The Irish Times - Opinion

Bankers and developers robbed us more than Henry did

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:36 GMT

We were robbed by the Hand of God, but we’ve got far more important matters to think about, writes BREDA O'BRIEN

Devolution set to pull further on Westminster

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:36 GMT

Wales should wield greater power over its primary legislation, suggests a new report. PATRICK SMYTHhas more...

Finally facing up to issue of under-taxation

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:36 GMT

Brian Lenihan this week signalled a willingness to reverse his party’s irresponsible policies, writes GARRET FITZGERALD

Senior civil servants' backing of strike deeply ironic

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:36 GMT

Highly paid public workers colluded in a series of policy disasters that have bankrupted the country, writes STEPHEN COLLINS

Formal study is needed of how TDs spend their time

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:36 GMT

Oireachtas hearings on electoral reform may be putting the cart before the horse, writes NOEL WHELAN

An Irishman's Diary

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:46 GMT

MY COLLEAGUE Brian O’Connor is right when he says (Opinion and Analysis, November 20th) that gamesmanship is “the nature of the sporting beast”. But if he will forgive me, there’s a certain irony in this coming from him. As racing correspondent, he covers a sport that involves actual beasts, whose commitment to fair play is never less than exemplary. In the many scandals that have hit racing, nobody has ever accused the horses of anything dodgy.

This week they said

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:46 GMT

Quotes from the week just gone...

EU fails to think big with two such low-profile appointments

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:45 GMT

ANALYSIS:The EU has taken its great leap forward – by appointing to two key Lisbon Treaty positions two figures who are virtually unknown...

McCann's success

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:45 GMT

EARLIER THIS year in an interview in this newspaper Colum McCann expressed some disappointment at not being included in the long-list for the much-hyped Booker Prize. His recompense in receiving the National Book Award this week is not to be under estimated. Along with the Pulitzer, this award is regarded as America’s most eminent literary prize. McCann’s achievement in becoming the first Irish writer to win it places him alongside some of the iconic names of contemporary American fiction.

Filling the top jobs in EU

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:45 GMT

THERE WAS a most undignified, horsetrading quality to what we were allowed to see of the choice of the first European Council president and EU “foreign minister” on Thursday. It did the EU no credit. As usual at summits such decisions had to satisfy a host of constituencies: the big political families, the Christian Democrats/EPP and the socialists; the large-state, small-state divide; the gender balance; and then the “anyone-but-Tony-Blair” camp, and, apparently, the eastern “that former communist D’Alema is not acceptable” camp.

An Irishman's Diary

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

I SPENT the last two nights in a place called “Mama Shelter”, a converted former multi-storey car-park in the gritty 20tharrondissementof Paris: the city’s Arab quarter.

Highly readable and dramatic account of the IRA Border campaign

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:Soldiers of Folly: The IRA Border Campaign 1956-1962. By Barry Flynn.The Collins Press, pp 214 . €24.95

Northern Catholics count their blessings

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

OPINION:With gloom in the South, Catholics in the North are glad to be part of a separate economic system, writesCONALL Ó MÁIRTÍN

This Christmas it'll still be essential to tip the binman

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

With a ferocious budget ahead, it's a good time to rethink the mindless giving and put an end to not-so-thoughtful gifts, writesORNA MULCAHY

Secularism based on illusory idea of freedom

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

John Bruton’s views on the naive attempt to separate religion and politics deserve careful consideration, writesJOHN WATERS

Recession may be catalyst for mobilising the young

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

It’s time for the new generation to take over, writesELOISE McINERNEY

Any soccer pro would have done the same

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:02 GMT

Hey, get over it! We’d have scored that way too given the chance... writesBRIAN O'CONNOR

Redmond offers hope on land question November 20th, 1902

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:04:27 GMT

BACK PAGES:John Redmond, leader of the reunited Irish Parliamentary Party, returned to Ireland after a fund-raising visit to the US in 1902 to be greeted with a series of formal addresses by supporters, processions and meetings in Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) and Dublin. Part of the address read to him outside the offices of the United Irish League at Sackville Street (O’Connell Street) went as follows:

Sleight of hand

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:04:27 GMT

THE BITTER disappointment on Wednesday night was all the greater because the Irish football team had risen to the occasion like never before. The match aftermath has seen an uncontrollable rage across the airwaves and internet that suggests Ireland has lost all sense of proportion, but recall Bill Shankly’s joking insistence that while “some people think football is a matter of life and death ... I can assure them it is much more serious than that”. Thierry Henry has dishonoured himself. Football may be just a game but it reverbates in peoples’ ordinary lives throughout the world.

The cost of prescriptions

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:04:27 GMT

WITH SAVINGS of at least €1 billion required by the Department of Health in next month’s budget, it was not surprising to see Minister for Health Mary Harney raise the issue on a few occasions recently. What was unexpected was her specific mention of a prescription charge to be paid by medical card holders for hitherto free drugs; with a relatively paltry possible savings return in the region of €25 million, it would seem to risk alienating an already sensitised sector for little monetary gain.

An Irishman's Diary

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

THE LEMON soap opera has taken a new twist. Seven months after it closed, apparently forever, Sweny’s chemists has risen from the dead and ascended into a sort of Joycean heaven. Maybe Leopold Bloom’s fictional visit in 1904 really did immortalise the place after all.

Corrections & Clarifications

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

In the Noticeboard section in last Monday’s education page a wrong address was given for a lecture. Dr Tom O’Flaherty, former chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and expert on nuclear energy, will be speaking at an Engineers Ireland lecture on energy with Jim Barry, chief executive, NTR plc in the Engineers Ireland lecture theatre, 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 at 6.30 pm tomorrow. For further information, contact Rita Pollard (01) 665 1300.

Myths of global warming skilfully debunked

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

HENRY KELLYreviewsThe Real Global Warming DisasterBy Christopher Booker Continuum, 368pp, €20.50

November 19th, 1976: Familiar ring to debates on cut-backs in 1976

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

BACK PAGES:For those with long enough memories, today’s political debates have a strong ring of the less than happy 1970s and 1980s about them, as is shown by this Dáil Sketch by Denis Coghlan about the choices and divisions facing the Fine Gael-Labour government in its final months in power.

Art, naked women and the pure goodness of life

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

I WAS in Chicago with time on my hands and the sweet woman murmured to me – you know how this goes – “Would you like to see the Art Institute?” and I was thinking No No No God No, and I said, “Sure. Fine.” “You wouldn’t rather do something else?” she said. “No,” I replied. That’s the correct answer when a woman asks you about art. Yes, absolutely, ma chérie.

Wealthy pay most tax? This simply is not true

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

OPINION:No alternative? There is a way other than the Government’s proposed slash-and-cut budget, writesANNE COSTELLO

Kenny stirs up bogus climate change debate

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:27 GMT

As evidence for global warming driven by human impacts stacks up, public opinion on the issue is wilting, writesJOHN GIBBONS

Depression still one of the last great taboos

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:26 GMT

How many of us would feel able to tell a prospective employer that we suffer from even mild depression?

Downturn will force us out of our comfort zones

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:26 GMT

YOUNG IRELAND: MAKING IT BETTER:We need to be creative in how we manage our wealth and support young people with fresh ideas, writesSHANE McLOUGHLIN

No Plan B for planet if climate deal not agreed

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:26 GMT

OPINION:The short-sightedness of nations acting in their own narrow self-interest is the biggest threat to any agreement at the Copenhagen climate conference, writesJOHN SWEENEY

The Queen's speech

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:26 GMT

A LAST throw of the the dice. With at most seven months to a general election which must be held by June 3rd, it was inevitable that Queen Elizabeth’s formal unveiling of her government’s legislative programme yesterday would be more manifesto than anything else. There is little possibility that the 15 new Bills she announced will see the statute book in the estimated 70 working days of this parliament.

A question of knaves or fools

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:26 GMT

THERE ARE no winners in the debacle that was the search for a replacement for the chief executive of AIB. The board of the bank has acted in a profoundly arrogant manner and demonstrated that it is clearly out of step with the public, hundreds of thousands of whom are its customers. It has been humbled, but only somewhat, by the Government.

Donegal faces majority decision bordering on the complicated

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:46:22 GMT

NEWTON'S OPTIC:AS FOREIGN affairs spokesman for the Portadown Unionist Party, I would like to thank the Irish Government for inviting us to make this pre-budget submission. We were a little surprised to be asked, but we are always happy to assist our neighbours in a spirit of mutual respect, writesNEWTON EMERSON

'X Factor' fantasy beats soccer seriousness hollow

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:46:22 GMT

I'M FEELING judged. And I don't like it. My resentment at being the victim of intellectual snobbery peaked at the weekend as the prevailing wisdom on popular culture oozed from the pores of the press. As Ireland played France, the mainstream wallowed in the assumption that everyone revelled in the nobility of soccer, while usX Factorfans, who were kicking off at the same time as the match, are cultural trailer trash, writesSARAH CAREY

Millions can deliver more than monkeys

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:46:22 GMT

AIB SHARES fell back a bit yesterday. At 12.30pm they were at €1.75, down by 2.8 per cent on the previous day, but hanging in there. They had been at €3.20 in late September, which was a splendid performance, given all the turmoil. After all, the share price had been at a miserable 27 cent back on March 5th, and the rally since then has been quite impressive, don't you think?, writesVINCENT BROWN

Make the time, take the lead and give back

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:46:22 GMT

YOUNG IRELAND:Education, technology and entrepreneurship are the ways forward writeCIARAN MCGUINNESSandNEASA CUNNIFFE

Irish religious to fore in Australian abuse scandal

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:46:22 GMT

ANALYSIS:Many of the children abused in Australia, prompting this week's apology by the prime minister there, came originally from Ireland, writesMARY RAFTERY

An Irishman's Diary

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:11:11 GMT

A WOLFHOUND owner in British Columbia has taken me to a well-known but unpopular destination - namely, to task - for suggesting that latter-day representatives of the breed are in some way lacking the vigour of their ancestors.

Absorbing account of how a 16th-century cartographer put America on the map

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:31:55 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:The Fourth Part of the World: The Epic Story of History's Greatest MapBy Toby Lester Profile, 464pp, £25

Storm in Cork killed two children in 1916

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:31:55 GMT

NOVEMBER 18TH, 1916:A storm with up to hurricane winds killed two children and caused a lot of damage throughout the southern half of the country in November 1916. Among the worst affected areas were Cork and Waterford, from where these reports were sent.

Death penalty

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:31:49 GMT

IN FLYING the kite of the restoration of capital punishment, whatever its intrinsic merits, retired president of the High Court, Mr Justice Richard Johnson, set legislators and diplomats no small challenge. Not least is the reality that three times since the 1990 repeal of the death penalty, its prohibition has been incorporated into the Constitution. Two referendums, one on the issue itself in 2002 and one in 2003 on the European Convention on Human Rights and two of its protocols banning capital punishment, incorporated a ban into Irish basic law.

Political convenience

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:31:48 GMT

AT A time when a fresh departure was required to rescue the battered reputation of Irish politics, it is disappointing that Taoiseach Brian Cowen should revert to type by nominating a Fianna Fáil insider as Ireland's new commissioner in Brussels. On the basis of her ministerial record in government and her 10-year membership of the European Court of Auditors, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn can be expected to perform competently in her new role. But more was expected of this appointment. It should have marked the transition to a more open and creative system of administration.

Should misuse of power debar EU hopeful?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:31:30 GMT

There has been little debate on how EU commissioner candidate Maire Geoghegan-Quinn ran a private justice system while minister, writesFINTAN O'TOOLE

Australia's apology

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:38:54 GMT

THERE is a ghastly familiarity to the stories of the “forgotten Australians”, the half a million children, many from abroad, condemned to live in state and church-run orphanages, foster homes and institutions between 1930 and 1970. As in Ireland’s residential institutions, neglect, brutality, humiliation, and, for many, sexual abuse, were routine.

Climate deal in the doldrums

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:38:54 GMT

NEARLY TWO years ago, on the Indonesian island of Bali, delegates representing 190 countries adopted an “action plan” that called for 48 months of intensive negotiations leading to the adoption by the end of 2009 of a new treaty aimed at averting the worst impacts of global warming.

An Irishman's Diary

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:52 GMT

A COUPLE of months late for the World Poker Series, I arrived in Las Vegas on a hot afternoon a while back, confident that previous lucrative trips here would be repeated. This was my third time to Sin City and its famed three-mile Strip of mega-resort casinos, the 24/7, 365 days a year, open-door, neon-lit playground for adults. The rollercoaster ride that never stops.

Corrections & clarifications

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:52 GMT

An article in the edition of November 12th, concerning a new database service organised by the National Library of Ireland, said that the resource would catalogue books. In fact it is for manuscripts and periodicals and not for books.

November 17th, 1943: When Dev came out fighting for neutrality

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:52 GMT

BACK PAGES:James Dillon, TD for Monaghan and a future leader of Fine Gael, was one of the few public figures to question Ireland’s neutrality during the second World War and support a pro-Allies stand. In the course of a lengthy speech to the Dáil defending neutrality, taoiseach Éamon de Valera took issue with Dillon’s reported views.

Exploring what it means to be a Catholic in Ireland today

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:52 GMT

RITE AND REASON:We should not write the epitaph of the Catholic Church in Ireland without trying to evaluate what exactly it embodies

Tale of hubris and hypocrisy recounts what drew investors to the cult of Madoff

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:52 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY:The Believers: How America Fell for Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Investment ScamBy Adam LeBor Weidenfeld Nicolson 255pp, £18.99

Botched decision-making is hub of botched economy

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

Policy debate in Ireland involves whipping up emotions rather than cogent debate. As a result, we are in a mess

Fall of the wall a catalyst for European integration

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

OPINION:The new European Commission must have strong self-belief that, in the new world of Lisbon, its mission is political and not merely administrative

Despite our betrayal, we must resist emigration

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:51 GMT

YOUNG IRELAND: MAKING IT BETTER: Part II: NO GENERATION is handed the perfect country on a plate, certainly no Irish generation. Over the centuries our elders have handed us down varying degrees of war, poverty, division and social isolation. Each generation was defined by how they worked with what they were given and whether they rose to the challenge or headed for the shores.

An Irishman's Diary

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:58:59 GMT

A GREAT 20th-century poet, WH Auden, once remarked, in infamously dismissive judgment on his former colleagues in British preparatory (ie private primary) schools, that “no one knows, and no one cares, where private schoolmasters die”. One wonders, in a similar vein, what happens to that huge legion of poets whose lives are forgotten, and to their work.

Good news

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:58:59 GMT

GOOD NEWS is particularly welcome at this time. And when it involves young people and the country’s future prospects, it is so much sweeter. A well-educated workforce and a low corporation tax were the chief attractions for those multi-national corporations that helped to create our economic boom. The reasons for the subsequent bust have been well ventilated.

Red-haired 'clown' tells a mean radio yarn

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

BOOK OF THE DAY: KEVIN COURTNEYreviewsIt’s Not What You ThinkBy Chris Evans Harper Collins 334pp. £20

Corrections & clarifications

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

An article in last Saturday’s edition, concerning a conference on cafe culture, said that the conference was addressed by the Dublin City architect Dick Grogan. In fact the speaker was Dublin City Council’s chief planning officer, Dick Gleeson. Also, the Dublin city architect is Ali Grehan.

November 16th, 1923: Minister defends plan to cut old-age pension and teachers' pay

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

BACK PAGES:Within months of the end of the costly Civil War in the summer of 1923 the Free State government found itself trying to balance its budget. The new minister for finance, Ernest Blythe, proposed cutting the old-age pension by a shilling (6c) and teachers’ pay by 10 per cent: he defended his plan in this speech to the Dáil, writesJOE JOYCE

History suggests Afghan mission doomed to failure

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

RICHARD FEETHAM and Henry Mortimer Durand are prime examples of officials who have the uncanny knack of creating enduring problems out of short-term solutions.

Little love lost in tough battle for leadership of SDLP

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

The votes of Durkan loyalists could be crucial in a fractious campaign that could do more harm than good, writesDAN KEENAN

Katie Price shows her professionalism in new book

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

The first half of Katie Price’s career was spent inviting not only the lust but the contempt of a hypocritical public, writesANN MARIE HOURIHANE

Making it better again

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

Is emigration once again the only solution for young Irish people faced with a deep recession and the dole queue? Some think so, such as young graduate Shane Fitzgerald whose piece on this page recently sparked a lively online debate at irishtimes.com.

Riches that all the money in the boom couldn't buy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

OPINION:LAST WEEK, my friends were in an off-licence getting a couple of cans for a quiet night in. No job, so no money for big nights out on the town anymore, writesCAMERON STEWART

Medium is the political message

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

ANALYSIS:Should political advertising be allowed on radio and TV? A new report says it should – but with conditions, writesKEVIN RAFTER

Obama visits the vital partner

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:11:12 GMT

IN RECENT days President Obama, ahead of his arrival in Beijing yesterday on a nine-day sweep through east Asia, described China as a “vital partner, as well as a competitor”. The formula is a significant contrast to the George W Bush description of the relationship as one of “strategic competitors”, reflecting above all an evolving understanding of the complex interdependence and economic interpenetration of the world’s two great powers.

An Irishman's Diary

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

CONTRASTING EVENTS in Dublin and Reykjavik today may give a twist to the now-tired joke – which wasn’t funny to start with – about the difference between Ireland and Iceland, writesFRANK MCNALLY

Better pre-budget debate a sign of people facing up to the facts

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

Focused by recession, both politics and public debate are confronting what the boom ignored, writesNOEL WHELAN

Less painful cuts might yet be possible

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

The damage done by government policy between 2000 and 2003 must be undone, writesGARRET FitzGERALD

Climate change symptomatic of our wasteful system

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

This recession does not have to be the end of the world, just of an unsustainable way of living in it, writesBREDA O'BRIEN

Importance of the diaspora hitting home

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

WORLD VIEW:It’s time we had a representative body for the 70 million people claiming Irish affiliations, writesPAUL GILLESPIE

Economic mire not caused by Constitution

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

ANALYSIS:The idea Irish regulatory and political failure is fuelled by excess judicial machinery overlooks too many external factors, writesGERARD HOGAN

Lenihan brave to risk unpopularity for country's good

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:39:43 GMT

INSIDE POLITICS:Bertie Ahern’s populist pandering got us into this mess but Brian Lenihan deserves credit, writesSTEPHEN COLLINS

Corrections & clarifications

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:47:20 GMT

A feature on liquidations in the hotel industry in the Business Today section in last Thursday’s edition gave the impression that Barry’s Hotel, the Morrison Hotel and the Trinity Capital and Grafton Capital hotels, all in Dublin, are closed. These hotels remain open for business.

Out in the cosmos

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:47:19 GMT

THE CATHOLIC Church may have theological problems acknowledging some “miracles”, at Knock or elsewhere, but not, it seems, the possibility of little green men from Mars. Back in 1600 the Inquisition tied Giordano Bruno to the stake and burned him for heresy. The crime of this Renaissance philosopher, writer and free-thinker? The idea of a “plurality of worlds” and the possibility that life exists elsewhere in the universe. But the church has come some way since then, to the point that this week scientists met in Rome at the invitation of the director of the Vatican Observatory to discuss this very possibility.

Death issues affect us all

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:47:19 GMT

DEATH HAS many faces. Some of these are becoming apparent as the Forum on End of Life in Ireland finalises its formal listening process. After months of written submissions, workshops and public meetings, patterns are beginning to emerge on how people view death, dying and bereavement. It is clear, for example, that dying is an issue that goes far beyond the medical model. Death issues are not just for doctors and nurses.