Without Borders, Civilisation Cannot Exist
Without national borders, advanced civilisation would cease existing. Based on the findings of a 2017 Gallup poll, 14% of the world’s adults would emigrate if the opportunity was available. That is over 700,000,000 people. Almost equal to the entire population...
A Year in Review: 2018
It’s been an interesting year - but before we take a look at the developments here in Ireland, let’s review what happened on the world stage. In the United States passed another year of highly entertaining political drama. Tension seemed...
The Rush to Introduce Abortion Shows it Was Always About Politics
As the introduction of widespread abortion looms ever closer, the journey towards becoming this brave new Ireland suddenly appears to be fraught with difficulties. Before the referendum in May, Government politicians and pro-choice activists went to great lengths to accentuate...
The UN’s Global Migration Compact is a Recipe for Bad Policy and Social Unrest
This week, an Irish delegation joins representatives of some one hundred and sixty nations in Marrakesh, Morocco, to sign the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Several countries, including the United States, Israel, Australia, Austria, Poland, Hungary, and...
Does Peadar Tóibín’s New Movement Stand a Chance?
New parties have not fared well in Ireland historically. All of the leading parties were established by 1933, and the impact of newcomers has tended to be slight and short-lasting. Contrast this with France, where the En Marche movement captured...
Democracy isn’t All it’s Cracked Up to Be
Professor David Thunder is a researcher and lecturer at the University of Navarra’s Institute for Culture and Society in Pamplona, Spain. He is author of Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Twitter: @davidjthunder As Europe, the United...
Simon’s Game Plan is Beyond Cynical: Make it Stop!
Simon Harris looks and acts like a man with a plan. It is not a nice plan. In fact, it is a deeply cynical plan. But the signs are that Harris’s plan is working, at least for now, and at...
Young People Need Options Other Than Traditional Universities
It’s that time of the year again. The summer is over, and more than 200,000 third-level students here are preparing to start another academic year. Some have recently expressed surprised at the slight decrease in the number of applicants who...
University of Limerick’s SU Mandate: Death of Democracy on Irish campuses
On Wednesday, February 21st, the University of Limerick Students’ Union voted to campaign for the repeal of the 8th Amendment. The union’s official paper, An Focal, reported that a total of 256 UL students turned out to vote on whether...
Ireland’s Questionable Attitude towards Israel and their Embassy
The recent news that Israel is considering closing its embassy in Ireland as part of an overall reduction in its diplomatic footprint is disappointing, but understandable. Should the decision to close the embassy be made, we will be the only...