Letters to the Editor, December 14th: On the Green effect, grief and the humble Brussels sprout
Youth work is not an optional extra, it is essential to our communities
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell columns and stories
Letters to the Editor, December 13th: On queuing for food, rural Ireland and Christmas in Dublin
No child should have to go hungry, particularly at this time of year
Living in rural Ireland shouldn’t be an impossible dream
Balanced regional development means more than plonking cities here and there - other factors have to be taken into consideration, as Fianna Fáil has signalled
Where was the ‘parity of esteem’ talk when Fine Gael was riding high in the polls?
Some in the Dublin establishment and media regard demands of regional Independents as ‘parish pump’ but concerns of urban TDs as ‘progressive’ and ‘socially concerned’
We are heading for an election result replete with uncertainty
Election 2024: We may be about to see the consequences of political opportunism, inexperience and immaturity
Middle Ireland needs a new government. Independents might provide it
Simon Harris plans to win enough votes to abandon rotating taoiseach deal. Here’s why that’s a doomed strategy
Courting of Labour by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is the worst kind of cynicism
Instead of sniping at each other, the erstwhile Civil War parties need to be straight with the people
Death announced of former senator Billy Lawless who built successful pub business in Chicago
Galway native was nominated to the Seanad in 2016 by then taoiseach Enda Kenny
America deserved better than this contest, and so did the world
The biggest global issue is how the democracies of the world will deal with the Sino-Russo-Korean alliance which is preparing for confrontation in Europe and Asia
Former RTÉ broadcaster David Davin-Power ‘showed bravery to the bitter end’, son tells funeral Mass
Former RTÉ northern editor and political correspondent died last weekend after short illness
Having a million EVs by 2030 is an illusion - we cannot even meet existing electricity demand
The march towards complete dependence on electricity as the only available energy source seems to be inexorable. And yet we in Ireland have narrowed our options to a dangerous degree
Sinn Féin’s leaders are not really leaders. They’re more like glove puppets for unseen controllers
Recent controversies are not the reason for Sinn Féin’s decline, they’re symptoms of its underlying reality
An intervention from Germany’s opposition could prove important to the EU’s approach to migration
The party is calling for a temporary closure of the country’s borders to asylum claimants
Showdown on gender definition in hate crime Bill looms
Government plans to push through remaining stages of legislation without hate speech elements against backdrop of dispute over meaning of terms used
Growth of Hamas was not merely observed by Israel’s government, it was actively encouraged
Ireland’s chief rabbi says Israel is not waging a war of retaliation. But the Israeli government’s stated policy is that the war is one of the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities
Sex education cannot be taught on a one-size-fits-all basis
The terror that posed as SPHE education in the past was undoubtedly deeply harmful to adolescents
The Irish Times view on the hate crime Bill: a salutary lesson
The Bill became a lightning rod for the debates over limits on free speech
Hate crime Bill to retain special protections for transgender and non-binary people
Elements relating to hate speech to be shelved but gender definitions to remain despite opposition including by Michael McDowell questioning idea of legislating for ‘multiplicity of subjective genders’
Children’s hospital, Metrolink and bike shed are all symptoms of a deep governmental malaise
Like Britain, we suffer from advanced administrative sclerosis, but we’re in complete denial
Ireland must tackle the ‘pull factors’ that attract asylum applicants
A proposal to charge asylum seekers with jobs €15 or €25 a week for accommodation is a pathetic response
Housing crisis will not be solved by Sinn Féin or Coalition
Idea that local authorities can deliver housing faster than building contractors is daft ideological posturing
A €336,000 bike shelter is cheap compared with cost of transforming Leinster House library
Independent Senators have been trying to see OPW plans to transform the beautiful members’ library at Leinster House into a ‘main committee room’ for the Dáil, to no avail
Why is our capacity to deliver infrastructure projects worse now than it was in the 19th century?
A railway was built from Dublin to Cork with little more than a shovel and a pick in the 1840s. Today the Shannon pipeline project will take 15-20 years from conception to completion - and that’s if all goes well
Ireland is in no position to accept 25,000 homeless migrants claiming asylum every year
It is idle to debate whether ‘Ireland is full’. But it is not idle to acknowledge the glaring truth that Ireland is in no position to accept 25,000 homeless migrants claiming asylum every year
Trump’s ‘conversation’ with Musk reveals dangers that were not made explicit until now
Former US president lauds Russian leader while being profoundly hostile to the European Union
Is the Metrolink really the best way to provide a rail link to Dublin Airport?
A new strategy review document favours building a surface railway to serve Dublin airport by linking it to the Dublin suburban network at Clongriffin
A Trump presidency will embolden Putin and Netanyahu and present a dreadful danger for the world
Michael McDowell: The future of the United States is now at stake as never before. Bound up in that is the viability of liberal democracies around the world in the face of totalitarianism
Our party whip system is too severe. Politicians should be able to vote with their conscience
British and American systems do not quake at the thought of governments losing votes via their supporters who disagree with the majority
Miriam Lord: Swoosh! Down comes the guillotine, but controversial planning Bill is partially spared
Depending on one’s point of view, Minister for Housing’s landmark creation is either a dangerous folly or an architectural gem
New process to strip Irish citizenship is passed by Oireachtas
Minister for Justice says new procedure ‘just and fair’ in process used less than 10 times since 1956
Seanad is an institution chosen by graduates and stuffed with political wannabes
With reform repeatedly promised and not delivered, the only way to fix the lack of Seanad reform it is at the next Dáil election
Planning Bill criticised as being like ‘tablets of 10 commandments descending from Mount Sinai’
Senator describes 747-page Bill as ‘telephone directory’ and a ‘massive supertanker coming to dock in a very small port’
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