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Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

The Irish News

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Hooray! We’re all going to be prosperous with our new Programme for Government

08.03.2025 9

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Mary Lou McDonald said Brendan McFarlane and Ted Howell were ones. But what exactly is a patriot?

01.03.2025 20

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

As ignorant men prosper, what is Ireland’s future in the new world order?

22.02.2025 9

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Ignorance is bliss when one MLA is worth two teachers

16.02.2025 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Stormont fails because it has no need to succeed

09.02.2025 20

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Trump has brought us back to the Dark Ages, but has Ireland the courage to choose the light?

02.02.2025 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

A tale of two assemblies and a Stormont sickness

26.01.2025 8

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Dear Donald, when exactly was America ever great?

19.01.2025 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy: Your government is a party to terrorism, Mr Benn. Instead of appealing the Sean Brown ruling, just do the decent thing and resign

11.01.2025 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Snobbery and inequality alive and well in Britain’s dishonourable ‘honours’ system

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...

05.01.2025 3

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Can we please start by deciding what a university is for?

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...

29.12.2024 6

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Bah, humbug – welcome to the world of Ebenezer Stormont

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...

21.12.2024 9

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Sham fight over Europe only diverts attention from sham assembly

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...

14.12.2024 9

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Lord, grant us a united Ireland, but not just yet

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...

08.12.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Whoever wins the election, the real winner was NATO

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...

30.11.2024 9

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

It’s time for Queen’s to find a new chancellor to restore the dignity which Hillary Clinton has damaged

Universities are a useful indicator of an advanced society. They represent those essential values of learning, scientific development and the...

23.11.2024 3

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Can Sinn Féin expect more opposition after Tyrone statement?

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...

17.11.2024 4

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Democrats have only themselves to blame for Trump’s victory

Don’t blame the American electorate – blame the Democratic Party. That, sadly, is the most useful way to understand the outcome of the US...

10.11.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

We live in a flawed democracy but don’t dare complain about it

Is Stormont’s unaccountable system of government truly democratic? The Civil Liberties Union for Europe’s classification of governments would...

03.11.2024 7

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Sinn Féin has reached its de Valera moment but cannot take the next step

While Sinn Féin’s recent troubles have largely been explained in terms of poor communications and faulty decision-making, the party’s...

26.10.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

If Ireland doesn’t want Israel attacking its peacekeepers, it needs to stop US military planes using Shannon

The Irish government’s plan to abandon neutrality is compromising the safety of its own troops. That’s the inevitable conclusion from Ireland’s...

20.10.2024 4

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Sinn Féin, Michael McGonagle and the preservation of the popcorn parliament

The American bishop Fulton Sheen once made the humorous comment that hearing nuns’ confessions was a bit like being stoned to death with popcorn....

12.10.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy: Sinn Féin is pushing a united Ireland further away

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...

06.10.2024 3

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

There will be no truth or justice from any side in the Troubles

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...

28.09.2024 3

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

GAA got caught up in game of political football over Casement and lost

It is an interesting reflection on Stormont’s priorities that Casement Park is more important than education, poverty, infrastructure or the...

22.09.2024 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Our public services are drowning on an ocean of empty words

In fairness to the Stormont Executive parties, their long-awaited Programme for Government (PfG) has adopted a novel approach to policy making....

14.09.2024 3

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

The SDLP has a choice: change or die

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...

07.09.2024 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Who did the IRA really fight its war for?

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...

31.08.2024 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Romantic Ireland is dead and gone, left lying amid the ashes in Gaza

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...

25.08.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

We need more people like Lilian Seenoi-Barr

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...

18.08.2024 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

Should ‘Ooh, ah, up the ’Ra’ be retired with the Wolfe Tones?

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...

11.08.2024 5

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

An end-of-term report on Stormont’s politicians - Patrick Murphy

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...

03.08.2024 20

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy

The GAA’s boring football, confused identity and promotion of professional soccer need tackled

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...

27.07.2024 10

The Irish News

Patrick Murphy