The Irish Times - Opinion

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:15 GMT

THE Malin pronunciation controversy rumbles on in my mail-box, although a contribution from Aengus Finnegan ought to be the last word on the subject. Or the last two words, maybe.

May 24th, 1947

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:14 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:The dramatic suicide of Hermann Goertz, the most important German spy in Ireland during the second World War, was described in this lead story. –JOE JOYCE

Booming Latin America offers trading path out of recession

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:14 GMT

OPINION:A joint article by Latin American ambassadors María Esther Teresa Bondanza, of Argentina; Pedro Fernando Bretas Bastos, of Brazil; Teresita de Caridad Trujillo Hernandez, of Cuba; Leonel Fernando Searle Couve, of Chile; and Carlos Garcia de Alba Zepeda, of Mexico

Lack of accountability has devastating ripple effect

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:13 GMT

While forgiveness can be a positive quality, it appears to be a poor foundation for a political system, writesJOE HUMPHREYS

Treaty is a social, political and economic threat

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:13 GMT

OPINION:Voting No is not a rejection of the EU – it is to oppose the erosion of social rights. It is to reject better treatment for banks over people, writesPATRICK KINSELLA

Serbian enigma

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:13 GMT

A NEW man? An erstwhile ally of Slobodan Milosovic, and later of another alleged war criminal, Vojislav Seselj, once a staunch, far-right Serb nationalist, friend of Russia, but latter-day convert to moderate europhile politics, Serbia’s new president Tomislav Nikolic is a bit of an enigma. And did the Serbs elect him because they believed and supported his conversion, or because they believed outgoing president Boris Tadic’s election claims that Nikolic is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, ultimately a dangerous unreconstructed nationalist? Was that his real appeal?

A welcome stimulus

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:18:12 GMT

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) is the largest – and for now – the only major player in the Irish property market, which has shrunk in size and activity since the building boom peaked in 2007. The agency was set up three years ago to take property development loans off the balance sheets of banks that had incurred huge unrealised losses on such lending, and were facing insolvency. Bank recapitalisation, which has cost taxpayers some €64 billion so far, was meant to ensure that banks could start lending again: something they have proved reluctant to do for a variety of reasons.

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

DURING my days as a struggling writer in Paris – and there have been several of them down the years – some of the worst difficulties I faced arose from not having brought my own laptop on the trip. When filing copy for the newspaper on such occasions, I was forced instead to head for the nearest internet cafe. And there, along with the usual deadline stress and lack of elbow room, I also had to struggle with the idiosyncrasies of the French keyboard.

May 23rd, 1912

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:As the Home Rule Bill awaited its next parliamentary stage, both sides spoke to public meetings in Ireland and England, including this Liberal Party meeting in Barnsley addressed by Nationalist MP John Dillon. –JOE JOYCE

Benefits system should ensure that poor kids get more than better-off ones

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

OPINIONS:If benefits are given unwisely, the people who need them will be left short

Citizens left out of plans for EU reform

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

There are increasing signs of indifference at the top of the EU over democratic procedures

Trust an issue as Garda fortress shut to 'outsiders'

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

OPINION:A change of mindset is required so the Garda ombudsman can discharge its most important function

Bicycle boom

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

IT’S GOOD to note that a quiet revolution taking place in Irish life is gathering pace as the bicycle, in its various forms, is reinstated as a favoured means of transport.

Putting derelict sites to use

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:05:17 GMT

ONE OF the most objectionable consequences of the property crash is that it has left Dublin and other urban areas with vast swathes of vacant, abandoned or otherwise derelict sites.

May 22nd, 1987

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:46:09 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:With just over a week to go to polling day in the referendum on the Single European Act 25 years ago, Michael Finlan considered the state of the campaign and the campaigners. -JOE JOYCE

Corrections & Clarifications

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:11:00 GMT

The caption for the photograph of Graham Norton at Bandon Grammar School in last Saturday's edition should have identified the staff member as the deputy principal, Seán Crowley.

An Irishman's Diary

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:11:00 GMT

WHEN the Irish journalist, Edmond O’Donovan, arrived in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku in 1879, he noted the smell of petroleum that pervaded the whole place.

Times of difficulty can offer opportunity to restore compassion to social care

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:11:00 GMT

RITE & REASON:WE ARE in a crisis of care. This is affecting not just professional social carers but everyone.

Treaty a mere clause in contract yet unseen

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:10:59 GMT

YOU GET a call from a solicitor – let’s call her Angela. She summons you to her office. She shows you the penalty clause of a contract, the one that specifies the punishments you’ll face if you break the terms.

Voting Yes to fiscal treaty in farming's best interests

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:10:59 GMT

OPINION: I AM a strong believer in doing everything possible to build confidence and goodwill for our sector and our country.

Facebook falters

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:10:58 GMT

AFTER THE incessant build-up to Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO) last Friday, the end result probably left more than a few humming the old Peggy Lee song, “Is That All There Is?”

Mr Kenny's summit task

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:10:58 GMT

THERE’S A Groundhog Day quality to watching European summits: a repetition, it seems, almost word for word of previous declarations and unchanging orthodox economic mantras, a sense of glacial progress, endless talk of “last ditch” efforts, of German obstacles, and if any movement, “just enough, just in time”.

An Irishman's Diary

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:09 GMT

TRUE hurling fans will have eagerly anticipated next weekend while they twiddled their thumbs during the darkest days of winter, for Sunday next marks the puck-off date for the revered Munster Hurling Championship. Tipperary and Limerick go head-to-head on the sacred turf of Semple Stadium in what will undoubtedly be a colourful flurry of clashing ash and manly shoulder-to-shoulder encounters.

May 21st, 1953

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:09 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:Myles na Gopaleen turned Darwinism on its head in this Cruiskeen Lawn column.

An Appreciation

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:09 GMT

THE DEATH of Beatrice Somerville-Large on Easter Saturday has taken away someone whose kindness and generosity touched many during her long eventful life.

Dexys lyrics reworked: 'Come on Ireland'

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:08 GMT

Rowland’s fight to build on early success points the way for our nation of Celtic Soul Brothers

Use of Euro 2012 as a political football against co-host Ukraine is a mistake

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:08 GMT

OPINION:Being unhappy with goings-on in Ukraine does not warrant a boycott

Treaty threatens to widen democratic deficit in EU

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:08 GMT

OPINION: EU policy has helped create this crisis by sealing off discussion of the political problems thrown up by austerity

US changes colour

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:07 GMT

A NATION OF minorities. It’s official. Last year, for the first time in its history, more babies (50.4 per cent) were born in the US to minority community parents – blacks, Asians, and Hispanics – than to white parents. It’s a demographic and psychological milestone which, Census Bureau officials say, on current trends presages a reality that by 2042 non-Hispanic whites will actually be outnumbered in the US. A standstill in Mexican immigration may just push that date back a bit, but minorities accounted for 92 per cent of US population growth in the decade that ended in 2010.

When hospitals fail patients

Sun, 20 May 2012 23:32:07 GMT

READING THE Health Information and Quality Authority report into the emergency department at Tallaght hospital triggers a depressing sense of déjà-vu. A sense of despair that despite many years of awareness of the elements that render our public health system dysfunctional, lack of accountability persists and patients pay the ultimate price. In this case it’s the family of Thomas Walsh who died in a corridor waiting for a bed at Tallaght in March 2011 who must absorb the litany of errors that contributed to his premature death.

Thinking Anew

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:52:04 GMT

ONE OF THE difficulties confronting the Christian church throughout history has been the extent to which it should identify with contemporary culture. Should it cut itself off and become isolated from the world or immerse itself totally, accommodating new attitudes as they come along? In practice it has settled for a bit of both.

Corrections and Clarifications

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:52:04 GMT

An article in last Monday's edition, concerning the drug wars in Mexico, stated that President Felipe Calderon is expected to lose a re-election bid in July. In fact, presidents of Mexico are limited to one six-year term called a sexenio.

May 19th, 1972

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:52:04 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:IRA prisoners took over Mountjoy prison in Dublin for six hours, holding three prison officers hostage and wrecking the interior of the building. Some of them communicated from the roof with reporters, including Dick Grogan and Godfrey Fitzsimons for The Irish Times.

An Irishman's Diary

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:34 GMT

IN COMMON with many parents, I often worry about the effects of too much American television on my children.

This week they said

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:34 GMT

I suppose we will have to say that we will need access to this fund and I think Ireland will be looking to say can we vote again, because we will need access to this fund.– Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton raises the prospect of a rerun of the fiscal treaty referendum in the event of a No vote.

Politics distorted during referendum campaigns

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:34 GMT

The rules on media space mean Independents and smaller parties get disproportionate attention

Young getting caught up in the web

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:33 GMT

Adolescents need to be more adept at seeing the consequences of the new media

Spurned priest whose truth could have changed history

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:33 GMT

The Norbertines cast out Bruno Mulvihill as resolutely as they shielded Brendan Smyth

Fiscal treaty is just one part of deeper process

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:33 GMT

WORLD VIEW:Voting ‘No’ would leave Ireland with less input into final shape of fiscal and political unions

Coalition needs to refocus after wobble on Yes drive

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:33 GMT

INSIDE POLITICS:After Bruton’s gaffe and Noonan’s glib comments, the Government ought to redouble its efforts

Decisive action needed to save Greece - and the euro

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:32 GMT

OPINION:Greece needs a game changer, not tinkering around the edges

Harp or hand

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:32 GMT

FEW THOUGHT it likely last October that two Irish teams would compete for a European sports title in an English stadium eight months later.

Combating cyberbullying

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:32 GMT

BULLYING, IN its various manifestations, is one of the most common and destructive social practices experienced by children and adults.

An Irishman's Diary

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:23 GMT

SITTING IN Bewley’s cafe the other day, I opened a batch of readers’ correspondence to discover that my recent comments about the correct pronunciation of “Malin” have caused some consternation in Donegal.

May 18th, 1987

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:23 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:Newly elected taoiseach Charles Haughey’s plan for creating 7,500 jobs at a new financial services centre in Dublin was greeted with considerable scepticism in 1987. John Stanley reported on the first moves to make it happen.

Austerity is no credible strategy for getting public finances under control

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:22 GMT

OPINION:You cannot tax your way out of a recession. Investment in job creation is crucial

Fear elbows out reason in debate on treaty

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:22 GMT

The groups leading the discussion have already decided which side their bread is buttered on

Strong current affairs TV safeguards public interest

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:21 GMT

OPINION:The re-establishment of a new investigative strand to programming should be a cornerstone of RTÉ policy

A warning to Israel

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:21 GMT

MONDAY’S STRONG statement by EU foreign ministers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict marked a significant and important shift in EU thinking on the stalled peace process, and appeared to signal a new level of engagement. After the meeting Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore, going further, suggested that Israel may have until the autumn to respond positively to specific EU demands on illegal settlements, arrests, demolitions of buildings, and Palestinian economic deprivation, or possibly face measures such as an EU ban on goods from Israeli settlements.

Facing up to our drink problems

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:26:20 GMT

RECOGNISING THE damage alcohol abuse is causing to young people is one thing; doing something positive about it is another. As reports come in from police services in the United States and Australia of young Irish immigrants out of control through excessive drinking, older people here will have to confront their own demons. Leinster House could be wallpapered with all the official reports which have detailed the harm done to society by alcohol and made the case for remedial action. Little has happened. But it is time for parents and society as a whole to shoulder responsibility.

May 17th, 1912

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:39:17 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:Among the hundreds of amendments tabled for the committee stage of the Home Rule Bill were these ones reported by the London correspondent which foreshadowed future events. – JOE JOYCE

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:11 GMT

IN the old folk song, She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain When She Comes, the person so eagerly awaited is never identified. But if one US historian is correct, the “she” in question was a Cork woman. And while her imminent arrival in pink pyjamas is still cheerfully predicted by child singers the world over, she’s been dead now for 81 years.

Time to end silent suffering of gay students

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:11 GMT

OPINION: TODAY IS International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (Idaho), when governments, communities, families and individuals act to end discrimination and violence towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

McClean's hurtful barbs insulting to North

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:11 GMT

IT’S A pity that James McClean, the young Derry-born footballer, has opted to play for the Republic’s national team rather than Northern Ireland. He is a decent player, and Northern Ireland could be doing with him.

Contagion threat to Irish banks if Greeks exit euro

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:11 GMT

ANALYSIS: EUROPE AND the world can but look on in trepidation as the Greeks prepare for their second general election in two months. At stake primarily is the country’s membership of the euro. It follows that the outcome will have profound implications for the wider European project.

A welcoming church?

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:10 GMT

OVER THE past few days, the 12 bishops of the Church of Ireland must have thought long and hard about the fallout from the divisive votes in the General Synod last weekend, and the catastrophic effects of a debate that leaves them sorely divided. The voting has shown the Church of Ireland is deeply divided between North and South, between evangelicals and liberals, and even between conservative evangelicals and “open” evangelicals.

Home truths on the treaty

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:10 GMT

‘THE LEFT must warn the people responsibly. Not only by telling them that the road away from the bailout is also the road that leads to exiting the euro, but also that it will be particularly painful...” Veteran Greek socialist MP Alekos Alavanos, who led Syriza before Alexis Tsipras, has words for his comrades in Greece that are sensible, honourable advice and which No campaigners on the fiscal treaty in Ireland would do well also to heed. The real alternative, he argues, is to imagine and embrace life outside the euro and what he sees as its possibilities, albeit in all their likely grimness. Wrong-headed, but honest.

An Irishman's Diary

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:28 GMT

SOMEHOW, the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention – or NAFCo as it’s known for short – sounds more like a military alliance than a musical event.

May 16th, 1987

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:28 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:The emergence of Aids in the 1980s cast a dark shadow for many years, including at the Trinity Ball in 1987, where the main charity and the messages about safe sex made it difficult to ignore. Nevertheless, neither it nor the headline on Kathryn Holmquist’s report managed to spoil the party. –JOE JOYCE

Famine should no longer be in our vocabulary

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:27 GMT

OPINION: Ireland can be leaders in the eradication of malnutrition

Bible not the rule book on gay marriage

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:27 GMT

The Book of Genesis offers magnificent literature but should not be used to perpetuate painful discrimination

Being yes men of Europe has got Ireland nowhere

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:26 GMT

OPINION: The Irish corporate tax regime will come under severe pressure from our EU partners if the fiscal treaty is passed

Taxis and racism

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:26 GMT

‘INHERENTLY RACIST and xenophobic” was the verdict of Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar when asked for his opinion about the use of taxi stickers and green lights designed to alert customers that the driver in question was Irish. He welcomed moves by the National Transport Authority to prohibit the practice and said the important thing was for customers to know the identity of the taxi driver and not his race or nationality.

Questions for Mr Aynsley

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:26 GMT

THE REFUSAL by the London high court to allow Belfast-born property developer Paddy McKillen to give some of his evidence behind closed doors in his legal action against the Barclay brothers, David and Frederick, has had one worthwhile consequence. It has enabled the public to gain a greater insight into his financial dealings with Anglo Irish Bank – now the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).