A Short History of the “L” Word

The American poet Robert Frost was only partly joking when he said a Liberal was definable as ‘a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel.’ Liberals of both (or more) genders have of course historically taken a side: their own. Now that a new decade has begun, and another important anniversary is being marked today, and there are question marks over how much longer liberalism is likely to last, now seems as good a time as …

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“Red, white and blue” unionism: An ideological nationalism of its own

Irish unification and Scottish independence both ultimately involve a constitutional exit from the United Kingdom, but the northern context of Irish unity differs markedly from the Scottish question. The debate surrounding the 2014 independence referendum was no romanticised notion of Scotland the brave sending proud Edward’s army homeward tae think again, rather it was a rational scrutiny of Scotland’s constitutional future. Alex Salmond said to Scots that they would be £1,000 richer in an independent Scotland and Danny Alexander returned …

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Fianna Fail’s future is the radical centre

Many voices are rushing to tell Fianna Fail what direction it needs to go. Mark Beegan is a Public Relations Consultant and Fianna Fáil activist. He specialises in political communication and media relations.  He argues that simple ideological analysis is not enough and is not what Fianna Fail was ever about.   Senator Power’s bombshell has brought forward a debate long needed in Irish politics. Where does Fianna Fáil stand and for whom? John McGuirk and Pat Leahy have both …

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“Today, I hold fast to all tenets of mistrust…”

The novelist Howard Jacobson on the virtues of art and literature over politics and politicians… It doesn’t follow from what I say that we should hand over the reins of political power to artists. They wouldn’t make a better job of it. But we would all make a better job of thinking about politics – indeed of thinking about anything – if we refused that daisy-chain of affiliation which the ideological hang around our necks, with the promise that we’ll …

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Pragmatism v Ideology: Managerialism or an excuse for doing nothing at all?

Before I sign off for the weekend, Jude Collins has an interesting piece on the role of ideology, particularly with regard to education and even more specifically, education under three successive SF ministers. The real world demands either bits of a range of ideologies or no ideology at all.  The second of those two is impossible: everyone has an ideology. It might be “Responding to events as they happen, without forethought or any system of beliefs, is best” or “I …

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