Books

What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…

Paschal Donohoe on August 14, 2010, 8:24 am

| Readers 17

It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey the ruinous aftermath of the collapse of a property and banking bubble, it is salutary to read that ‘Ireland turned out to be the first country …

What has The Third Man got to say about Northern Ireland?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 22, 2010, 8:02 pm

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cover of Peter Mandelson's book - The Third Man

Short answer: very little, other than he enjoyed the environs of Hillsborough Castle, enjoyed working with the local politicians, and has Gerry Adams to thank for Bobby his dog. Peter Mandelson’s book The Third Man has captured media headlines in recent weeks as the Times serialised the most juicy bits. But what did he have to say about his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland? In the book, Mandelson seems much softer than his normal Prince of Darkness …

Risk of going beyond either/or…

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2006, 3:38 am

| Readers 7

This is article was first published in Fortnight magazine back in February 2003. Chris Farrington is now a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ in the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. Although the circumstances it describes has changed radically and a large swathe of the dramatis personae referred to have shuffled off their political coils, the principles he describes are to some extent hardwired into …

Trimble: Biography of an enigma

Mick Fealty on July 18, 2002, 12:36 pm

| Readers 28

Just finished reading Henry McDonald’s biog of Trimble (US). One of those last minute impulse buys waiting for an early morning flight out of Aldergrove. And still Trimble largely remains the enigmatic creature he was before. However the book is a useful reference for some of the action we’ve had since April 1998 (though it cuts off when the end-game was still in it’s early stages). Several things leapt out at me: 1 The key influence that several Catholic/former Nationalist …