Populism in Our Local and European Elections
A populist is defined as “a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of the ordinary people.” This may be one of the most abused terms in the history of politics. We in Ireland suffer...
It’s Time to Disaffiliate From the USI
At the beginning of each year students across Ireland pay their college and university fees. Incorporated into these lump sums is the standardised €8 membership fee for the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). This organisation purports to represent 374,000...
The Burkean’s Guide to the Trinity Student Union Elections
Let me ask you a question comrade: What’s the difference between The Catholic Church and Trinity’s Student Union? The former massively out of touch organisation doesn’t pretend to be democratic. The SU however have firmly kept to the claim that...
The New Gender Recognition and Education Bills are Ideology Not Policy
Recently, RTE’s Prime Time saw the programme tackle gender identity; an increasingly contentious issue in Irish society. Despite offering various perspectives, the show was attacked by transgender activists, who started the hashtag ‘TurnOffPrimeTime.’ Such hashtags should be viewed as an...
Enviroment, Ignorance, and Gender Imbalances
This article concerns a lecture given in Trinity by former President Mary Robinson on the topic of climate change, and the political observations from analysing it and its attendees. I wasn’t exactly planning on going to any talks this week....
Ireland’s Approach to National Security is in Dire Need of Overhaul
If there is one area of public spending nobody seems to care about, it is arguably the most important and the least ideological. We can argue until the cows come home on the merits, the costs and benefits of State...
Why I Left the Left
Even as I start to write this article, I feel that the title of it is slightly misleading. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, who when asked why he left the Democratic Party to become a Republican, replied “I didn’t leave the...
The Necessity of the Irish Nation-State
I find truth in the observation that from the 1960’s onwards the scholars and thinkers of Ireland, and those unfortunate enough to unwittingly consume their opinions, elevated the external and the imported over the domestic and native. Persuaded by the...
The Genius of Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill
Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill was born some time in the 1580s. He left for Spain in his youth, and took up service in the Spanish military. The Ulster that Ó Néill grew up in was a destitute place in the...
Why The Good Friday Agreement Will Fail
“Secular liberals and socialists expected tribal passions would gradually disappear, while improved means of communication and a better scientific understanding of the universe would take its place. But it turned out not to be so.” - Leszek Kolakowski Ireland’s Fukuyama...