Ireland’s Constitution forbids the president from speaking on behalf of the government. But he has spoken critically of Europe, and the government has endorsed his comments. An interesting stance, coming from Europe’s prize austerian pupil.
Attempts in Ireland to frame gay marriage as a religious rather than human rights issue are disappointing – but not surprising – in a country where homosexuality was deemed a crime until as recently as 1993. It’s time for Ireland, and Australia, to follow New Zealand’s lead.
While the fundamentals of the banking crisis have chewed up much of the economic problem-solving since 2008, Irish mortgage debt has been left to fester.
The real legacy of the 1981 Hunger Strike lies in the by-election victory of Bobby Sands, writes Fergal Davis.
Extremism should have no place in democratic government. But with a diminished and conservatively dominated mainstream Australian press unable or unwilling to confront extremist views, intolerance, fear and loathing against minorities is bound to flourish.
The Australian government’s move to tighten rules for 457 visas smacks of desperation.
The pursuit of the Australian dream over its American cousin has something of a grip over Ireland’s intending emigrants.
The treatment of overseas workers at Werribee should matter to the Irish community in Australia, writes Fergal Davis.
A Facebook page’s premise that emigrants have abandoned Ireland is an intriguing one, coming at a time when Ireland is still haemorrhaging young people at the rate of more than 1,000 a week.
There is something about Ned Kelly that strikes with the Australian and Irish psyche and something in how we respond to him that reflects back at us, writes Luke O’Neill.
