffering competition?
I don’t want to shoe-shame anyone, but is wearing €500 super shoes on a Parkrun ethical?Let’s applaud those Parkrun flâneurs in tatty, 10-year-old trainers
Liz Carolan: Ireland appears to be running out of patience with social media firmsMeta is accused of using ‘dark patterns’ to exploit users, a deceptive design that stops users opting out of social media feeds curated by algorithms
I covered the Katie Simpson case from the start. The police failures were appallingAs I watched Jonathan Creswell grin over her grave, I foolishly thought the absence of police from the funeral was to allow her some dignity in death
GDP is meaningless. We need new ways of measuring the economyIn Ireland, the CSO and ESRI are thankfully free of political interference, but data collection is beset by other challenges
What the Dublin and Galway byelections could tell us about the future of Irish politics A greater degree of left unity and/or a sizeable alternative to the right of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would be a new and unpredictable dynamic
‘I find it too very ugly’: The statue so divisive it was hidden in a Dún Laoghaire gardenRite & Reason: I keep meeting people who tell me that, no matter how hard they look, they can’t see resurrection anywhere in the statue
If MV Hondius isn’t the start of a hantavirus pandemic, it might prove the end of something elseFew forms of life embrace the cruising lifestyle with the same enthusiasm as the viral pathogen
Mark O'Connell: Gerry Hutch is a smart man. He knows what he's doing with immigration commentsGerry Hutch knows he can gain ground by saying what other politicians won’t say, but what a growing part of the electorate wants to hear
Honeymoon for Pope Leo will eventually come to an end. As it shouldHis role is not to act as a counterweight to Donald Trump
Iran war is now an international hostage situation - with UAE the hostageIran war now an international hostage situation where UAE is the hostage, Iran the hostage-taker, and US will have to pay the ransom
Ireland’s squeezed-out middle has had enoughTectonic plates of national influence have shifted and those who once took theirs for granted are struggling to find their footing
War games in the Strait of Hormuz and debates over nuclear energy – it’s the 1970s againSimilar warnings were being aired then as now over Ireland’s vulnerability to an oil crisis
This is how I got three Irish hospitals built on time and on budgetNational Children’s Hospital is an ongoing example of how not to approach any major construction project
Let’s not cling to ugly buildings because a few Dubliners are allergic to changeLet’s not cling to ugly, unloved buildings just because a few Dubliners are allergic to change
Ukraine’s greatest hope? To be able to have a boring lifeWorldview: Tragic Ukraine is a borderland for Russia and for the West, historian Yaroslav Hrytsak says
Compulsory Irish in a united Ireland? Unionists won’t like thatCalls to strengthen the language to correct the wrongs of colonialism may seem like a parody to them
A win for the Scottish National Party does not mean the UK is ‘cracking at the seams’Getting Westminster’s agreement to a fresh independence referendum will not be easy
Decent Irish people have concerns about migration. If we don’t listen, populists willPoliticians are often reluctant to speak about migration for fear of being accused of racism. No such inhibitions trouble putative populist conservatism
We are now experiencing the terrible cost of the feedback loops of climate changeA super-hot El Niño climate phenomenon in the Pacific suggests worse climate news this year
An article about the big issue Irish people have stopped caring aboutAs Irish generosity to Ukrainians wanes, remember that rising costs are another result of war
Climate under attack from those who thrive on the division of identity politicsSocial media amplifies the problem, giving a megaphone to people who are angry about everything
How does a politician conclude a big truck needs three times more public money than a pensioner?We have a political economy in which the only currency is the decibel
Rose Anne Kenny: Why are ages 30, 50 and 70 vital moments in determining how we grow old?The publication of the 2026 census brought a renewed focus on ageing and the factors that influence it
We underestimate the true impact of our dangerous roadsThe real burden of road trauma on the health system is far greater than the fatality count might suggest
Why do we want to live forever?There is a real trend for behaviours aimed at drastically extending lifetimes
Some students believe they can be writers without reading. This raises many questions Wanting to write without wanting to read is, at best, trying to skip the first stage of an artistic apprenticeship
A Dublin pub had its outdoor licence revoked. The vibe on that part of Drury Street has changedCar-free Drury Street may not be perfect, but it draws large numbers to shop, eat, drink and simply hang out
Three ways to reconnect Ireland’s political system to its peopleThe recent fuel protests highlighted a disconnect that doesn’t stop at Irish politics
Deepfake Simon Harris is only the start of the Government’s AI problemArtificial intelligence will bring significant changes in the world of work, and soon present very considerable political challenges
Robust criticism and mockery are not the same as urging murder and mayhem Something is seriously awry in US culture that an attempted assassination of a president is just another day in Washington
When you’re in crisis the world is kinder and you’re kinder to yourselfA year on from my son’s treatment for leukaemia, I find myself back in a world of expectations I can’t quite meet. The bar feels impossibly high again
The International Protection Act does the precise opposite of what it says on the tinRite & Reason: Democracies need to stand up for international law, not collude in its dismemberment
Ireland’s moment of truth in the energy crisis is fast approachingWhether to spend big to ease rising household electricity and gas bills is Government’s next big test
Does it matter that Ireland’s bar staff and baristas are over-qualified? I think it does If young people cannot secure jobs commensurate with their level of education, their ambitions will be dashed, creating resentment
Attack drones have captured the most disturbing images of war I’ve seenThere is something undeniably sinister in the combination of intimacy and detachment in footage taken by ‘first person view’ drones
Sinéad O’Sullivan: People in Ireland want to know where our money goes. The answer is depressingBy Sinéad O'Sullivan