The Irish Times - Opinion

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

IT IS A remarkable fact that in 50 years of theIrish Timesstudent debates, only one of the competition’s 140 or so winners, team or individual, has gone on to be elected to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Out-takes from a film critic's reel life

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:It’s Only a MovieBy Mark Kermode, Random House, 344pp, £11.99

Victory that sparked renaissance of Irish rugby

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

FEBRUARY 10TH, 1964:“Greatest Irish Victory on English Soil”, the headline on this date in 1964 said of Ireland’s 18-5 rugby victory over England at Twickenham, a game also notable for the first appearance in the Irish team of Mike Gibson, one of the game’s greatest centres who went on to play a further 68 times for Ireland. Paul MacWeeney described Gibson’s debut in this extract from his match report.

Conflict resolution package can be a brand leader worldwide

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

NEWTON'S OPTIC:DO YOU represent a foreign government or UN agency? Would you like to apply the lessons of Northern Ireland’s new Hillsborough Agreement to other conflict situations? Can you say “mainstreaming consociational de-escalation” in one real, one dead and one made-up language? Are you authorised to sign cheques?

Dilemma for Lee was he had nothing much to say

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

George Lee’s problem was not the lack of a platform or a role – it was the absence of a political philosophy, writesVINCENT BROWNE

Lee back in creche as politicians tough it out

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

George Lee’s immature political career has a bright side – it points up the toughness and patience of politicians who do stick it out

Weaving libel into a straitjacket for UK press

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

ANALYSIS:Given the frequently outrageous behaviour of the British tabloids, it would be easy to forget that press freedom in the UK is coming increasingly under threat, writesMARK HENNESSY

Kenny coming across as deft and back in control

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

ANALYSIS:AS THE dust began to settle after George Lee’s spectacular exit from the Dáil, some Fine Gael TDs dared to hope that the former Dublin South TD may actually have done Enda Kenny a favour by bringing the leadership question to a head at this stage in the life of the 30th Dáil, writesSTEPHEN COLLINS

State of the EU

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

WHEN EU leaders assemble in Brussels tomorrow for their informal summit it is likely that their ostensible agenda on competitiveness, Europe 2020, a successor to the so-called “Lisbon Agenda”, will now play second fiddle to the financial woes of Greece and other euro zone members. The leaders may produce a statement in support of Greece. If aid materialises eventually, which many believe inevitable, it will certainly not be telegraphed in advance. Meanwhile MEPs in Strasbourg yesterday voted overwhelmingly, 488 to 137, to endorse the new commission of president Jose Manuel Barroso, having forced him last month to replace the Bulgarian nominee for the aid portfolio.

Giving Limerick city a future

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:16:25 GMT

THE REGENERATION of Limerick is not an optional extra. Unless the Government provides additional funding for the most socially deprived parts of the city, the progress made in rolling back high incidences of crime and anti-social behaviour will be lost, along with the hopes and aspirations of thousands of young people and their families. Not only that, in years to come the State will be faced with far more difficult, intractable and expensive social problems. A stark choice faces Ministers between doing what is right or turning their backs on communities that were failed so dismally in the past.

Ukraine's choice

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:28:41 GMT

‘I think Ukraine will be ashamed of its choice. But that is . . . democracy,” the country’s outgoing president, Viktor Yushchenko, told journalists as he left the polling station in Kiev.

The departure of George Lee

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:28:41 GMT

The sudden resignation of George Lee from the Dáil yesterday is damaging to the Opposition leader Enda Kenny, the Fine Gael party, to Lee himself and, most of all, lest other parties begin to gloat, the body politic.

An Irishwoman's Diary

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

AS WILLS GO, it was described by this newspaper as “one of the most eccentric in history”. When Kathleen Emily Sophy Alexandra ffrench died in Harbin, Manchuria, in 1938, she bequeathed her Co Galway estate to the nation, with the stipulation that no “parcel” of it at Monivea should ever be sold and no old trees cut down unless they fell to pieces.

Fascinating insight from defectors into blighted lives in a benighted country

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North KoreaBy Barbara Demick. Granta. 314 pp. £14.99

Smut Board gets Cruiskeen therapy

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

FEBRUARY 9th, 1956:The censorship of books was one of the great liberal issues of the mid-20th century, as well as being a matter for occasional hilarity. Myles na Gopaleen (Brian O’Nolan) took up the issue in one of his more straightforward and (mostly) serious Cruiskeen Lawn columns.

Lee's betrayal adds to cynicism he intended to fight

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

People voted for George Lee to change Irish politics – neither he nor Enda Kenny grasped that, writesFINTAN O’TOOLE

Priests are guilty by association for conforming to 'abuse system'

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

RITE & REASON:Why were we so silent on child abuse? Why didn’t we speak up?

Lee could have been contender but was left an outsider

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

The message for those contemplating making the jump to public life is that only insiders will dominate politics, writesELAINE BYRNE

Resignation reignites leadership debate in FG

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

ANALYSIS:GEORGE LEE’S arrival on the political scene last May gave Enda Kenny a crucial morale boost that helped him lead Fine Gael to its first victory over Fianna Fáil in a national election. Lee’s stunning departure from politics yesterday could have serious implications for Kenny’s leadership, writesSTEPHEN COLLINS

Division and squabbling end Ukraine's 'revolution'

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:19 GMT

ANALYSIS:Viktor Yanukovich’s presidential win is the result of bickering rivals blowing it in a country with a talent for flux, writesDAN McLAUGHLIN

An Irishman's Diary

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

HE MAY HAVE been responsible for making theRubáiyát of Omar Khayyámthe blockbuster bestseller of the 19th century, and he certainly was recognised as “the chief and head” of Celtic learning at his passing. Those and his other monumental achievements were celebrated at a conference in Cambridge in recent months to mark the centenary of his death. Born in Dublin on February 28th, 1830, Whitley Stokes was the eldest son of William Stokes, the most eminent medical man in Ireland in his time, writesDAIBHI O'CROININ

Role of media in Ireland's history analysed

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY: MICHAEL FOLEYreviewsA History of the Media in IrelandBy Christopher Morash Cambridge University Press 244 pp. £45.00

Opposition finds blend of rapport and rivalry

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

ANALYSIS:There are cordial relations between the two main Opposition parties and, despite policy differences, prospects of agreeing an alternative after an election are good, writesDEAGLAN DE BREADUN

After the US military deluge comes the US civilian surge

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

ANALYSIS:The plan for Afghanistan is now shifting towards a post-military mode of winning ‘hearts and minds’, writesTOM CLONAN

Taking the rap when things go wrong

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

Leadership must involve accepting responsibility, on top of the perks and privileges of the good times, writesTONY KINSELLA

Inside the empty world of Ireland's zombie hotels

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

Hundreds of rooms but nobody staying, our vast hotels have to serve their time as the living dead before investors get their tax break, writesANN MARIE HOURIHANE

Deficit scare tactics key part of Republican strategy

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:02 GMT

OPINION:Fear-mongering on the US budget deficit may do as much harm as the fear-mongering on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, writesPAUL KRUGMAN

Mr de Valera is a political and spiritual paradox

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:58:31 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES/February 8th, 1933:For long the main media voice of unionism in Ireland, The Irish Times struggled to come to terms with independence for a decade or so after its achievement, as is evident from this editorial commenting on Éamon de Valera’s grand plans for the country’s role in the world after his second election victory in 1933. – Joe Joyce

Combatting infection

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:58:31 GMT

CHANGING BEHAVIOURAL patterns is always difficult, even when alternative approaches can benefit all concerned. An extreme example has been some employees at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda’s reluctance to adopt best medical practice. Hand washing is the single most important procedure for preventing healthcare associated infections. Yet, despite that and the introduction of special guidelines in 2006, hospital staff persistently failed to adhere to good hand-hygiene practices. An outbreak of Clostridium difficile infections in the hospital and the death of several patients underlined the dangers involved.

The aftermath of the Lillis trial

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:58:31 GMT

THE behaviour of some sections of the media in the trial of Eamonn Lillis for the manslaughter of his wife Celine Cawley was an intrusion into privacy. The spectacle of photographers being up ladders on trees in Mr Lillis’s back garden in Howth and following his under-age daughter in their last days before he went to jail is unacceptable.

Political polling may not reflect the whole picture

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

A clear shift away from Fianna Fáil emerges from a careful reading of opinion polls, despite recent small gains, writes GARRET FITZGERALD

So how did that one pass us by?

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

WORLD VIEW:Lisbon makes economic co-ordination likely, but not all member states want to cede control, writes PATRICK SMYTH

Genuinely tolerant society will not be a cold house for religion

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

Labelling everything as bigotry, or homophobia, hinders an inclusive and pluralist society, writes BREDA O'BRIEN

Pay cuts climbdown could mar whole budget strategy

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

INSIDE POLITICS:The Coalition may not be out of the woods yet over what many see as special treatment for more than 600 top public servants, writes STEPHEN COLLINS

Something indispensable about Mary

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

Rumours about the Minister for Health’s departure from Dáil may well be premature, writes NOEL WHELAN

Peace process comes of age after awkward adolescence

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

ANALYSIS:Sinn Féin and the DUP seem to have begun to understand the need to be nice to each other (but they’re also covering their backs), writes GERRY MORIARTY

Reading and children

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:11:43 GMT

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go. — Dr Seuss, from I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

An Irishman's Diary

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:50:52 GMT

I’VE HEARD OF worrying signs and signs of the times, but I think the one pictured qualifies as a bit of both. It was taken by concerned reader Timothy King. And had it appeared on a farm gate or warehouse, he might have paid it no attention. What piqued his interest, as it does ours, is that it was at the entrance to a Dublin church.

Spreading the good news

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:50:52 GMT

Thinking Anew:THERE IS a story told that shortly after his resurrection Jesus was asked what arrangements he had made for his work to continue on Earth. He acknowledged that while he had only a small number of followers in Palestine he had made plans to spread the good news. “I have asked Peter, James and John and a handful of friends and followers to tell other people and in time the whole world will hear.” His questioner, concerned that Peter and the others might fail and that followers could become disillusioned, asked what other plans he had made if that did not work out. Jesus replied: “I have no other plans”.

This Week They Said

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:50:52 GMT

Quotes of the week

Northern Ireland moves forward

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:50:52 GMT

Here’s to you, Mrs Robinson! If words mean what they say, there will be a new political departure in Northern Ireland during the coming months. That is what most people want. Recent behaviour by a minority of DUP politicians may suggest that celebrations are premature. Hard work and further compromises will be required if the objectives set out in the Hillsborough Castle Agreement are to be achieved. The most compelling aspect of yesterday’s agreement is that it is home-grown and much has been achieved.

Nespresso: just all George Clooney and queues in BT?

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:08 GMT

It’s a joy to handle but can the Nespresso survive a debunking in favour of the messy old coffee machine? writesORNA MULCAHY

'The Road' reminds us that love is all there is

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:08 GMT

Cormac McCarthy’s portrayal of love presses us to care about this society’s treatment of fathers and children, writesJOHN WATERS

Coma study will not give all answers to relatives

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:08 GMT

ANALYSIS:People in long-term comas may be able, after all, to communicate. What are the implications? asksMUIRIS HOUSTON

Squeezing mortgage holders for more profits

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:08 GMT

OPINION: If the banks collude in raising mortgage rates, this needs to be investigated by the Competition Authority, writesMICHAEL CASEY

An Irishman's Diary

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

IN ANCIENT ROME there was a group of religious officials called augurs, whose job was to interpret the opinion of the gods on important decisions, something they did by studying the behaviour of birds, especially eagles, hawks and falcons.

February 5th, 1907: Dispute over drainage works contract

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:Before independence, Dublin city council acted as a sort of proxy parliament where the divisions between the majority nationalists and minority unionists were often played out over municipal issues. A whiff of corruption wafted around the council chamber occasionally, as in this discussion about a contract for drainage works.

'Peek-a-poo': terrorist pheasant attack and tweets from heaven

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

MAGPIE:FORGET THE Oscars. The publishing world is getting into a tizzy of expectation over the soon-to-be- announced 2009 Diagram Prize.

Lucid grassroots account of 1916 Rising explores participants' statements

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:The Rising: Easter 1916By Fearghal McGarry Oxford University Press, 365pp, £18.99

Tackling drug costs

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

ALTHOUGH WILLIAM Osler may have said that one of the first duties of a doctor is to educate the masses not to take medicine, drugs are a key component of modern healthcare. However, drug costs in the Republic have risen inexorably in recent times to the point where the State’s spend on pharmaceuticals is among the highest in Europe. Between 1997 and 2007, the annual cost of drugs under the community drugs schemes reached €1.74 billion, a 500 per cent increase. This level of growth was unsustainable and the announcement by the Minister for Health this week of drug cost savings is therefore most welcome.

A jumble of small measures

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:02:54 GMT

THE TAX treatment of transfer pricing is not something that impinges on the consciousness of the average citizen. The fact that it is seen as one of the standout measures in the Finance Bill unveiled by the Minister for Finance yesterday should be all the confirmation one needs that the annual bill giving effect to the Budget is the legislative equivalent of prozac. But that would be a mistake.

High mortality rate blamed on extreme cold

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

FEBRUARY 4th, 1879:In the latter half of the 19th century Dublin was notorious for its slums, dirt and diseases. It was widely believed at the time to have the highest mortality rate in these islands, a view thatThe Irish Timesof this day in 1879 disputed with the help of a generous interpretation of some statistics and a claim that the city’s reputation was unfairly damaged by old and sick culchies crowding into its hospitals.

Return to direct rule the best solution for dysfunctional North

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

OPINION:It’s time to think the unthinkable and replace an ineffective, bipartisan administration, writesPETER GEOGHEGAN

Ireland needs ambition to become global leader in renewable energy

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

OPINION:IRELAND’S WIND resources are among the best in the world. As other countries struggle to meet their 2020 climate change targets, our sights should be set way higher than theirs. We have the resources to be a global leader in renewable energy, writesMICHAEL McBENNETT

DUP muddling mirrors state of unionist community

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

Unionists like to depict Sinn Féin as wreckers, but their ambivalence to powersharing is destroying the system, writesFIONNUALA O CONNOR

Media's misplaced 'impartiality' on climate

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

THE MEDIA is the imperfect lens through which we perceive the world. Witnessing the lengths to which dictators and assorted thugs will go to throttle the free press is a reminder that a society without a vigilant, questioning media is a society without eyes and without ears, writesJOHN GIBBONS

'Berlin Disharmonic' tag after Merkel's rocky start

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

ANALYSIS:Some 100 days into German chancellor Angela Merkel’s second term and the first reviews aren’t pretty, writesDEREK SCALLY

Europe will not come bearing gifts for Greeks

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:40:53 GMT

OPINION:THE EUROPEAN Commission has threatened to impose stringent fiscal measures on the Greek government if an already severe budget does not achieve the desired result. No matter how this psychodrama plays out, it will have reverberations throughout the euro zone, writesARTHUR BEESLEY

An Irishman's Diary

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:45:00 GMT

IT IS ONE of the more beloved clichés of our time that top professional football players, especially in England, are overpaid. And this is a perfectly rational viewpoint if you’re a socialist.

Absorbing tale of friendship across frontiers

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:45:00 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:Talking About Jane Austen in BaghdadBy Bee Rowlatt, May Witwit, Penguin, 371pp £8.99

Change in China

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:45:00 GMT

NOTHING PERHAPS better illustrates the transformation of China than the extraordinary migration which began in the last few days and will see over a month some 2.5 billion journeys to and from the country’s rural vastnesses. Millions are returning home to celebrate the start of the year of the tiger on February 14th, many of them the unofficial migrants who now make up 40 per cent of the workforces of the country’s cities and a large part of their poorest and most exploited.

A moment of desperation

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:45:00 GMT

THE DESTRUCTIVE and dirty side of party, and inter-party, politics is being played out in Northern Ireland while the people want progress. People on the ground are being short-changed and the peace process they endorsed is under threat. DUP and Sinn Féin politicians have been diverted by disagreements over dates for the transfer of justice and policing powers and changes to the Parades Commission, as the economic situation worsens. For the first time, the confidence of the electorate, North and South, in the political dispensation endorsed in the historic Belfast Agreement, is waning. We are on the cusp of a moment of development or betrayal.

Media and the right to photograph a witness

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:01:40 GMT

The point of justice being administrated in public is not to indulge fascination with lurid details of certain trials, writes VINCENT BROWNE

When independent spirit of middle classes goes awry

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:01:40 GMT

AS A card-carrying member of the middle class, I’m occasionally stung when it is used as a term of abuse. But I understand why it happens. The middle classes are good at planning, saving and making choices that protect and advance their families. If they take care of themselves while paying taxes so the Government can look after those who can’t, then what’s wrong with that? writes SARAH CAREY

State must not bank on bailout of bad mortgages

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:01:40 GMT

OPINION:GROWING UP beside the seaside, one becomes familiar with the sea and its actions. One thing that becomes clear is that while the first wave of a storm may do great damage, it is the subsequent waves that complete the destruction, writes BRIAN LUCEY

North needs new politics that transcends divisions

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:01:40 GMT

OPINION:NORTHERN IRELAND needs a robust political system that can take decisions, as well as one that represents everybody fairly. The current difficulties in the Executive raise a question over whether the system devised in the 1998 Belfast agreement needs to be improved to ensure that it passes the test of decisiveness, as well as the test of fairness, writes JOHN BRUTON

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

THERE ARE certain jobs that, in a mixed gender household, will always devolve to the senior male. These include taking out the bins, opening vacuum-sealed jars, and of course investigating strange noises downstairs in the middle of the night. But in my house at least, the list also includes another task considered unfit for women or children: namely, eating all the food that has passed its use-by date.

Tale of a crusader who took on the Irish criminal sharks 'On the Waterfront'

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:On the Irish Waterfront: the Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New YorkBy James T Fisher Cornell University Press 372pp, $29.95

Crowd shouted 'more, more' as embassy blazed

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

FEBRUARY 3rd, 1972:The shooting dead of 13 men by British paratroopers in Derry’s Bloody Sunday at the end of January 1972 led to an outpouring of anger in the South and the declaration by the Fianna Fáil government of a national day of mourning three days later. Continuous protests were held outside the British embassy in Dublin’s Merrion Square during those three days and culminated in the burning of the building. Michael Finlan described the final attack on it in this report.

For the sixth time, why have one quango when so many will do?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

NEWTON'S OPTIC:SIX SOCIAL housing units in Dublin were misallocated “but five of them would have been allocated anyway, so it’s only one”. This is what officials told councillors who asked for an investigation, according to Independent councillor Damian O’Farrell.

CAO's new record

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

THE RECORD number of applications to the Central Applications Office (CAO) will worry students and raise further questions about the capacity of the higher education system to cope with vastly increased numbers. The latest figures indicate that total applications could increase by about 10 per cent. Current trends are not unexpected at a time when workplace, apprenticeship and a range of other opportunities have narrowed. There has been a huge increase also in the number of mature students applying for college places. As the economy contracts, increasing numbers of adult learners are seeking reskilling and upskilling.

Protecting those invisible lives

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:28:46 GMT

THE RYAN report into the abuse of children in religious-run institutions made for shocking reading last year. It illustrated in the most graphic terms how an imbalance of power and lack of oversight can place vulnerable children at risk of horrendous abuse. The Government and religious congregations rightly accepted their failures and pledged to take steps to ensure it could never happen again.

FEBRUARY 2nd, 1922: Handover of Beggar's Bush barracks

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:07:45 GMT

FROM THE ARCHIVES:Following the adoption of the Treaty by the Dáil in early January 1922, British forces began withdrawing from Ireland and handing over their barracks to the new Free State Army. This description of the handover by the Auxiliaries of Beggar’s Bush barracks in Ballsbridge, Dublin appeared in today’s newspaper that year.JOE JOYCE

An Irishman's Diary

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:17 GMT

THERE ARE not too many aid workers who can claim they are followed online by the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and the Haitian rapper, Wyclef Jean, but Paul Conneally can. He became the voice of the international Red Cross relief operation in the immediate aftermath of the Haitian earthquake and boosted his number of followers on Twitter from 720 to 1,561 as his compelling tweets provided readers with a keen sense of what it was like in real time to be on the ground in the wake of such a calamity.

Poor example of the faithful the main discouragement to others

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:09:17 GMT

RITE AND REASON:Our response to religious faith is profoundly influenced by our relationships with the people who profess that faith