‘Bumper stickers are an ineffectual means of communicating my nuanced views on a variety of issues that cannot be reduced to a single pithy slogan.’ So ran a tongue-in-cheek ‘bumper sticker slogan’ that I came across on the net recently. I suspect it reflects the bemusement of many in the face of the ‘debate’ on … Read more
Ireland and Apartheid South Africa Apartheid South Africa was in the news in relation to a tour of South Africa by a representative team of British, French and Irish players. The Irish government officially opposed the involvement of the latter, though the IRFU had given its approval. The team, however, was coached by Irish rugby … Read more
I’m looking at my beaten-up copy of The Liberties of Dublin when Eddie Kelly’s photo from the book launchparty drops out. It’s stamped ‘Irish Times, June 16th, 1973’. We’re sitting on the steps of Marsh’s Library, with curator Muriel McCarthy beaming just off camera. It’s another Ireland and I’m young and foolish in the long skirt … Read more
There is always particular interest in this country in an American president who has an Irish ancestral connection, although frankly the Anglo element is usually predominant in presidential pedigrees. Yet the rise of the Irish as a successful ethnic group can be charted in the number of US presidents possessing Irish ancestors: before John Fitzgerald … Read more
The first constitution of the new Irish state was innovative: it asserted the sovereignty of the people; it included a bill of rights, a guarantee of free elementary education, trial by jury and direct democracy (on the say-so of 75,000 electors). And it contained a provision allowing judicial review of legislation, which broke with the … Read more