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Recent Posts
- The courage and generosity of Seamus Mallon: a book introduction
- On local election day give the DUP and Sinn Fein a bloody nose: vote for someone else
- A kind of tribute to Lyra McKee: the need for a new conversation
- Letter from Virginia: a time is coming when Ulster Protestants will have to be brave and smart
- Mutual contempt and ignorance are no way to build relations between peoples (especially in Ireland)
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Category Archives: Ireland, Europe and the world
Northern institutions crumbling as Leo rides high in Europe
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is understandably cock-a-hoop in the run-up to Christmas. There is widespread recognition that it was his and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney’s steely steering of Irish diplomatic efforts that resulted in the masterful sleight of hand which … Continue reading
Home thoughts on a journey through India
India has been a place I have wanted to visit ever since as a teenager I read my father’s account of being interned by the British (for being a communist) in the Himalayan foothills in the 1940s.¹ My wish was … Continue reading
Brexit: a novel agricultural opportunity as the nightmare approaches?
As October ends all is confusion and uncertainty over Brexit: the first round of UK-EU talks on the exit bill, citizens rights and Ireland are stalled; Brussels is worried that Britain’s weak prime minister and feuding Conservative leadership will mean … Continue reading
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
