menu_open Columnists

The Irish Times

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

There’s a bitter irony in the failure of a celebration of Friel’s work to get funding

There’s a bitter irony in the failure of a celebration of Friel’s work to get funding

The playwright understood better than most how fickle the world of arts funding could be

latest 10

The Irish Times

Dermot Hodson

Drones have brought a ‘horrifying intimacy’ to warfare

Drones have brought a ‘horrifying intimacy’ to warfare

Vladimir Putin is reportedly terrified that a drone with facial recognition technology – like the AI tools used by Israel to assassinate Iranian...

latest 10

The Irish Times

Lara Marlowe

Most important quality of any politician? A certain nonchalance

Most important quality of any politician? A certain nonchalance

The need to appear at ease in the role is something Keir Starmer never managed in his time as UK prime minister, but Andy Burnham seems comfortable -...

latest 10

The Irish Times

Stephen Collins

To be anti-Dublin is practically unpatriotic

To be anti-Dublin is practically unpatriotic

Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford are fine, but none is a global city. Why, then, all the anti-Dublin bias?

yesterday 10

The Irish Times

Finn McRedmond

If you think public sector workers have it better, that’s because we do

If you think public sector workers have it better, that’s because we do

Expect strikes if the Government insists on getting strict about remote working without union agreement

yesterday 10

The Irish Times

Alan Eustace

Andy Burnham likes to be liked. There could hardly be a worse qualification for the job

Andy Burnham likes to be liked. There could hardly be a worse qualification for the job

Is the new Labour Party government just as doomed as Keir Starmer’s?

yesterday 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Ireland will remain dependent on gas unless we embrace nuclear

Ireland will remain dependent on gas unless we embrace nuclear

There is every reason to plan now for SMR power generation. Repealing the ban on nuclear power generation is the first step

previous day 10

The Irish Times

Michael McDowell

Viktor Orbán is gone, but the EU has a new headache in Bulgaria’s leader Rumen Radev

Viktor Orbán is gone, but the EU has a new headache in Bulgaria’s leader Rumen Radev

There has been a striking change in Bulgaria’s position towards Ukraine, placing it at odds with EU partner states and Ireland

previous day 10

The Irish Times

John O’brennan

What have Wayne Rooney and Jack Chambers got in common? They both need to cut the crap

What have Wayne Rooney and Jack Chambers got in common? They both need to cut the crap

The rot starts in tiny ways. Old taboos against cursing and crude language fall away and soon a leader calls a poor country a ‘shithole’

previous day 20

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Move to a four-day week and ditch plastic straws: 10 steps to boost your sustainability

Move to a four-day week and ditch plastic straws: 10 steps to boost your sustainability

Simple measures alongside long-term ones can help businesses fight against climate change

tuesday 10

The Irish Times

Sadhbh O'Neill

I am a detective garda. Here’s why an e-scooter ban is unenforceable

I am a detective garda. Here’s why an e-scooter ban is unenforceable

State has passed a law in Grace Lynch’s name, but is also prosecuting the gardaí needed to enforce it

tuesday 10

The Irish Times

Mark Ferris

Odysseus is all around us, not just in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster

Odysseus is all around us, not just in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster

He is everywhere in our cities, anywhere we see shipwrecked people adrift and wandering

tuesday 10

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Will the ‘Michael Lowry gambit’ work for Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage?

Will the ‘Michael Lowry gambit’ work for Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage?

One thing all populists agree on is that an election can make awkward questions go away

20.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Patrick Smyth

What to do if you suspect a spy in your midst in six easy steps

What to do if you suspect a spy in your midst in six easy steps

Six easy steps, plus appendix, to root out foreign intelligence assets operating in Ireland

20.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Sinéad O'Sullivan

Scaling back remote working should be on the agenda as payback for public sector pay rises

Scaling back remote working should be on the agenda as payback for public sector pay rises

Money, no matter how many billions are involved, is the least important part of what is really at stake in the pay talks

20.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Gerard Howlin

Stories win elections. So why are some politicians so bad at telling them?

Stories win elections. So why are some politicians so bad at telling them?

Overconfidence is our enemy. A lesson from ancient Greece can be repurposed today

20.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Garden cabins, rural sprawl and tiny apartments: housing has become a numbers game

Garden cabins, rural sprawl and tiny apartments: housing has become a numbers game

The push is for more supply, any supply – but at what cost?

19.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Orla Hegarty

Nothing in my adult life can match the visceral joy and ecstatic anxiety of sport

Nothing in my adult life can match the visceral joy and ecstatic anxiety of sport

There is a pure escape, a total transportation, that no other field of human endeavour is quite so capable of providing

19.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Mark O’connell

Ann Widdecombe defended free speech. But it’s hard to defend some reactions to her death

Ann Widdecombe defended free speech. But it’s hard to defend some reactions to her death

AI-generated memes were posted of her in her famous yellow Strictly Come Dancing costume, being dragged into hell by the devil

19.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Why Simon Harris will really struggle to move the dial on income tax in the Budget

Why Simon Harris will really struggle to move the dial on income tax in the Budget

Fine Gael aspirations to help ‘people who get up early in the morning’ might be kept in check by realpolitik

19.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Pat Leahy

Knock on the wall: A vision of Irish America in New York’s St Patrick’s Cathedral

Knock on the wall: A vision of Irish America in New York’s St Patrick’s Cathedral

A new mural at the cathedral celebrates the city’s Irish immigrant history, and features a representation of the Apparition at Knock

19.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Felix Larkin

If you get up at a ridiculous hour to sit in horrendous traffic, there may be good news

If you get up at a ridiculous hour to sit in horrendous traffic, there may be good news

But you might not want to get too excited

18.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Cliff Taylor

What caused the Lorcan Murphy I knew to become a killer?

What caused the Lorcan Murphy I knew to become a killer?

Describing what they believe to be part of normal sex, teenagers name slapping, whipping, strangulation and gagging – all acts they report seeing in...

18.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Eoghan Cleary

Should you put your Dryrobe on Vinted? 11 pressing heatwave-related questions

Should you put your Dryrobe on Vinted? 11 pressing heatwave-related questions

In proof, if any were needed, of the human capacity for finding novel ways to hasten our own demise, the hashtag #tanlines is trending on social media

18.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Jennifer O’connell

Is the US AI bonanza a fundamentally secure investment or an old-fashioned bubble?

Is the US AI bonanza a fundamentally secure investment or an old-fashioned bubble?

Could China – as it has done with cars, drones and phones – simply undercut the Americans, providing better AI models more cheaply to the world?

18.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

David McWilliams

Will Donald Trump get a bigger Irish welcome than Ronald Reagan?

Will Donald Trump get a bigger Irish welcome than Ronald Reagan?

It will be interesting to see if those disgusted at his monstrous rule can make their voices heard

17.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Diarmaid Ferriter

Trump’s Irish visit will be choreographed to avoid protests. That doesn’t mean no protests

Trump’s Irish visit will be choreographed to avoid protests. That doesn’t mean no protests

It will be interesting to see if those disgusted at his monstrous rule will manage to make their voices heard

17.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Diarmaid Ferriter

Italia 90 changed Ireland, but the untold story of that year was the women’s game

Italia 90 changed Ireland, but the untold story of that year was the women’s game

While the country partied, the Girls in Green overcame neglect and prejudice. Now they could be off to the World Cup

17.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Dermot Hodson

Neither Martin nor Harris dared rebuke the US ambassador. Varadkar had no such qualms

Neither Martin nor Harris dared rebuke the US ambassador. Varadkar had no such qualms

Are we going to go on ducking behind clichés to safeguard the economy or, when needs be, are we going to speak and act against injustices?

17.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Justine McCarthy

Common Travel Area can’t become an excuse for hard borders on land or sea

Common Travel Area can’t become an excuse for hard borders on land or sea

Mainstream parties of government should be able to sell the CTA as a way to regulate immigration while minimising internal borders

16.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Despite renewed strikes and Trump’s bluster, both sides want an end to Iran conflict

Despite renewed strikes and Trump’s bluster, both sides want an end to Iran conflict

Points of contention and much ambiguity surround the memorandum of understanding that underpins the ceasefire, but there are some positive signs

16.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Vincent Durac

The hosepipe snitches of suburban Ireland: It’s just not very ‘love thy neighbour’

The hosepipe snitches of suburban Ireland: It’s just not very ‘love thy neighbour’

Every country has its psychic hang-up. Is inter-citizen policing Ireland’s?

16.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Finn McRedmond

The ‘rough sex’ defence didn’t work for Lorcan Murphy. He wasn’t the first to try it

The ‘rough sex’ defence didn’t work for Lorcan Murphy. He wasn’t the first to try it

Jailed for murder last week in Budapest, the Dublin man is clearly a dangerous, determined predator, but the kind of violence he used is normalised in...

15.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Politicians are more interested in looking tough on RTÉ than deciding how to fund it

Politicians are more interested in looking tough on RTÉ than deciding how to fund it

No enterprise could absorb an 18-year price freeze on its primary revenue stream while costs keep climbing

15.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Daire Hickey

If 166 brothels can operate openly in Ireland, the ban on paying for sex is not working

If 166 brothels can operate openly in Ireland, the ban on paying for sex is not working

There is a lot of money to be made from prostitution. The legal twilight world we have created suits the purposes of unscrupulous figures

15.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Michael McDowell

We live on an island where we drink, swim and wash in water laced with our own excrement

We live on an island where we drink, swim and wash in water laced with our own excrement

Some 800,000 rural dwellers rely on their own private wells, and 38 per cent of these regularly fail to meet contamination standards

14.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Eamon Ryan

What Vienna and Marino can teach Ireland about making housing affordable

What Vienna and Marino can teach Ireland about making housing affordable

The lesson from Austria is that tenants here pay too much for cost rentals. But as the past examples of Marino and Cabra showed, there is a better...

14.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Lorcan Sirr

Politicians who shrug their shoulders at children in poverty are morally bankrupt

Politicians who shrug their shoulders at children in poverty are morally bankrupt

Feckless inertia has become actively malign

14.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

My World Cup hero: The Norwegian who wouldn’t conform

My World Cup hero: The Norwegian who wouldn’t conform

Whatever the situation, you have the power to fold your arms and say: I’m not going along with this

13.07.2026 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

A neuropsychologist’s advice on how to win a World Cup penalty shoot-out

A neuropsychologist’s advice on how to win a World Cup penalty shoot-out

Why do goalkeepers dive right and left equally often – except when their team is losing?

13.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Ian Robertson

Referendums aren’t always a good idea. Ever tried to vote out ‘the people’?

Referendums aren’t always a good idea. Ever tried to vote out ‘the people’?

Every discretionary referendum is a government declining to exercise the judgment we hired it for

13.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Sinéad O'Sullivan

Our justice system should have better ways of dealing with the likes of Enoch Burke

Our justice system should have better ways of dealing with the likes of Enoch Burke

Justice system is expected to remedy everything from poverty to addiction. It was never designed to carry this load - and does not do it well

13.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

There are few things more life-affirming than a dancing robot going haywire

It functions, among other things, as an antidote to the relentless propagandising of the tech world, with its insistence on AI as an inevitable...

12.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Mark O’connell

As public opinion toughens on migration, politicians have shifted to the right

New system for assessing the claims of people seeking asylum is doing what was intended – turning down most of those who apply

12.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Pat Leahy

I’ve had near misses as a journalist. But a holiday swim was the closest I came to dying

I write this column as a cautionary tale, because most of us forget how easy it is to die

12.07.2026 90

The Irish Times

Lara Marlowe

Irish Presbyterians still coming to terms with fallout from safeguarding issues

Rite & reason: Presbyterian Church in Ireland is still under scrutiny by the Police Service of Northern Ireland

12.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Alf McCreary

Many factors contribute to rising road deaths. Squeamishness can’t be one of them

The Road Safety Authority avoids anything that might be perceived ‘as insensitive or prematurely apportioning blame’ in reporting road deaths

12.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Jennifer O’connell

Ireland’s attitude to a ‘flutter on the horses’ is wrecking lives

We have spent too long treating gambling harm as a failure of character. A ruthless approach to regulation is needed

11.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Brendan Kelly

The State is stepping in to revive Dublin’s O’Connell Street, but will it succeed?

A key test of infrastructure and housing ambitions is about to take place in the north inner city

11.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Cliff Taylor

Life under Paris’s zinc roofs: It’s less romantic when the thermometer hits 40 degrees

Worldview: Paris has invested heavily in efforts to mitigate the urban heat island effect – planting trees and redesigning public spaces – but...

11.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Sharon Gaffney