The Modern Irish Identity that We Want?
There's a strange moment in childhood on this Island where you must learn that you are Irish. I knew it in my own life and got to witness its cycle again in my sister fifteen years younger. "Is Ireland in...
Katherine Zappone and the Cult of Youth
Last week, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, made the following comment: “Young voices must be the loudest in deciding our future.” As partial truths go, surely that is up there with the worst of them. Not...
An Unjust Law and Ascough’s Dilemma
You wanna know what you need to make a basic 12-gauge shotgun? It’s pretty basic stuff. You need a metal tube, 18.5mm wide, and a screw will suffice as a firing pin. For further information go to YouTube and search...
To Turn Back From the Rubicon
Recent years have been a time of great upheaval for the Irish people. The greatest change has been that the cultural and political differences that once revolved around religious and national affiliations have now been realigned along the conservative/liberal fault...
Australian Referendum: An Inside Perspective
As I write my first article for this journal, I’m watching the ferries meander around Sydney’s Circular Quay and considering how a loose-lipped drag queen ended up prompting my latest visit down under. In early 2014, Rory O’Neill (aka Panti...
Are You Liberal or are You Kind of Liberal?
‘I’m a believer of free speech.’ ‘I don’t judge.’ ‘People should be allowed to express their opinions freely...’ This is the current soundtrack to today’s society. It’s quite a beautiful tune, truth be told. To survive the marathon that often...
When Even Sports Become Political
If you were hoping to relax and enjoy a nice game of football, beer in hand, chanting the national anthem with your homies to get away from the over-politicised world we now live in, think again. That old flame was...
Iran – not ISIS – Must be the West’s Priority in the Middle East
In late June the ancient Grand al-Nuri Mosque, an enormous 850 year old landmark in the center of Mosul, was blown to pieces by the Islamic State. The fiery demise of this priceless historical treasure did not come as a...
PBP’s Disgraceful Action
It is more than clear that we here at The Burkean have our ideological differences with Trinity’s People Before Profit, as we do with many other students’ societies and communities around the college. We do not dispute PBP’s right to...
Abundistan: The Perception of Infinite Resources.
Everything, except perhaps human ignorance, is finite. A telling aphorism for sure, but in the matter of economics and governance, ignorance of finite means to meet our ends is the cause of many bad outcomes. Modern politics in the post...