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Category Archives: Ireland, Europe and the world
What the North can teach the South about welcoming refugees
The Irish government seems to be finally and belatedly moving to make its small contribution to tackling the worst humanitarian crisis faced by Europe since the Second World War: the influx of millions of refugees from war-torn countries in the … Continue reading
Flailing around in the fact free zone that is Brexit
We are now in the phoney war period between the Brexit vote and the British government invoking Article 50 of the European Union Treaty to begin negotiating to leave the EU. And nobody – neither citizens nor governments – knows … Continue reading
Post-Brexit confessions of an anglophile Irishman
So Brexit has happened. Fear, lies and stupidity won the day (although these were not only on the Leave side) and dangerous new forces of right-wing populism and English nationalism were unleashed in the British body politic. It was gratifying … Continue reading
Lessons from Ireland’s great forgotten philosopher: Francis Hutcheson
This August marks the 270th anniversary of the death of one of Ireland’s greatest philosophers: Francis Hutcheson. Who has heard of this County Down-born sage, son and grandson of Presbyterian ministers, today? He ran a ‘dissenting academy’ in Drumcondra Lane … Continue reading
The inspirational volunteers of the Calais refugee camp
It was a surreal scene: a soccer tournament on a sand-covered space which looked more like a rubbish dump than a football pitch; the players (all wearing tops reading ‘We are Human’) drawn from half-a-dozen countries ranging from Sudan to … Continue reading
The role of stupidity in local and global politics
Stupidity. I am going to write this month about the role of stupidity in local and global politics. Some of this comes from having read a number of books over the summer in which such stupidity played a central role. … Continue reading
Why we need to be on the same team as the Germans
Germany is now the undisputed boss of the European Union. Any lingering doubts about this were ruthlessly dispelled during the recent Greek bail-out crisis. Angela Merkel and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, forced through a package of reforms even more … Continue reading
