Dublin

Why Anti-Lockdown Protests Should Be Banned

Peter Farrelly on March 1, 2021, 3:44 pm

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The unsavoury and despicable scenes during an anti-lockdown protest on Saturday brought shame to our capital. Fuelled by conspiracy theories that are rampant across social media, brought a violent edge to an already misguided protest in the middle of a pandemic. There are genuine frustrations for many people regarding lockdowns but protesting in this current climate, while breaking public health guidelines undermines so much. Anti-lockdown protests should be banned. There is a fine line being played here with the right …

From Banana Republic to Boomtown Rodents and Celtic Tigers…

Ciaran Ward on June 13, 2020, 7:00 am

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I watched a recent BBC documentary on the Boomtown Rats (available on iPlayer for the next eleven months) which wasn’t just your average bog-standard rockumentary, but also partly a commentary on how the once socially conservative, deeply religious, unemployment-riven Irish Republic (a country many ambitious young people wanted to leave once they were old enough – Geldof and co included) has changed beyond recognition since the band started plying their trade at the height of the punk scene back in …

The coronavirus remote working boom has made many modern offices obsolete and the impact on the economy will be profound

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on May 23, 2020, 5:40 pm

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The announcement this week by Facebook that they would begin to allow most employees to work remotely was among many this week from technology companies announcing similar moves towards remote working. The coronavirus outbreak has seen a massive increase in the number of people working from home. In 2019, only 5% of the UK workforce worked exclusively from home. In April 2020, 39% of workers worked only at home, and whilst this has fallen to 33% over the last couple …

Future Ireland / Loyalist Voices: A Conversation I’d Love To Have Someday

William Ennis on February 2, 2019, 9:50 am

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I like the idea of the conversation. I’ve always found conversations very useful. Arguments are too heated, always driven by aggression, and even debates always seem poised in an uncomfortable, adversarial way. But the conversation is good. A conversation is calm and much more likely to be geared toward understanding. It was mid-morning in a nice bar in Northumberland Road, Dublin. My friend was across the road in Dublin and Wicklow’s Orange Hall. I’d been in there earlier and absolutely loved it, as any Loyalist anorak …

Why protesters are taking over Dublin

Naomi O Leary on October 3, 2018, 10:13 am

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Today is a day of action in Dublin, as protesters gather outside government buildings to demand action to a grinding housing crisis. Homelessness has hit record levels, and rents have hit such heights that even well-paid people are struggling to meet them. House prices have surpassed their Celtic Tiger levels, putting home ownership out of reach for even many in the middle class. How did the crisis reach this point? The new episode of The Irish Passport podcast explores the …

“To change the riverflow of history”: Constitutional pasts and futures @UCDdublin #GFA20

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on May 10, 2018, 2:54 pm

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“To change the riverflow of history”: Constitutional pasts and futures @UCDdublin #GFA20
by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News
8 May 2018

Political and legal scholars, peacemakers and peacebuilders convened at the Royal Irish Academy to review and discuss potential constitutional relationships between Ireland and the United Kingdom, especially vis-a-vis Northern Ireland and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the import of Brexit.

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster)

mrulster.com

“In this awful priest ridden country they still managed to build good houses for working people…”

Brian O'Neill on August 27, 2017, 1:27 pm

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In an interview in today’s Sunday Business Post the writer Roddy Doyle discusses the homeless situation in Dublin: It is the thing I feel ashamed of, more than anything, as a citizen. Somehow or other in the 1950’s and 1960’s, in this awful priest ridden country that we used to live in, they still managed to build good houses for working people, and there wasn’t a penny in the country. Now it seems beyond the means. We cannot supply housing to …

Whatever happened to the 1991 aspiration of a 95 minutes train journey between Belfast and Dublin? #20yearrule

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on August 25, 2017, 3:40 pm

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1 HOUR 35 MINUTE direct Belfast-Dublin train journeys envisaged in 1990/1 according to government files released under the 30/20 Year Rule. Today’s journey time – with four extra stops – is never faster than 2 hours 5 minutes. Why?

Declassified papers discuss Pope’s possible 1989 intervention over violence in NI #20yearrule

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on August 25, 2017, 2:15 pm

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DECLASSIFIED PAPERS reveal internal UK government discussions about a proposal via the the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Gerada, for a “possible initiative by the Holy See over violence in Northern Ireland”.

Kearney and McGuinness address Sinn Féin Ard Fheis: reconciliation & dialogue #sfaf16

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 22, 2016, 9:25 pm

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The centenary of 1916 loomed large in the Friday night speeches to the Sinn Féin delegates assembled in the Convention Centre Dublin. Party chairperson Declan Kearney and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness both spoke about reconciliation, outreach and dialogue.

Easter ’16, Once Again

Pádraig Belton on March 26, 2016, 2:50 pm

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DUBLIN—Here in Ireland, this weekend, Yeats’s terrible beauty becomes a centenarian. It might have had a letter from the Queen, were history different. It is a pleasing sign of recent Irish social change that 1916 is not being commemorated as a good-and-evil struggle, one with Ireland on the side of the angels—and evil Britain receiving its due comeuppance and ouster. Call this the Wind That Shakes The Barley view of Irish historiography. Consider halfway back, 1966, for something less nuanced …

#Dublin: “But oh the days are soft, soft enough to forget the lesson better learnt…”

Mick Fealty on March 17, 2016, 6:00 pm

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I wish I could embed this, but it’s the exclusive work of the Irish Times. It features Dublin slam poet Stephen James Smith as he recites Louis MacNeice’s poem ‘Dublin’ which in turn makes a powerful esoteric argument for the great city of Dublin… Grey brick upon brick, Declamatory bronze On sombre pedestals – O’Connell, Grattan, Moore – And the brewery tugs and the swans On the balustraded stream And the bare bones of a fanlight Over a hungry door And the …

#GE16 ROUNDING UP THE REST – DUBLIN

Statler and Waldorf on February 25, 2016, 3:53 pm

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Dublin Fingal This 5 seat constituency replaced the old Dublin North. It is augmented by the addition of over 17,000 people from Swords who were formerly in Dublin West. Clare Daly who is closely associated with Wexford TD Mick Wallace and running under his ‘Independents for Change’ banner is a safe bet to be the first elected here. The first shoots of the rebirth of Fianna Fáil in Dublin will see Darragh O’Brien re-elected following a five year sojourn in …

New Belfast-Dublin Enterprise timetable proposed from 21 Jan 2016: earlier start, longer journeys

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 4, 2015, 4:19 pm

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ENTERPRISE TIMETABLE from January 31st proposes a new 06:15 service leaving Belfast Central and arriving in Dublin Connolly at 08:41. However the last service to Dublin on a weekday evening will leave Belfast at 20:05. A certain times, the bus is faster than the train!

Punk’s not dead

The Firemen on March 14, 2015, 9:55 pm

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Back in the day in Belfast many people didn’t give a shit (language – ED) what ‘side’ or ‘community’ you were from. If you had the attitude, could (kinda) sing, had a guitar or a drum-kit (or the means to get one on HP from Session Music) you were in the band. The Stiffs for example: Last night the BBC broadcast two fantastic documentaries The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities and Irish Rock at the BBC (both available for those …

Politicians must become Pro-Woman to stop further horrors

Patricia MacBride on December 26, 2014, 3:15 pm

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I’m not pro-choice. Nor am I pro-life. I reject both of those labels because they’ve been used in such a pejorative way for so long that they have come to denote extreme views on both sides of the debate around the rights of women and the rights of unborn children that to identify as one automatically makes you a target of hatred and abuse from the other. The recent tribulations of Dawn Purvis, Director of the Marie Stopes clinic in …

Cartoon – Irish water leaves a sour aftertaste on the public palate

Brian Spencer on November 3, 2014, 8:26 am

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“Ah, Irish water? Very expensive high notes with a smack of bonus. Sour aftertaste on the public palate!” Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Cartoon – The Double Irish

Brian Spencer on October 15, 2014, 12:01 am

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, Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Some thoughts on my first trip to Croker.

David McCann on September 1, 2014, 4:42 pm

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“Fancy coming to Croke Park with me this Sunday?” This was the question my Dad posed to me last week. After looking around to see if he was talking to someone else it dawned on me that he was actually asking me. Me! The youngest of his children who has shown no interest in sports, I mean, no interest at all. When I was holidaying in the United States in September 2012, the only event I took my brother to …

Dublin 1982: What a difference thirty odd years makes?

Mick Fealty on April 1, 2013, 12:04 pm

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This is the Dublin I remember in 1982. The lighting gives it a slightly dour feeling, and you need to stop it every now and then to get the detail. The old cars, VW Beetles were once ubiquitous on southern roads in a way they never were north the border. GM cars were sold in NI as Vauxhall were badged in the Republic as Opel, with each model having different names. There generally seems have been much more French and …