taioieach Enda Kenny

Ireland must seek EU permission to make a draft bilateral deal with Britain

Brian Walker on January 18, 2017, 11:15 am

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Dublin reaction to Theresa May’s big Brexit speech is understandably cautious verging on the sceptical. Is more substantial content to be expected when Theresa meets Enda in Dublin next week, no doubt to discuss her hopes that an open-ish border can be achieved through “frictionless “ trading monitored digitally and immigration rules enforced mainly through national insurance and taxation rather than entry points? Probably not, even though the promptness of the visit after the speech is welcome and she has …

After a quiet day in Dublin, drama in the English High Court. But don’t get too excited…

Brian Walker on November 3, 2016, 11:33 am

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It would be as well not to get over excited about this morning’s rejection in the English High Court of the UK government’s case that it can trigger Article 50 without the consent of Parliament. The show isn’t over yet; the denouement was always likely to be played out at the top. The government will appeal to the Supreme Court which is also expected to deal with the equivalent Northern Ireland appeal at the same time, after the Belfast High Court …

The complexities of Brexit could overwhelm the British political system. For all Ireland, a bigger role needed for the GFA structures

Brian Walker on November 2, 2016, 11:02 am

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.As the “all island ” civic forum meets in Dublin bereft of unionists, a high powered think tank The UK in a changing Europe warns: “Brexit has the potential to test the UK’s constitutional settlement, legal framework, political process and bureaucratic capacities to their limits – and possibly beyond.. And they suggest the repatriation of decision-making in key policy areas including agriculture, the environment and higher education to Britain from Brussels could affect the balance of power between Westminster and the …

The Catholic church is behaving as if it knows it does not speak for the Irish people over abortion

Brian Walker on June 21, 2013, 9:10 am

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Just a reflection or two on the issues of Mick’s post. When you see it written down so starkly out of the mouth of one Cardinal Burke from the real life perspective of the Roman Curia, the effect is breathtaking. Will Catholics now rush to contradict him? I wonder. Many people seem to want to defy the Church silently. and this is mightily frustrating for the Church establishment. It’s as if they’re being ignored. More and more Irish Catholicism is becoming a private …