Public amorality same as it ever wasThere is no sense that the culture of cute hoorism which made regulation impossible in Ireland is going awayTue Nov 10 2009 - 00:00
Finding a new stage for the Abbey is not a question of locationCULTURE SHOCK: DAVID NORRIS’S idea of relocating the Abbey Theatre to the GPO in Dublin is an exciting notionSat Oct 24 2009 - 01:00
Green Party obliterated by great Nama denialThe nice gestures in the programme for government are trifling compared with the absurdities it supportsTue Oct 13 2009 - 01:00
The call of the conscious in reality theatreCULTURE SHOCK : The performers in 'Radio Muezzin' help dismantle the idea of the Islamic Other, while reflecting on human presence…Sat Oct 10 2009 - 01:00
State bullies weak yet it panders to the powerfulI SOMETIMES wonder whether we are so passive about the way the Government behaves because we find some of that behaviour literally…Tue Sept 29 2009 - 01:00
The Bronx poet who was an elastic paddyCULTURE SHOCK: Michael Donaghy, a poet of Irish parentage, had such a complex background it would be facile to claim him as …Sat Sept 26 2009 - 01:00
Bad Booker news is good for national literary traditionsCULTURE SHOCK: As ‘Irishness’ loses its gloss, it should be no surprise that the three longlisted Irish authors did not make…Sat Sept 12 2009 - 01:00
If we don't point the finger, then we stand accusedHackneyed phrases from those in power for the last decade should make us focus on what they really meanTue Sept 08 2009 - 01:00
Keeping hope despite life's hardshipsViolence destroyed the livelihoods of many women in Nairobi’s Mathare slum, but even tiny grants can help them to offer some …Mon Sept 07 2009 - 01:00
Sending in the clowns to oversee NamaAccountability to the Oireachtas will mean zero oversight and enforcementTue Sept 01 2009 - 01:00
Ahern's malingering scorns public service ethosOPINION: Like the worst public service skiver, he cites ‘custom and practice’ to justify his absenceTue Aug 11 2009 - 01:00
The rise and fall of Celtic RockCULTURE SHOCK: IN MAY 1970, in his regular High Pop column in The Irish Times , the playwright Stewart Parker concluded some…Sat Jul 11 2009 - 01:00
Unveiling Islam's visual sideWe tend to view Islam as inherently anti-art, but a new book featuring 188 images from the collection of Islamic art in the Chester…Sat Jul 04 2009 - 01:00
How 'Darby O'Gill' captured an Ireland rapidly fadingCULTURE SHOCK : There is more to the film ‘Darby O’Gill and the Little People’ than meets the eye and, 50 years on, it is still…Sat Jun 27 2009 - 01:00
In praise of trailblazers in petticoatsCULTURE SHOCK : The late Danny La Rue was one of the best known, but Ireland has produced its fair share of cross-dressers who…Sat Jun 06 2009 - 01:00
Passing the shame from victim to StateCULTURE SHOCK: WHEN A society is shocked into recognising its own ugliest face in the mirror, as ours has been with the Ryan…Sat May 30 2009 - 01:00
Arrogant demand for control has not changedPSYCHIATRISTS DON’T cry. As they delve into unfathomable pain, they must remain completely unemotionalTue May 26 2009 - 01:00
The songs they are a-changin'CULTURE SHOCK : IMAGINE YOU go to visit an old writer – Yeats, for example – on his deathbedSat May 09 2009 - 01:00
A riot in the street, a play on the stageCULTURE SHOCK : Does Irish theatre still have the capacity to effectively articulate rage at the state of the nation?Sat May 02 2009 - 01:00
Cancer centre fails 36 out of 48 national standardsAN UNPUBLISHED report into services at one of the designated “centres of excellence” for breast cancer has found it is failing…Fri Apr 24 2009 - 01:00
A country still in thrall to the likes of LowryThe Tipperary politician is a self-pitying cheat and a liar – yet still his career is deemed worth celebratingTue Apr 21 2009 - 01:00
Can we Irish do justice to Shakespeare?CULTURE SHOCK: THERE’S AN odd moment in Jason Byrne’s enjoyably energetic production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors at…Sat Apr 11 2009 - 01:00
Finding the art in the advertCULTURE SHOCK: Guinness has long been recognised for creating beautiful advertising that sells - but is it art?Sat Apr 04 2009 - 01:00
Bus cuts plan shows contempt for peopleMore emphasis on basic services and less on monumentally expensive projects would make for better public transport, writes FINTAN…Tue Mar 24 2009 - 00:00
When Homer insults us it's only friendly slaggingCULTURE SHOCK : ONE OF THE signature pieces of the lovely Ulster singer Len Graham is a 19th-century ballad called Do Me Justice…Sat Mar 21 2009 - 00:00
'Big' Anna at the cutting edgeCULTURE SHOCK: AMONG GARRY Hynes’s many achievements, one of the finest is the way in which, very late in their careers, she…Sat Mar 14 2009 - 00:00
Cultural treasures that are stolen goodsCULTURE SHOCK : Far too many objects of immense cultural importance are in the wrong places and should be returned to their …Sat Mar 07 2009 - 00:00
Government must play fair in doling out the painOPINION: SUPPOSE I were to give you €100 on certain simple conditions. You have to share it with a strangerTue Mar 03 2009 - 00:00
Never underestimate the power of the Irish mammyCULTURE SHOCK: The sad early death of Christopher Nolan reminds us of the crucial role mothers have played in the contribution…Sat Feb 28 2009 - 00:00
How Darwin helped shape Irish writingCULTURE SHOCK: The way in which Irish writers responded to Darwin’s beliefs forged a whole new cultural space hereSat Feb 21 2009 - 00:00
How Darwin helped shape Irish writingCULTURE SHOCK: The way in which Irish writers responded to Darwin’s beliefs forged a whole new cultural space hereSat Feb 21 2009 - 00:00
Play brings the reality of the Holocaust home to Irish audiencesCULTURE SHOCK: ‘The Death of Harry Leon’ does what political theatre should do – take real risks in order to provoke new thoughts…Sat Feb 14 2009 - 00:00
Pension levy and the back of an envelopeThe unions were right to refuse to be railroaded into signing up to the pension levy, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE.Tue Feb 10 2009 - 00:00
On an incredible rendezvous with a master jazz musicianCULTURE SHOCK: Musician Keith Jarrett played Carnegie Hall in New York last week where his audience witnessed him almost pluck…Sat Feb 07 2009 - 00:00
The remarkable appeal of the 'Bodies' exhibitionCULTURE SHOCK : The ‘Bodies’ exhibition may leave some moral questions unanswered but it also opens our eyes to the delicate…Sat Jan 31 2009 - 00:00
What the Moneygall Obama song really says about the IrishCULTURE SHOCK: The song "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama" should be a reminder of a disgraceful past, writes FINTAN …Sat Jan 24 2009 - 00:00
A shaft of artistic light amid the gloom of January's dark daysCULTURE SHOCK: LOOKED AT rationally, the tradition of showing the National Gallery’s magical collection of 31 JM Turner watercolours…Sat Jan 17 2009 - 00:00
Israel must be held to account over Gaza actionOPINION: WHEN DOES the mandate of victimhood expire? At what point does the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews cease to excuse the…Tue Jan 06 2009 - 00:00
Can we remake Ireland's future?The year ended with the certainty that the global crisis is not a short-term glitch, and that Ireland is suffering more than …Sat Jan 03 2009 - 00:00
McCreevy's return would only deepen fiscal crisisOPINION: IN APOCALYPTIC times, people start to look towards the Second ComingTue Dec 30 2008 - 00:00
Toasting the keeper of the GateCULTURE SHOCK: Under Michael Colgan, the Gate has taken a low-risk, high-quality approach that has proved an enduring success…Sat Dec 06 2008 - 00:00
A State hell-bent on wiping its collective memoryCULTURE SHOCK: THE PARTIES THAT founded the State have much to be proud of, but one source of abiding shame is their feckless…Sat Nov 01 2008 - 00:00
Offensive comedians should not get the last laughRussell Brand has resigned from the BBC; Jonathan Ross has said sorryThu Oct 30 2008 - 00:00
A reflection on the timesHISTORY: The Irish Times: A History by Mark O'Brien, Four Courts Press, 320ppSat Oct 25 2008 - 01:00
Writers are the last people we should look to for moral clarityCULTURE SHOCK: Accusations that Milan Kundera collabarated with the secret police invite us to re-examine our view of writers…Sat Oct 18 2008 - 01:00
THE GUBU YEARS1980s REVISITED: It was the decade that sense forgot, when turbulent politics, moving statues, relative sporting success and…Sat Oct 18 2008 - 01:00
Revealing new details in a stunning production of 'Happy Days'CULTURESHOCK: Deborah Warner's direction and Fiona Shaw's performance offer a wonderful example of the multiple possibilities…Sat Oct 11 2008 - 01:00
'Gatz' is great, but 'Metamorphosis' has altered too muchCULTURE SHOCK: Two adaptations of prose classics - 'The Metamorphosis' and 'The Great Gatsby' - at the Dublin Theatre Festival…Sat Oct 04 2008 - 01:00
