Category Archives: Republic of Ireland

Why Micheál Martin’s speech was inspirational and why the Shared Island initiative matters

Posted on Tuesday, 20 December, 2022 by andypollak

Nobody would ever accuse the former Taoiseach, Micheál Martin (now Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs), of being an inspirational public speaker. But listening to his speech at the big Shared Island event in Dublin Castle earlier this month, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 6 Comments

The results of the census and the revolt of the masses

Posted on Saturday, 1 October, 2022 by andypollak

Firstly, and briefly, the 2021 Northern Ireland census results. We know the headline figures well by now, that the number of those who are Catholics or from a Catholic background (at 45.7%) now outnumber the number of people who are … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 1 Comment

Sinn Fein are winning the peace, as people forget the IRA’s war

Posted on Thursday, 1 September, 2022 by andypollak

Sinn Fein are winning the post-1998 peace. They are now the largest party in Northern Ireland, and almost certainly will be the largest party in the Republic after the next election. A combination of internal and external events have come … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 4 Comments

From Rebel Cork to Orange Antrim: a cyclist’s journey through the gorgeous heart of Ireland

Posted on Thursday, 14 July, 2022 by andypollak

In the first eleven days of July I cycled with my friend David Ward from Mizen Head in west Cork to Fair Head in north Antrim to raise money for Concern’s work for girls’ education in Afghanistan. The journey confirmed … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | 4 Comments

Discussing Irish unity over dinner with Trinity College politics students

Posted on Thursday, 14 April, 2022 by andypollak

I had an interesting dinner with five political science students from Trinity College Dublin last month at which we discussed Irish unity and Southern Irish attitudes to it. I had met them three weeks earlier when I was giving a … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland | 4 Comments

Is Ireland neutral in this battle between good and evil?

Posted on Monday, 14 March, 2022 by andypollak

Sometimes (rarely) wars are seen as battles between the forces of good and evil. The war of the Allies against Nazism is the classic example in modern times. Except the Irish state chose to sit that one out, unwilling to … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Republic of Ireland | 1 Comment

Fintan O’Toole, Leopold Bloom and me

Posted on Tuesday, 1 February, 2022 by andypollak

I have been reading We Don’t Know Ourselves, Fintan O’Toole’s marvellous personal and political memoir of Ireland over the past 64 years. I am an unashamed admirer of O’Toole’s writings, and his brilliantly insightful, left-wing views on multiple aspects of … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland | 4 Comments

Majority of Southern voters think united Ireland “not very important” but they would like to see it “some day”

Posted on Tuesday, 14 December, 2021 by andypollak

That is the headline I would like to have seen on the Irish Times front page lead story on 11th December about the paper’s latest opinion poll on unity and other issues. Its editors went instead for the much more … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 1 Comment

Could North-South agri-food cooperation help cross the rural-urban climate change divide?

Posted on Wednesday, 17 November, 2021 by andypollak

So in the end the political will did not exist among world leaders at COP26 in Glasgow to radically tackle global warming. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned at the end of the conference: “We are still knocking on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-border cooperation, General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | Leave a comment

My single transferable blog: the people of the South are not ready for reunification

Posted on Monday, 1 November, 2021 by andypollak

In his long and distinguished political career, John Hume many times gave what came to be known as his ‘single transferable speech’. He used to say that as a former teacher he realised that for even the smartest pupils, the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland | 5 Comments