menu_open Columnists
Fintan O'Toole

Fintan O'Toole

The Irish Times

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

A party that cannot get a tenth of the vote in Dublin or Galway retains power. This is dangerous

A party that cannot get a tenth of the vote in Dublin or Galway retains power. This is dangerous

It feels like we’re in that strange hiatus now. Fianna Fáil has no ground beneath its feet

26.05.2026 10

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Gerry Hutch and Bertie Ahern performed ‘Lanigan’s Ball racism’

Gerry Hutch and Bertie Ahern performed ‘Lanigan’s Ball racism’

Why are Hutch and Ahern so bothered about immigrants from Congo and Somalia? Because they are shorthand for ‘Darkest Africa’

19.05.2026 20

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Career of would-be California governor Steve Hilton traces an arc from Macroom to Maga

Hilton recognised early that oligarchic fascism could be dressed up as anti-elitism. And the signs were there at a Macroom cattle fair in 1992

12.05.2026 10

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

How does a government conclude a big truck needs three times more public money than a pensioner?

We have a political economy is which the only currency is the decibel

05.05.2026 20

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Fianna Fáil created a middle class but has little to say to a generation unable to join it

With its disastrous housing policies, Fianna Fáil has lost touch with its own successes

28.04.2026 20

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Ireland’s governing philosophy is learned helplessness – and it is getting worse

Every pressure group now knows it can be the unstoppable force that meets the moveable government

21.04.2026 20

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Ireland’s far-right movement will emerge from the ‘breakfast roll-atariat’

Big wheels are being driven over democratic norms

14.04.2026 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Trump’s random gibberish is more terrifying than lies. It is a sign of derangement

The US president isn’t making this stuff up – it’s making him up

07.04.2026 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Donald Trump is like a child pulling the wings off flies – all means and no end

We are seeing something new in human history: the relishing of annihilation as entertainment

31.03.2026 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Peter Vandermeersch ignored his own golden rule about using AI

A journalist using AI-generated quotes in articles about AI is like a doctor injecting one virus in the hope of curing another

24.03.2026 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Trump’s war on Iran could spell the end of the EU

A deep economic crisis, shocking terrorist attacks in EU cities plus an unprecedented wave of refugees would lead to a far-right surge that the EU may...

17.03.2026 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

Donald Trump is not mentally ill, but he is mad

Someone needs to tell him the truth or swathes of the world could be turned into Gaza writ large

10.03.2026 50

The Irish Times

Fintan O’toole

If there’s so much buyer’s remorse about Brexit, why is Nigel Farage the rising figure in UK politics?

27.05.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

If you want to see how democracies cede to autocracies, watch as US universities bend to Trump

20.05.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Ireland is running out of priests. There is an obvious solution

13.05.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Fintan O’Toole: Kneecap and Boris Johnson have a lot in common

06.05.2025 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Is nothing sacred, even at a pope’s funeral?

29.04.2025 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

State has reached crisis of irresponsibility that resonates far beyond Grace’s grim story

22.04.2025 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

There’s a psychosexual dimension to Trump’s tariffs. You don’t have to be Freud to see it

15.04.2025 60

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

The voice of the Almighty Dollar is shouting stop, Mr Trump

08.04.2025 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Boys want love, trust and intimacy just as much as girls do

01.04.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Ireland’s delightful love triangle is ending in a nasty divorce

25.03.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

Donald Trump is right about Ireland’s relationship with Big Pharma

18.03.2025 30

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

A cunning plan to bring Saint Patrick’s writings to the White House

11.03.2025 50

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole

The idea of Trump the dealmaker avoids a monstrous truth

04.03.2025 40

The Irish Times

Fintan O'Toole