Michael McDowell columns and stories
Just as Trump folded his tent in the Doha discussions on Afghanistan and gave up threats to forcibly end North Korea’s missile programme, his boasts about doing deals look empty
The pattern of when presidential candidates are announced is not consistent
Independent senator believes Seanad Éireann is where he can most usefully serve
Across the member states, there is growing recognition that the much-vaunted EU migration pact is too little and too late
Issue of migration – especially economic migration disguised as asylum-seeking – is a growing issue for the political viability of the EU
Michael McDowell coy at book launch, Bertie gives state-of-the-world address and Mark Daly feels the heat
Tribute paid to former minister for justice and attorney general on launch of The Definite Article – a collection of his Irish Times columns
Constant headlines about housing schemes being struck down by councils, the planning board and the courts are chipping away at public confidence
This State must start thinking outside the box to deliver key housing and infrastructure
Where LGBTQ+ rights are bolstered, so too are women’s rights, and where they collapse, so too does authentic feminism
UK ruling on meaning of ‘woman’ is reassuring for those alarmed by claims that gender is, somehow, entirely separate from sex and is a social, psychological construct
Trump’s revolting imagery of world leaders responding to tariff threats by ‘kissing my ass’ may go down well in redneck America. But it will backfire
Warning signs that this was where American was headed have been there since the days of the Tea Party and Glenn Beck
If you completely divorce right from duty you create the duty-less selfish ideology of the plutocrats in Washington and Moscow
All of Ireland’s cities and larger towns need positive urban planning. That needs a revolution in government thinking
Current planning system ‘facilitates dereliction’, says Senator Michael McDowell
Heather Humphreys is an obvious contender - but will Fianna Fáil go along with it?
‘We are nowhere near where we would want to be’ with waiting times, Minister for Health says
The state of the US stock market is the only metric that matters to Trump, while Musk has done real harm to the Tesla brand
We are blundering into this quango-driven catastrophe with our eyes wide open
Independent senator wrote to the White House seeking a St Patrick’s Day invite
God help the Baltic states. Because Trump’s America won’t
Trump’s hardly concealed hatred for the EU has not really had a chance to manifest itself yet
With ideological differences no wider than a cigarette paper, you’d think the Government parties would have nothing holding them back. Think again
Keir Starmer is walking a very tricky tightrope. Figures close to Trump, including Elon Musk, openly speak of reversing the 2024 UK election outcome by removing him from office
We cannot afford to have a process of self-justification end up in a policy whitewash
The old system was in many ways an affront to democracy, and the new one is not much better
Musk seems to consider he has some role in using his wealth to influence political processes and debate in European states
Those who challenged the existing consensus were routinely condemned as Thatcherite by commentators and union leaders who were comfortable with the failed status quo
Ireland’s position on Israel has always been consistent. If our Government is guilty of anything, it is delay
Youth work is not an optional extra, it is essential to our communities
No child should have to go hungry, particularly at this time of year
Balanced regional development means more than plonking cities here and there - other factors have to be taken into consideration, as Fianna Fáil has signalled
Some in the Dublin establishment and media regard demands of regional Independents as ‘parish pump’ but concerns of urban TDs as ‘progressive’ and ‘socially concerned’
Election 2024: We may be about to see the consequences of political opportunism, inexperience and immaturity
Simon Harris plans to win enough votes to abandon rotating taoiseach deal. Here’s why that’s a doomed strategy
Instead of sniping at each other, the erstwhile Civil War parties need to be straight with the people
Galway native was nominated to the Seanad in 2016 by then taoiseach Enda Kenny
The biggest global issue is how the democracies of the world will deal with the Sino-Russo-Korean alliance which is preparing for confrontation in Europe and Asia
Former RTÉ northern editor and political correspondent died last weekend after short illness
The march towards complete dependence on electricity as the only available energy source seems to be inexorable. And yet we in Ireland have narrowed our options to a dangerous degree
Recent controversies are not the reason for Sinn Féin’s decline, they’re symptoms of its underlying reality
The party is calling for a temporary closure of the country’s borders to asylum claimants
Government plans to push through remaining stages of legislation without hate speech elements against backdrop of dispute over meaning of terms used
Ireland’s chief rabbi says Israel is not waging a war of retaliation. But the Israeli government’s stated policy is that the war is one of the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities
The terror that posed as SPHE education in the past was undoubtedly deeply harmful to adolescents
The Bill became a lightning rod for the debates over limits on free speech
Elements relating to hate speech to be shelved but gender definitions to remain despite opposition including by Michael McDowell questioning idea of legislating for ‘multiplicity of subjective genders’
Like Britain, we suffer from advanced administrative sclerosis, but we’re in complete denial
A proposal to charge asylum seekers with jobs €15 or €25 a week for accommodation is a pathetic response
Idea that local authorities can deliver housing faster than building contractors is daft ideological posturing
Independent 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 avail
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 well
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices
