In Ireland, we are obsessed with the land – owning it, not roaming it
Ireland has no equivalent of the Swedish concept of Allemansrätten (everyone’s right to roam) or the 225,000 km of public rights of way in England and Wales
Diarmaid Ferriter
Diarmaid Ferriter columns
The hurt that dripped from Michael O’Brien and others has to be part of Pope Francis’s legacy
The personal experience he vividly outlined on RTÉ television in 2009 was part of the reason Francis’s visit to Ireland nine years later was so different from the previous Irish papal visit
Too many Irish teachers are wrecked and hate their jobs
There are too many wrecked teachers out there; too many hate their jobs; too many depart prematurely
Life admin has become more irksome as many utility firms treat customers with contempt
In a country where many utility companies treat their customers with contempt and consumers pay 42 per cent more for goods and services, life admin can be eviscerating
Pope Francis’s synodal reforms: Vatican II 60 years on
Church leaders are at last embracing much-needed change
From ‘damned Englishman’ to ‘f**king a**hole’: A history of Ireland in 25 Dáil insults
The language has become coarser but it is striking how fuelled by testosterone the Dáil has always been
A century after the Monto, street prostitution has been replaced by sordid networks run by pimps
Ireland was never pure, but our 21st century ‘new order’ - with women human trafficked into the sex trade and much focus on toxic masculinity - is alarming
The vagina detector test at the entrance to the Vatican is not about to be decommissioned
Pope Francis’s pontificate has been about evasion as well as empathy, and he has made it clear holy orders are reserved for men
Nobody should be mocked or lampooned for decrying the consequences of the new arms race
The Irish approach to foreign policy should not be to exaggerate our purity or indulge dictators, but neither should we parrot criticisms of our neutrality from miliary aligned states
Burning question for Europe now is how to deal with an elected American tyrant
Donald Trump’s presidency has also generated a new focus on questions of identity and doubt in Europe
Éamon de Valera was the first to suggest ‘garden cabins’ as a solution to an Irish social dilemma
Continuity of ‘implacable social systems’ witnesses the refloating of an old focus on the back garden
Experiences of Troubles victims have run like submerged streams beneath the dry land of blame
Families have different views on the Omagh inquiry, but what they all hold sacred is the need for their loved ones’ stories to be heard
Ministerial overload isn’t going to solve our problems. Neither is Civil Service squeeze
Enduring power of ‘permanent government’ - the Civil Service - may explain why only ex-ministers speak frankly after leaving government
Underground cabling could answer challenge of keeping lights on after storms
Technical challenges and cost of extensive underground cabling would be enormous but ESB needs to produce a plan to cope with scale of climate change
Mulcahy’s push for alternative to Fianna Fáil in 1948 government talks ‘enhanced democracy’, UCD event told
Parties involved in present government formation talks owe debt of gratitude to former FG leader, says Prof Diarmaid Ferriter
Biden’s legacy will be tarnished by his vanity and stubbornness
The outgoing US president will also be remembered for disastrous foreign policy choices, including his refusal to curb the excesses of Israel
Forget pandering to Independent TDs, these are the issues the new government needs to deal with
The consequences of business as usual are ever more frightening, particularly in relation to climate change
It’s time Dublin had a statue to unconventional, complex Maud Gonne MacBride
Attitudes to her have been reductive, shaped by the mores of the time and her failed marriage
During this hard men era, Ireland would do well to remember Seán MacBride’s words
MacBride asked ‘if those vested with authority and power practice injustice, resort to torture and killing, is it not inevitable that those who are victims will react with similar methods?’
Do not, on any account, forget the importance of the perfect Christmas hairstyling
How to achieve the perfect Christmas tree, the perfect table setting, the perfect family time: don’t bother trying. Reject perfection is all its greedy, grabbing guises
Is it time for Opposition parties to come together under the banner ‘Put them out’?
Given today’s political landscape, the current Opposition might well profit from looking closely at what happened in 1948
Diarmaid Ferriter: Greens deemed irrelevant in shallow campaigns with magic money and social media stunts
Weeks of magic money, fantasy manifestos and hand-shaking marathons have come to this
Cillian Murphy’s view of Ireland in the 1980s as ‘the dark ages’ misses the point
Small Things Like These raises a wider question about the communication of our history as one giant, black cloud occasionally interrupted by a lone, bright star
Contrast between Trump’s cruelty and McCain’s dignity shows how far America has fallen
The absence of an appetite to calm tensions after the storm is the most worrying thing about the American election campaign
Few would have thought a play about the fraught Belfast Agreement talks could be so gripping
The message that “contradiction is better than violence” is more relevant and urgent than ever
Sinn Féin’s difficulties should not make Fine Gael complacent
Neither party can afford to build a campaign entirely around their leader. And both need to overcome a weakness for mixed messages
The curtain is coming down on Ireland’s soft power in the US
Whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump wins the presidency in November, Ireland will not be much of a priority
The electoral cycle decides the budget, while the fiscal advisory council is ignored
The memory of economic crises is not strong enough to withstand the primacy of elections
Instead of gushing over Joe Biden, Simon Harris should denounce US funding of Israel
It would be ahistorical to suggest that this arrangement has been without tensions. But the money kept flowing
Our Wild Atlantic Way may be about to get much wilder
Rainy day funds should surely now take on a literal meaning given the climate’s tumultuous shifts and the reality that our greatest coastal tragedies may lie ahead of us
Forelock-tugging to Trump in Doonbeg showed how far Ireland will bend for US dollars
We were bamboozled with jargon in the hope that the resultant fog would distract from what was obvious. The comfort, it seemed, was that ‘there is no single and agreed definition of a tax haven’
The Revelation of Ireland: 1995-2020 by Diarmaid Ferriter - A hugely valuable exploration of a rollercoaster time
Book shows that even as Ireland has changed, its biggest problems remain ‘deep-rooted and historical’
Sinn Féin’s housing policy ignores that climate change is already here and now
No one would campaign under the slogan ‘To Hell With the Future’ but it is starting to look like the coming election will merit such a rallying cry
Ireland must ‘resist assaults on nuance’ in assessing its past, historian Diarmaid Ferriter says
Diarmaid Ferriter was speaking at the launch of his new book, The Revelation of Ireland: 1995-2020, in Dublin
Social media is destroying young people’s mental health. Why do we keep tiptoeing around this reality?
A ban for under-16s may polarise opinion, but we can’t keep highlighting the teenage mental-health crisis while ignoring the root cause
Nell McCafferty’s empathy and precision defined her, but they were a product of manifold tensions and denials
Nell McCafferty lived outside society’s norms and she never stopped challenging them
Kneecap’s use of Irish is perfectly in tune with Eoin MacNeill’s vision
The co-founder of Conradh na Gaeilge said ‘you might as well be putting wooden legs on hens as trying to restore Irish through the school system’
When the Annie Murphy revelations came out, people wore Eamonn Casey T-shirts. How little we knew
It is striking that his own betrayals were paralleled by trenchant denunciations of the supposed sins of others along with a determination to make edgy comments about celibacy
Ireland isn’t full: Our population could surpass its pre-famine peak in 33 years
The slogans ‘Ireland is Full’ and ‘Stop the new plantation of Ireland’ are comically historically illiterate
Keir Starmer may love Ireland, but he won’t be ‘sucked in to the Irish bog’
Keir Starmer may find that that bog might not be as perilous as it once was, but it still creates wariness in Britain
Is Donald Trump a fascist? Historians cannot reach a consensus
Former US president's actions and rhetoric have divided historians over whether he is a fascist
This isn’t about guardians of Ireland’s rural soul versus the Gonzaga Greens - it’s about us all
Those who have crafted this narrative will be louder than most when they’re next looking for Noah’s Ark to rescue them and decrying insufficient support
RTÉ reporters were like a political Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, but no one addressed the big issue
Our immersion in the parochial pool is entertaining but the wider picture gets lost
Many Irish men and women fought in the second World War fought for reasons far removed from ideology
Perhaps not overly mindful of the horrors that would await them, many Irish people went in search of liberation, adventure or experiences unavailable at home
Climate change should dwarf every other issue yet momentum is stalling
The political gains for climate deniers will be remarkably self-defeating
Ireland’s Palestine move a step towards independence in foreign policy formation
This week’s developments are about many things including the Government and new Taoiseach seeking to promote themselves as moral consciences internationally
A simple question stopped Ireland in its tracks: why were so many children incarcerated?
Journalist Mary Raftery exposed a shocking culture of abuse 25 years ago this month with her three-part documentary series States of Fear
No line can be drawn under the Troubles for grieving families
Previous official histories of the Troubles have involved privileged access to files unavailable to others and the unhelpful policy looks set to continue
We hardly need reminders of how little the Tories think of Ireland
Current stand-off between the British and Irish governments over immigration is another illustration of the complexities of the ties between the two countries being denied
Themes in McGahern’s That They May Face The Rising Sun have never been more relevant
Novelist John McGahern admired those in rural Ireland who were “above all, rooted in their own lives”. And yet, those roots are being disturbed, through extreme weather, globalisation and population pressures
Ramping up home building isn’t impossible - we’ve done it before
From 1948 to 1964, roughly 137,000 dwellings were built with State aid, 63,000 of which were by local authorities
United Ireland: money should not be the deciding factor but nor should it be ignored
For more than 50 years, opinion polls in the South have suggested two-thirds wish to see a united Ireland, but that is qualified when money comes up
How do you explain to a dying child from Gaza that this is within the accepted limits of Israeli aggression?
Binyamin Netanyahu’s only strategy, facilitated by Joe Biden and others, is to unleash the army and pummel Gaza in the hopes that it will shore up domestic support
Will TikTok taoiseach Simon Harris succeed in his promise to fight populism?
Ireland is going through a period of transition. How Simon Harris navigates the role of Taoiseach will be a test of what the future holds
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices