Tag: Fine Gael
RTÉ’s New Propaganda Tax
The Television License is a scam. A tax designed to prop up the massive economic failure of RTÉ (which consumes a whopping 86% of the money gathered by the license), the existence of the charge is nothing short of complete...
The 2019 Local Elections: A Recap
Polling day has come and gone, and the posters have come down, and with everything said and done, nothing much has changed. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael increased their seats, the Green ripple shocked our media to its erogenous core,...
The Underhanded Neo-Gombeens
I had a chat once with my old landlady about the meaning of that word 'gombeen' prompted by Varadkar appearing on the telly one evening. She said “I don't think there's any gombeens left anymore.” She spoke as if it...
Aontú: Friend or Foe?
The Potential of Tóibín-ism: Ten years since the economic crash, Irish politics is a graveyard of parties that have attempted to fill an imagined political vacuum. Reports of the death of our two (and a half) party state have been...
Fine Gael’s Housing Crisis
Ireland’s ongoing housing crisis has provided a discordant note to the official government narrative that we are somehow living in a golden age. The figure of 10,000 homeless is only the tip of the iceberg. For a generation of renters...
The Shadow of the Gunman and the Demise of Fianna Fáil
Whether it was Varadkar’s exchanges with Doherty in the Dáil or reading McCullough’s biography on De Valera, I decided to revisit my decision to leave Fianna Fáil some months ago. Having been a member of the party for several years,...
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...
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...
Why Didn’t the Irish Rebel? Explaining Post-Crash Inertia
The question of how the Irish elite avoided being overthrown, if not publicly hanged, in the aftermath of the Great Recession must surreptitiously linger in the minds of those in the corridors of power to this day. Despite the recent...
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...