Michael McDowell

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

Government’s role in supplying houses

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

Like Britain, we suffer from advanced administrative sclerosis, but we’re in complete denial

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’

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

It 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 year

Former US president lauds Russian leader while being profoundly hostile to the European Union

Suggestions and criticisms

A new strategy review document favours building a surface railway to serve Dublin airport by linking it to the Dublin suburban network at Clongriffin

Michael 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 totalitarianism

British and American systems do not quake at the thought of governments losing votes via their supporters who disagree with the majority

Depending on one’s point of view, Minister for Housing’s landmark creation is either a dangerous folly or an architectural gem

Minister for Justice says new procedure ‘just and fair’ in process used less than 10 times since 1956

With reform repeatedly promised and not delivered, the only way to fix the lack of Seanad reform it is at the next Dáil election

Senator describes 747-page Bill as ‘telephone directory’ and a ‘massive supertanker coming to dock in a very small port’

Labour Senator warns of ‘fundamental flaw’ as Upper House debates third largest Bill in history of State