Raymond Crotty is probably best known to the general public for the ‘Crotty judgement’ of 1987, which may yet prove to be the country’s strongest defence against unwarranted pressures from the larger EU member states. This Supreme Court ruling, on foot of a case taken by Crotty, forced the government to accept that significant changes … Read more
Fundamental discussions are currently taking place, North and South, on the nature of the respective education systems. In the South, new Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has hit the ground running with a proposal, first aired by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, for a forum to discuss ways and means of ending the Catholic Church’s near monopoly … Read more
The Revenue Museum recently featured in a book about the government’s waste of taxpayers’ money but this seems an unfair criticism of an interesting and well-presented exhibition. Sited in the atmospheric crypt of Dublin Castle’s chapel, it occupies a small chamber that makes the best use of its space. As soon as you go through … Read more
The story of Ireland arrived on British and Irish television screens with considerable fanfare, the first comprehensive TV history of Ireland since Robert Kee’s Ireland: a history in 1981. Now, 30 years later, comes a multimillion-euro co-production between the BBC and RTÉ, filmed across the world and fronted by former BBC foreign correspondent Fergal Keane … Read more
Among the audience at the screening were a spattering of men, now in their sixties and early seventies, many accompanied by family members, who were there to see a film version of events in which they had participated 50 years previously. They did not have the appearance of battle-hardened veterans; rather they were slightly older, … Read more