Dry your eyes Oasis fans, there’s no such thing as a gig emergencyUltimately it comes down to the free market, to supply and demand and what people are willing to pay - because they’re superfans or want to be seen. But people exhausted by the relentless hustle have had enoughWed Sept 04 2024 - 06:00
Netanyahu has distracted the world’s attention from countless other warmongering thugsWhat kind of global mindset allows preposterous, insecure leaders in Sudan, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and elsewhere to cock their legs on their own populations and the wider world?Wed Aug 28 2024 - 06:00
Donald Trump doesn’t know how to compete against Kamala Harris Complaints that Harris won’t agree to a sit-down interview miss the point: these elections are about anything but issues and policyWed Aug 21 2024 - 06:11
Post-Olympics comedown can leave athletes feeling exhausted, empty and aimlessWe will miss those two weeks of uncomplicated joy which felt like a holiday for the heartWed Aug 14 2024 - 06:00
Laws on wearing masks are just one of the difficult balancing acts to come Minister for Justice is exploring ways to ban protesters from wearing masks with the intention to intimidate others and frustrate efforts to identify themWed Aug 07 2024 - 06:00
Was the Olympics ceremony backlash more about the drag artists than the Last Supper?Despite the rain, the cheese, the sneers and the sheer length of it, it was impossible not to feel moved. Like it or not, Thomas Jolly created the most inclusive event in the history of sportWed Jul 31 2024 - 06:00
US politicians are now realising that rhetoric can inspire violenceTrump has promised to use a speech to ‘bring the country together’. Just imagine if he mustered the moral courage to say violence is never acceptable and he will accept the results of the electionWed Jul 17 2024 - 06:00
It’s as if we’re seeing Kamala Harris for the first timeIf not now, if it’s too soon for a woman president, if the stakes are too high this time, when will it be her time?Wed Jul 10 2024 - 06:00
Defence Forces personnel must be held to higher standards and scrutiny than any other servants of the StateComplaints about feeling collectively demonised amid allegations cannot be entertained given the pledge of the Defence Forces to the peopleWed Jul 03 2024 - 06:00
Tories’ Project Fear is last, desperate act of a party about to plunge off a cliffConservative Party faces losing so badly it won’t have enough seats to mount an official opposition. No wonder Tories are suddenly panicking about democracyWed Jun 26 2024 - 06:00
Nina Carberry’s vanishing act is a sign of casual disregard for European ParliamentThe European Parliament is an increasingly powerful institution from which a huge share of our laws and regulations derive – so why do some politicians seem to regard it as expensive training wheels?Wed Jun 19 2024 - 06:00
I ranked among that much derided category of people who spoil their voteI gave the most obnoxious candidate 27, then started down from number 1. But a final review revealed I had awarded two number 12sWed Jun 12 2024 - 06:00
Kathy Sheridan: The jostling of Simon Harris symbolised a hideously engorged sense of entitlementThere are two responses to the harassing of the Taoiseach in Mayo. Some despair at the protesters, others ask why Harris ran scaredWed Jun 05 2024 - 07:00
Kathy Sheridan: ‘Yiz ain’t f***in welcome.’ The normalisation of hate-speech is almost completeGardaí are seeing ‘a huge rise in the level of aggression’ at anti-immigration protests despite a sharp decline in such gatheringsWed May 29 2024 - 06:00
‘Celebrity’ election candidates: On the campaign trail with Ciaran Mullooly, Nina Carberry and Cynthia Ní MhurchúMullooly and Carberry are contesting the European elections in Midlands-North-West, Mhurchú in the South constituencySat May 25 2024 - 06:00
Beware of simplistic appeals to ‘common sense’ on issue of immigrationTime was in the US when ‘common sense’ informed the notion that the Irish were violent, drunken apes responsible for driving down wages and taking all the jobsWed May 22 2024 - 06:00
If you’re shocked to learn that conspiracy theories are gaining traction, you’re in a bubbleFinding that a third of respondents believed it was definitely or probably true that a “small, secret group of people is responsible for making all major decisions in world politics” should dent some general complacencyWed May 15 2024 - 00:00
Not-quite-Independents are emerging as the new political forceOne startling fact: the number of Independents elected to the Dáil in recent years has exceeded the combined number elected to all other EU member state parliamentsWed Apr 24 2024 - 06:00
Politics attracts some idiots and narcissists - but most are still driven by a desire to do goodTo step forward and declare you want to serve in spite of all the abuse requires brave, old-fashioned characterWed Apr 17 2024 - 06:00
Whose needs would a Progressive Democrats 2.0 serve?In much of the commentary following the recent referendums, the phrase 'enough is enough' was often heard – the implication being that great numbers of people have made enough huge sacrifices by voting for compassion and understanding but that’s all over nowWed Apr 10 2024 - 06:14
I split my house with my daughter, without government help. Stop shaming ‘empty nesters’The annual finger-jabbing ignores the fact that there are no meaningful incentives on offerWed Apr 03 2024 - 06:00
If politicians like Varadkar and Ardern are burnt out, it’s a sign of the corrosive nature of politicsVaradkar opened up appalling vista where youngish politicians might actually admit they no longer felt up to the jobWed Mar 27 2024 - 06:00
John Crown: ‘I was a poster child for having a messed-up work-life balance when I was younger’The campaigning oncologist has retired from the public health service and says he has given up advocating for reform of it, but he remains passionate about its potentialSun Mar 24 2024 - 06:00
Government made a hames of it, but where were the Men for Mothers brigade until now?The far right regards the vote as a big breakthrough, as they shouldWed Mar 13 2024 - 06:00
Spare me the so-called ‘true patriots’ who preach about freedomUnverified allegations made online are now having real life consequencesWed Mar 06 2024 - 06:00
Catherine Martin mistook a gotcha moment for a meaningful political moveIf the Minister for Media had faced down the opposition and the media and supported the RTÉ chair, public interest in the issue would have faded quickly. Instead, the fallout rumbles onWed Feb 28 2024 - 06:00
It’s hardly surprising Maria Walsh reached for ‘male, pale and stale’ label in FF candidate rowMen who agitate about labels or being supplanted by hordes of vengeful women should look around them. Fewer than a quarter of our TDs are womenWed Feb 21 2024 - 06:15
Trump’s flaming chainsaw circus act is back. And so is the media gravy trainThe candidate with openly violent dictatorship ambitions is being allowed to campaign as a normal politicianWed Feb 14 2024 - 06:00
Michelle O’Neill looks to the future, while Joe Brolly seems stuck in the pastHer hopeful words were in sharp contrast to Joe Brolly’s cynical appraisal of the mood south of the borderWed Feb 07 2024 - 06:00
We can thank Brexit for one thing: it’s a lesson in how to spot opportunists, liars and zealots As immigration creeps up the opinion polls, we would do well to pay attentionWed Jan 31 2024 - 05:55
Has the world forgotten what it means to elect a fascist?When many people take democracy neither seriously nor literally, we’ve got a problemWed Jan 24 2024 - 05:45
US elections: Is it time to consider an upper age limit for politicians?Age is in the eye of the beholder. Biden may be older but with 91 indictments and a possible jail term looming, Trump is hardly a safer bet in terms of presidential longevityWed Jan 17 2024 - 06:00
Demonisation of single, migrant men has bounced from far-right into the mainstreamFellow human beings are being dehumanised, and we are being playedWed Jan 10 2024 - 06:30
This year let’s banish ‘following your gut’, ‘centrist dads’ and entertaining politicsPoliticians will be thoughtful, truthful and boring. Candidates will not be interchangeable with entertainers. RTE political coverage will be monitored for excessive excitementWed Jan 03 2024 - 06:00
From Gaza to Afghanistan to the Criminal Courts of Justice, this was a bleak year for women Women still face a spectrum starts with an almost concealed disdain, a certain contempt, an ingrained prejudice, and runs all the way to violent hatredWed Dec 27 2023 - 07:00
Scorching irony of a politician declaring ‘the inn is full’ at ChristmasAfter initial disbelief and anger over the Galway hotel fire, the overriding feeling this week is of sadnessWed Dec 20 2023 - 06:00
Anger is everywhere. We need more imaginative forms of justiceThe word ‘anger’ isn’t big enough to cover the naked aggression some people see as their entitlementWed Dec 13 2023 - 06:00
A world preoccupied by a burning Palestine suits Putin’s purposeWhile the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Russia thrives - billions have been returned to its economy by oligarchs, construction is booming and restaurants are packedWed Dec 06 2023 - 06:00
When Elon Musk agrees that Conor McGregor should run for office, reality has overtaken parodyThe manufactured outrage unleashed by the Israeli foreign minister’s tweet was something to beholdWed Nov 29 2023 - 06:00
Women’s bodies have always been a battlefield in warSurvivor and witness testimony, many from the Supernova rave, describe seeing women being raped before they were shotWed Nov 22 2023 - 06:00
David Norris on his decision to leave politics: ‘I think it's time to go’The senator on living alone, destigmatising homosexuality, and stepping down from politicsSat Nov 18 2023 - 06:30
Suella Braverman lived down to everything that was expected of herBraverman is the latest in a long line of mediocre-to-really-terrible women in the Tory PartyWed Nov 15 2023 - 06:00
Tired of hearing about Elon Musk? You’re part of the problemWilful indifference to one of the world’s most consequential oligarchs (yes, he’s an oligarch) is nothing to be proud ofWed Nov 01 2023 - 06:00
‘For the love of God, don’t make me defend Paddy Cosgrave’At a superficial level, Cosgrave may be considered a martyr to corporate censorship. Another look might suggest he was brought down by his own restless, scattergun bellicosityWed Oct 25 2023 - 05:50
Parents dropping their children to school by car are part of the idiot driver cohortHeavy backpacks, idiot drivers, the judgment of other parents: we’ve heard it all. Stop making excuses for why children don’t walk to school any moreWed Oct 18 2023 - 06:00
Butchery and raw terror in Israel have remade the face of the Middle EastAs long as the conflict remains mired in raw hatred and violence, new generations of the despairing and disaffected will grow up to replace the prisoners and the fallen martyrsWed Oct 11 2023 - 06:15
Kathy Sheridan: From billionaire to jail. The fall of a crypto-king is a modern morality taleThe most fascinating part of this story is how the cool celebrities and financiers bought it in its entiretyWed Oct 04 2023 - 06:00
Several of Leinster House’s more vocal actors should be shuffling their consciencesNo-one should have to endure threats, harassment or being surrounded in a car in the name of protest, far-right or otherwiseWed Sept 27 2023 - 06:00
Tony Holohan: ‘My wife was slowly dying and would be cut off from her friends and family in the last few months of her life’The public servant who managed Ireland’s Covid crisis now occupies himself with a few part-time or honorary rolesSat Sept 23 2023 - 06:00
Russell Brand allegations have triggered some serious self-questioning about toxicity of 2000sTo quote Russell Brand gives me no joy but it’s important to convey what he saw as a ‘joke’Wed Sept 20 2023 - 06:15
