Category: Blog

‘It is at least doubtful whether at this stage a detailed blueprint of a desirable internal order of society would be of much use – or whether anyone is competent to furnish it. The important thing now is that we shall come to agree on certain principles and free ourselves from some of the errors which have governed us in the recent past. … The first need is to free ourselves of that worst form…

‘No longer can we afford to be dominated by those who put money ahead of life. This coronavirus reminds us that we belong to the material world,’ wrote Guardian columnist George Monbiot who sees the virus as ‘nature’s wake-up call to a complacent civilisation’ (March 25th). As we hear of the clean skies over China as pollution clears and the return of fish to swim in the now pure waters of Venice’s canals, we are being taught…

In all the commentary on the Sinn Féin breakthrough and the end of the FF-FG duopoly, there has been very little focus on what has brought this about, namely a scream of righteous communal anger against the neo-liberal model. Yet, like in so many other countries where this anger is being manifested both on the streets and in the ballot boxes, it is far from clear what new model can emerge. Ireland has been an…

In this most remarkable of remarkable elections, one of the most remarkable features has, as far as I have come across, invited absolutely no comment. This is the reinvention of Sinn Féin as a left-wing party. Yet, over the long-run, it may be a more significant achievement than breaking the stranglehold of the two big parties over our public life. For long, Sinn Féin has been regarded by many on the left as somewhat suspect….

It is hard to remember an election that so unexpectedly upturned the entrenched and solid features of the Irish political landscape, and opened new alignments never before in the realm of the possible. As such, it contains echoes of the 2017 UK election when Jeremy Corbyn achieved the impossible in upending Tory expectations and achieving superstar status, though this wasn’t to last. Asking if the election is Ireland’s Jeremy Corbyn moment is not to anticipate…