Liberals must stop adopting lazy, woke stances on complex issues

15.10.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland should not be told by Brussels or Washington what to do about policing speech

08.10.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

Why I didn’t nominate Maria Steen for the presidency

01.10.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

This is the age of Mad Hatter Tea Party politics featuring Donald Trump as the Queen of Hearts

24.09.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Grotesque charade of Trump’s UK visit is latest sign of a world in turmoil

17.09.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

With luck, we’ll have a new drainage scheme for Dublin in just 25 years. Welcome to modern Ireland

10.09.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

Trump’s persistent idiocy has hugely diminished America’s standing in world affairs

03.09.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

Trump shames America and Americans with his pathetic pandering to dictators

27.08.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Trump’s deal-making to end the Ukraine war is a sick charade

20.08.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Israeli hostages not a priority for ministers planning Gaza takeover

13.08.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Donald Trump’s presidency represents a reversal of American orthodoxy on trade

06.08.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Whatever about his tariffs, Trump’s ‘helpful advice’ to the EU is on the money

30.07.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

You might think a planning application for a windfarm is good news. You’d be wrong

23.07.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Many people won’t decide how to vote in a Border poll until they see what’s on offer

16.07.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Israeli-American plan seems intended to kill off any hope of a two-state solution by deporting population of Gaza

09.07.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Folly of abolishing bedsits only to promote co-living is now becoming clear

02.07.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

The idea that the Kremlin has kompromat on Trump seems increasingly plausible

25.06.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

There is a way to unblock Ireland’s infrastructural logjam

18.06.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

I gave my friends hats which said ‘Make America Hate Again’. That’s what Trump is trying to do

11.06.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

EU cannot ignore what’s happening in Poland and The Netherlands

04.06.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

For all his bragging, Trump knows he has little leverage with either Putin or Netanyahu

28.05.2025 9

Michael Mcdowell

Michael McDowell: Migration policy is the EU’s biggest weakness and Donald Trump is aiming to exploit it

21.05.2025 9

Michael Mcdowell

Military axis of Russia, China and North Korea will test what the West stands for

14.05.2025 8

Michael Mcdowell

Ministers need to stop pointing out obstacles to delivery - and start tackling them

07.05.2025 8

Michael Mcdowell

In Victorian era a railway could be built in three years, but now even planning approval would take way longer

30.04.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Michael McDowell: There is no ‘right’ to subvert women’s freedom to have their own events and spaces

23.04.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

The fragmented EU will struggle in negotiations with the US

16.04.2025 20

Michael Mcdowell

Tariff war a major self-inflicted wound for the United States

09.04.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Our rights and freedoms are at stake in times as perilous as the late 1930s

02.04.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

No European city would tolerate the decay and dereliction visible in Dublin

26.03.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Donald Trump and Elon Musk won’t be able to go on ignoring the damage to the bottom line

19.03.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Will no one shout stop as the MetroLink bill heads past €20bn?

12.03.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Trump wants to divide, destroy and subjugate the EU into a continent of economic vassal states

05.03.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

So far the grotesque reality of Trump’s ambitions has exceeded all the worst predictions

26.02.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

The only argument in favour of a rotating Taoiseach is to give Simon Harris a turn at the wheel

19.02.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

England is mired in self-doubt and disillusionment - but Ireland can’t afford to gloat

12.02.2025 8

Michael Mcdowell

Beware the phoney, flaccid consensus on events such as Storm Éowyn or Covid

05.02.2025 9

Michael Mcdowell

Musk-Trump effect has the capacity to destabilise Irish democracy

I imagine that many people in Ireland are quietly hoping that some of the more pessimistic forecasts of what the Trump presidency could mean for...

08.01.2025 10

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland in the 1980s was backward, poor and stagnant. Some politicians want to bring us back there

From the beginning of January 1973, Ireland was a member state of the EEC. But for the following decade we were in the throes of despair. By the...

01.01.2025 7

Michael Mcdowell

Israel has accused Irish politicians of anti-Semitism before. It has never been true

It should come as no surprise that the Israeli foreign minister should accuse the Irish Taoiseach of anti-Semitism. After all, the spokesman for...

18.12.2024 30

Michael Mcdowell

Living in rural Ireland shouldn’t be an impossible dream

If you look at large-scale maps of Ireland 100 years ago, you will see little black rectangles representing homes occupied by rural dwellers...

11.12.2024 6

Michael Mcdowell

Where was the ‘parity of esteem’ talk when Fine Gael was riding high in the polls?

A novel feature of the post-election political landscape is that the new government’s life will coincide very closely with the five-year cycle for...

04.12.2024 4

Michael Mcdowell

We are heading for an election result replete with uncertainty

In the last few weeks, I have written here about Friday’s election on three occasions. I make no apology for what I have written. The first piece...

27.11.2024 6

Michael Mcdowell

Middle Ireland needs a new government. Independents might provide it

Is there an adult in the room? This is a question that is now being frequently asked among objective observers of the general election campaign...

20.11.2024 10

Michael Mcdowell

Courting of Labour by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is the worst kind of cynicism

This general election campaign is in real danger of descent into farce. The people of Ireland are not fools. They know that a general election is...

13.11.2024 5

Michael Mcdowell

America deserved better than this contest, and so did the world

The fate of the western world lies, as I write, in the hands of American voters, as it has often done before. Or, to be more precise, in the few...

06.11.2024 4

Michael Mcdowell

Having a million EVs by 2030 is an illusion - we cannot even meet existing electricity demand

In certain parts of the midlands with which I am very familiar, local inhabitants are regularly in receipt of outages notices from ESB Networks...

30.10.2024 4

Michael Mcdowell

Sinn Féin’s leaders are not really leaders. They’re more like glove puppets for unseen controllers

In the last few weeks, there has been much publicity concerning internal disputes and disciplinary processes in Sinn Féin. Now that we are in an...

23.10.2024 20

Michael Mcdowell

Tackling migration requires political courage from EU member states

Germany’s major opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has now taken the position that the right to asylum has been too broadly...

16.10.2024 3

Michael Mcdowell

Growth of Hamas was not merely observed by Israel’s government, it was actively encouraged

It is natural that the public’s attention should, on the anniversary of the barbarous Hamas attack on Israeli men, women and children, refocus on...

09.10.2024 5

Categories

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Popular

Liberals must stop adopting lazy, woke stances on complex issues

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland should not be told by Brussels or Washington what to do about policing speech

Michael Mcdowell

Why I didn’t nominate Maria Steen for the presidency

Michael Mcdowell

This is the age of Mad Hatter Tea Party politics featuring Donald Trump as the Queen of Hearts

Michael Mcdowell

Grotesque charade of Trump’s UK visit is latest sign of a world in turmoil

Michael Mcdowell

With luck, we’ll have a new drainage scheme for Dublin in just 25 years. Welcome to modern Ireland

Michael Mcdowell

Trump’s persistent idiocy has hugely diminished America’s standing in world affairs

Michael Mcdowell

Trump shames America and Americans with his pathetic pandering to dictators

Michael Mcdowell

Trump’s deal-making to end the Ukraine war is a sick charade

Michael Mcdowell

Israeli hostages not a priority for ministers planning Gaza takeover

Michael Mcdowell

Donald Trump’s presidency represents a reversal of American orthodoxy on trade

Michael Mcdowell

Whatever about his tariffs, Trump’s ‘helpful advice’ to the EU is on the money

Michael Mcdowell

You might think a planning application for a windfarm is good news. You’d be wrong

Michael Mcdowell

Many people won’t decide how to vote in a Border poll until they see what’s on offer

Michael Mcdowell

Israeli-American plan seems intended to kill off any hope of a two-state solution by deporting population of Gaza

Michael Mcdowell

Folly of abolishing bedsits only to promote co-living is now becoming clear

Michael Mcdowell

The idea that the Kremlin has kompromat on Trump seems increasingly plausible

Michael Mcdowell

There is a way to unblock Ireland’s infrastructural logjam

Michael Mcdowell

I gave my friends hats which said ‘Make America Hate Again’. That’s what Trump is trying to do

Michael Mcdowell

EU cannot ignore what’s happening in Poland and The Netherlands

Michael Mcdowell

For all his bragging, Trump knows he has little leverage with either Putin or Netanyahu

Michael Mcdowell

Michael McDowell: Migration policy is the EU’s biggest weakness and Donald Trump is aiming to exploit it

Michael Mcdowell

Military axis of Russia, China and North Korea will test what the West stands for

Michael Mcdowell

Ministers need to stop pointing out obstacles to delivery - and start tackling them

Michael Mcdowell

In Victorian era a railway could be built in three years, but now even planning approval would take way longer

Michael Mcdowell

Michael McDowell: There is no ‘right’ to subvert women’s freedom to have their own events and spaces

Michael Mcdowell

The fragmented EU will struggle in negotiations with the US

Michael Mcdowell

Tariff war a major self-inflicted wound for the United States

Michael Mcdowell

Our rights and freedoms are at stake in times as perilous as the late 1930s

Michael Mcdowell

No European city would tolerate the decay and dereliction visible in Dublin

Michael Mcdowell

Donald Trump and Elon Musk won’t be able to go on ignoring the damage to the bottom line

Michael Mcdowell

Will no one shout stop as the MetroLink bill heads past €20bn?

Michael Mcdowell

Trump wants to divide, destroy and subjugate the EU into a continent of economic vassal states

Michael Mcdowell

So far the grotesque reality of Trump’s ambitions has exceeded all the worst predictions

Michael Mcdowell

The only argument in favour of a rotating Taoiseach is to give Simon Harris a turn at the wheel

Michael Mcdowell

England is mired in self-doubt and disillusionment - but Ireland can’t afford to gloat

Michael Mcdowell

Beware the phoney, flaccid consensus on events such as Storm Éowyn or Covid

Michael Mcdowell

Musk-Trump effect has the capacity to destabilise Irish democracy

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland in the 1980s was backward, poor and stagnant. Some politicians want to bring us back there