The State We're In

What Does It Mean to be Good Europeans?

2012-01-01T12:19:00.003Z

As Ireland has navigated the European project since its accession in 1973, one of the most common throwaway soundbites from our political leaders has been "we are good Europeans". It's an interesting phrase, a little like inverse patronisation, such as "I'm a good little boy!" It's also just a tad submissive, though the phrase is invariably followed by a "but", and a statement of strength and

In Defence of Cronyism

2011-11-15T11:26:00.003Z

There are few democracies in the world that do not have mechanisms to allow political patronage, to facilitate the bestowing of honours, rank, privilege or largesse in some capacity as a reward for service to a politician or a party once it has been successful in an election. From the humble councillor, seeing fit to award a small project to extend the town hall meeting rooms to his erstwhile

An Economic Police State

2011-11-07T14:53:00.003Z

Negri and Hardt's Empire and subsequent Multitude discuss the status of the police in modern democracy, and their role in enforcing a supposedly illegitimate will. In order to have this level of enforcement accepted by the people, it is necessary to build fear in the populace, and a consensus that the state is required to defend the majority. The argument was that in a post-9/11 world (though

We have reached the point of perpetual economic crisis

2011-11-04T16:45:00.002Z

Today’s G20 non-event in Cannes showed just how impotent the global political leadership is – China included – in fixing the European debt crisis. That Europe and the US are not engulfed in this mess as directly as Eurozone members is in part due to their independence from a currency perspective; and in part due to their swashbuckling (some would call it reckless) approach to dealing with the

An Ordinary Man: Why Fine Gael Voters are Voting for Seán Gallagher

2011-10-24T02:00:00.004+01:00

Today's IPSOS/MRBI poll for the Irish Times confirms other polls from the weekend. Sean Gallagher's lead is significant. What is perhaps more interesting is the voter distribution. More Fine Gael candidates are voting for Sean Gallagher than for Gay Mitchell. This is by no means due to the party's dislike for their man - though some would have preferred Mairead McGuinness or Pat Cox, and

President Gallagher: What it Means for the Other Parties

2011-10-23T00:51:00.004+01:00

I'm in Sydney fighting jetlag, and it seemed like something of a bad dream when I stepped off the plane to read my wife's response to the obligatory "Landed! All Well! Plane Didn't Crash" text message. "Great," she texted. "Gallagher on 40% tomorrow." Well if the twenty degree heat at six in the morning didn't blow me down, then that one certainly did. We all didn't expect this now, did we.So

Gay Mitchell and the Problem for Fine Gael

2011-10-11T13:02:00.002+01:00

It's early days in the campaign, but Gay Mitchell is not polling well. As the field solidified, the FG vote deserted Mitchell. It did so for a number of reasons: a botched negative attack on Martin McGuinness, perceived initially as the main threat, particularly in winning old Fianna Fail votes; the absence of Fianna Fáil; the strength and diversity of the other candidates; and also the sheer

Why Sean Gallagher's Fianna Fáil Past Matters

2011-10-08T23:29:00.004+01:00

The relationship between Sean Gallagher and the Fianna Fáil party is becoming more of an issue as he becomes a serious contender. Whether it is manufactured or substantive I'll deal with later.In January this year Gallagher resigned from the National Executive in a letter later published on politics.ie. In the same month, he helped launch at least two election campaigns of Fianna Fáil candidate

Rousseau and Ireland (Part Un)

2011-10-08T12:06:00.003+01:00

I've been re-reading my Rousseau. The concept of the General Will is not a difficult one to grasp - in essence, we all willingly give up our freedom to the Sovereign (in a representative demoncracy that being the collective The People, i.e. us) and in turn the Sovereign redistributes that freedom in an equitable and socially conscious way. It facilitates that freedom generally - that is, in

Sean Quinn and the Lowry effect

2011-04-30T23:24:00.004+01:00

The continuing travails of Séan Quinn are continuing to be portrayed by the media as just that - travails, inconveniences, challenges - and remain of interest to the country while becoming something of a cause for his followers in the border region. Of all of the major figures to be "caught up" in the banking crisis and the "travails" of our nation, he alone retains the sympathy of many people,

Property Valuation Con Continues in Ireland

2011-04-21T18:31:00.002+01:00

My home insurance renewal letter came in the post today. I called the AA, who have my car policy, and they gave me a quote that was half what Bank of Ireland were charging for the same terms. So I rang the Bank of Ireland - the insurance guys first. They told me that one way to reduce my premium would be to reduce the rebuild cost of the house. So I said OK, but wouldn't the mortgage guys be

Improving Youghal: A Two-Sided Business Model Approach

2011-04-08T17:13:00.002+01:00

The Irish Times story on Youghal - and the subsequent stories - made for difficult reading. Having grown up in the town, and moved back to the area in recent years, I know it intimately. It has never in recent times been a wealthy town, and ever since the carpet factory shut down in the early 1980s, followed shortly thereafter by Murray Kitchens, it has been in decline. Today's Irish Times

Ireland's Task: Destroy the Euro

2011-03-27T14:39:00.002+01:00

Ireland finds itself in an invidious position. Due to a combination of light-touch regulation, indecent capitalism, and cowboy banking, the state has an eye-watering budget deficit that in percentage terms (at around 32%) is more than Greece, Spain and Portugal combined, and a debt pile that is simply unpayable. Stringent austerity has not helped - sure, the deficit has been reduced - from

Is it the end of Fine Gael? The end of the center?

2011-02-28T10:23:00.003Z

While copious newsprint has been expended on answering whether this weekend's election result heralds the end of Fianna Fáil, a less obvious question has not been asked - is this perhaps the end also of Fine Gael? Theo Dorgan argued on RTE's The Eleventh Hour last Friday night that Fianna Fáil had been dealt with, and now Fine Gael were being given their chance - which they would inevitably

The Death of Fianna Fáil, and the Unsustainability of the Center

2011-02-01T13:14:00.002Z