|
![]() |
![]() Patrick MurphyThe Irish News |
Another new year means another New Year’s Honours list and that means that Britain’s medieval class system of monarchs, nobles and knights is alive...
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Conor Murphy’s plan for 10,000 student places in Derry is more an exercise in political populism than...
If Charles Dickens were alive today, he could write a modern version of one of his best-known works. A Christmas Carol highlights the appalling...
The Battle of the Boyne’s annual sham fight was relocated this week from Scarva to Stormont. Normally held in the Co Down village on July 13, the...
If Sinn Féin is the delivery driver for a united Ireland, its performance in the Republic’s general election suggests that we may have to wait a...
While the final outcome of yesterday’s general election is yet to emerge, one winner has already been confirmed. In domestic policy the three main...
Universities are a useful indicator of an advanced society. They represent those essential values of learning, scientific development and the...
The only surprising aspect of the statement in which more than 100 Tyrone people criticised Michelle O’Neill last week was that it was not issued...
Don’t blame the American electorate – blame the Democratic Party. That, sadly, is the most useful way to understand the outcome of the US...
Is Stormont’s unaccountable system of government truly democratic? The Civil Liberties Union for Europe’s classification of governments would...
While Sinn Féin’s recent troubles have largely been explained in terms of poor communications and faulty decision-making, the party’s...
The Irish government’s plan to abandon neutrality is compromising the safety of its own troops. That’s the inevitable conclusion from Ireland’s...
The American bishop Fulton Sheen once made the humorous comment that hearing nuns’ confessions was a bit like being stoned to death with popcorn....
A united Ireland is as far away as ever – and, after this week, it may even be a bit further away than it used to be. That’s the inevitable...
It is sad, but increasingly obvious, that those responsible for the almost 4,000 deaths during the Troubles here are determined to ensure that the...
It is an interesting reflection on Stormont’s priorities that Casement Park is more important than education, poverty, infrastructure or the...
In fairness to the Stormont Executive parties, their long-awaited Programme for Government (PfG) has adopted a novel approach to policy making....
A new leader will do little for the SDLP unless it adopts a new approach to politics. For 20 years it has failed to realise that if you keep doing...
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Provisional IRA ceasefire. In 1994, after their “inevitable” 25-year war for ‘Brits Out’, the IRA decided that...
We Irish have many wonderful virtues, but perhaps our greatest asset is our ability to be two-faced. Indeed, to show our national commitment to...
So that’s the problem solved then. After an outburst of racism, all we had to do was to lock up the rioters, throw away the key and everything can...
If this is August, it must be time for the annual political row over the Wolfe Tones’ concert at Feile an Phobail. DUP indignation at “Ooh, ah, up...
Now that our politicians have gone on holiday (not that you would notice the difference) it might be a good time to write an end-of-term report on...
In view of the weekend that’s in it, now might be a good time to ask how well the GAA is performing as an organisation. Behind the scramble for...