There is a debate going on in my house about the environmental ethics of a fake versus a real Christmas tree. Multiple websites have been consulted...

13.12.2024 10

Diarmaid Ferriter

Is it time for Opposition parties to come together under the banner ‘Put them out’?

The slogan “Put them out” gained considerable momentum in early 1948 after 16 years of Fianna Fáil in power. As historian John A Murphy put it,...

06.12.2024 4

Diarmaid Ferriter

Diarmaid Ferriter: Simon Harris’s much vaunted ‘new energy’ was squeezed out of an old bottle

The general election campaign demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to match the exceptional endurance of our democratic culture with maturity...

30.11.2024 4

Diarmaid Ferriter

Cillian Murphy’s view of Ireland in the 1980s as ‘the dark ages’ misses the point

One option for those seeking refuge from the general election campaign was the cinema for the film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella Small...

29.11.2024 10

Diarmaid Ferriter

Contrast between Trump’s cruelty and McCain’s dignity shows how far America has fallen

The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in November 2008 was not only notable for the historic breakthrough it represented...

31.10.2024 3

Diarmaid Ferriter

Few would have thought a play about the fraught Belfast Agreement talks could be so gripping

When civil servants in the Anglo-Irish division of the Department of Foreign Affairs were preparing taoiseach Bertie Ahern for a meeting with...

25.10.2024 3

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Anglo-Irish breakthroughs have always been intentionally vague

Diarmaid Ferriter

Diarmaid Ferriter: Sr Stan asked a question in 1985 – it still hasn’t been answered

Diarmaid Ferriter

Talk of reforming the presidential nomination process is likely to fizzle out

Diarmaid Ferriter

Giving all artists a basic income means they can get on with the bloody work

Diarmaid Ferriter

Jim Gavin’s name on the ballot paper raises troubling questions

Diarmaid Ferriter

Charles Haughey’s fate was sealed by the 1990 presidential election. Is Micheál Martin next?

Diarmaid Ferriter

Martin Mansergh: Mandarin who quietly nudged this island towards peace

Diarmaid Ferriter

Two out of three candidates for the presidency can’t speak fluent Irish. That matters

Diarmaid Ferriter

UCD’s debating society rescinding an award to John Boyne is an odd decision

Diarmaid Ferriter

What’s the point of party think-ins when the same social problems persist?

Diarmaid Ferriter

Teachers should refuse to pass pickets of secretaries and caretakers

Diarmaid Ferriter

Motivation for Netanyahu’s hideous war on Gaza is not only self-interest. It’s far worse

Diarmaid Ferriter

Inevitability in presidential elections of over-promising and under-reading of the Constitution

Diarmaid Ferriter

Entrenched views remain barrier to a proper discussion about Irish unity

Diarmaid Ferriter

Daniel O’Connell: A ‘coward’ with a complicated legacy

Diarmaid Ferriter

The people who gave Ireland back part of its past

Diarmaid Ferriter

Ulster is well acquainted with those who leave their homes on boats for hope of a better life

Diarmaid Ferriter

Michael D Higgins showed having a vocal president can be risky. Has the public had enough?

Diarmaid Ferriter

The GPO is not ‘sacred ground’. It’s so much more than that

Diarmaid Ferriter

Ireland was a place where ruthless husbands were free to ‘bounce a boot off’ their wives

Diarmaid Ferriter

How can we stop corporate gombeen men running amok again? Credit unions could be the answer

Diarmaid Ferriter

The great tragedy is there’s no political pendulum to restrain Israel’s Cromwellian impulses

Diarmaid Ferriter

Ryanair is greenwashing to a comical degree

Diarmaid Ferriter

If waterways are neglected, they become undrinkable, unswimmable and then untouchable

Diarmaid Ferriter

Was it for this craven display that London endured the Blitz?

Diarmaid Ferriter

Donald Trump’s chilling assault on universities mirrors that of the Nazis in 1930s Germany

Diarmaid Ferriter

In Ireland, we are obsessed with the land – owning it, not roaming it

Diarmaid Ferriter

The hurt that dripped from Michael O’Brien and others has to be part of Pope Francis’s legacy

Diarmaid Ferriter

Forget an apple for the teacher. What they really need is a Valium

Diarmaid Ferriter

We are constantly told to shop around and switch utilities providers. Easier said than done

Diarmaid Ferriter

From ‘Damned Englishman’ to ‘f**king a**hole’: A history of Ireland in 25 Dáil insults

Diarmaid Ferriter

A century after the Monto, street prostitution has been replaced by sordid networks run by pimps

Diarmaid Ferriter

The vagina detector test at the entrance to the Vatican is not about to be decommissioned

Diarmaid Ferriter

Nobody should be mocked or lampooned for decrying the consequences of the new arms race

Diarmaid Ferriter

Burning question for Europe now is how to deal with an elected American tyrant

Diarmaid Ferriter

Éamon de Valera was the first to suggest ‘garden cabins’ as a solution to an Irish social dilemma

Diarmaid Ferriter

Experiences of Troubles victims have run like submerged streams beneath the dry land of blame

Diarmaid Ferriter

Ministerial overload isn’t going to solve our problems. Neither is Civil Service squeeze

Diarmaid Ferriter

Underground cabling could answer challenge of keeping lights on after storms

From ‘Damned Englishman’ to ‘fking ahole’: A history of Ireland in 25 Dáil insults