| All Articles |
| Articles By Author |
| Articles By Magazine |
| Articles By Subject |
| Full Text Search |
| Aubane Historical Society |
| The Heresiarch Website |
| Athol Books Online Sales |
| Athol Books Home Page |
| Archive Of Articles From Church & State |
| Archive Of Editorials From Church & State |
| Archive Of Articles From Irish Political Review |
| Archive Of Editorials From Irish Political Review |
| Belfast Historical & Educational Society |
| Athol Books Secure Online Sales |
| Irish Writer Desmond Fennell |
| The Bevin Society |
| David Morrison's Website |
Subscribe Securely To
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| From: Church & State: Editorials |
| Date: January, 2012 |
| By: Editorial |
| Title: Diplomacy? |
| The Irish Government has closed its Embassies in the Vatican and in Iran, giving cost—and lack of trade—as the reason. In diplomatic matters it is not expected that the truth will be blurted out. If it was, there would be no role for diplomacy...Read Full Article |
| From: Problems: Articles |
| Date: January, 2012 |
| By: Eamon Dyas |
| Title: Minimum Wage, Part One |
| The document entitled “Ireland Memorandum of Understanding on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality” is one of the seminal documents relating to the bailout agreement between the Irish Government and the Troika. It is dated 8 December 2010 and identifies the areas of the Irish economy targeted for reform by the Irish Government as well as providing the timetable for such reforms. As such the document provides one of the means by which progress is measured by the Troika each quarter to ensure that the Irish Government is keeping to its side of the agreement for the bailout. Item 3 of the Memorandum is called “Structural Reform” and is listed as one of the “Actions for the first review (actions to be completed by the end of Q1-2011)”. Because it touches upon one of the few areas in Irish industrial relations in which the Trade Union movement continues to have a direct influence what it says provides an important insight into the political and economic thinking behind the Irish bailout and the direction which a fulfilment of those bailout terms will take the movement in Ireland. Unsurprisingly, what the IMF, the EU, the ECB and the Irish Government have come up with in terms of this agreement displays a consistent viewpoint in which the Trade Union movement continues to be marginalised. This is an unavoidable implication of Item 3 where it states......Read Full Article |
| From: Irish Political Review: Editorials |
| Date: December, 2011 |
| By: Editorial |
| Title: 90th Anniversary Of . . . What ? |
| This month sees the ninetieth anniversary of the signing of the 'Treaty' under duress. The Constitution and the Government set up under that Treaty in accordance with British constitutional usage and within Imperial parameters is increasingly being described as the founding of Irish democracy. In this scenario the 1916 Rising, the 1918 Election, the Declaration of Independence are air-brushed out of the Irish constitutional story. The new version of Irish constitutional history takes British law as its source, instead of asserting the beginning of a new law and a new constitutional departure in purely Irish terms. Micheal Martin, having led historical Fianna Fail to the verge of extinction, made a speech at a 'Civil War' commemoration in which he accused Sinn Fein of "hijacking history" in justification of its campaign of "senseless murders". The event which was being commemorated is the death of anti-Treatyite Denis Barry on hunger-strike in 1923. Martin said that Sinn Fein was "only belatedly recognising the validity of constitutional republicanism" (Irish Times, 21 Nov.) A few days after Martin's speech, Margaret O'Callaghan, a history lecturer at The Queen's University, told the audience at a conference at Athlone military barracks that was chiefly concerned with counter-insurgency techniques, that De Valera, the founder of Fianna Fail, had "fomented Civil War" in 1922-3...Read Full Article |
| From: Irish Political Review: Editorials |
| Date: November, 2011 |
| By: Editorial |
| Title: The 30th Amendment And The Rule Of Law |
Celia Larkin, who was formerly a political adviser of Bertie Ahern and is now a journalist, has written, in opposition to the proposed 30th Amendment to the Constitution to allow the Dail to set up Committees of Inquiry, that what is proposed: "is a lethal concentration of power in the hands of untrained and, perhaps, in the future, partisan individuals. The potential for McCarthyism is enormous". And she says that, though the public is fed up with the Tribunals—"at least the tribunal investigators were/are trained legal professionals, separate from the political system and shielded, career wise, from the impact of public opinion. They are, as the Constitution originally stipulated, independent of the political system. T.D.s and Senators are utterly dependent on that system and on public opinion… We've been screaming about the lack of relevant qualification of appointees to State boards, yet we're asked to believe that getting yourself elected to the Houses of the Oireachtas is qualification enough to investigate and pass judgment on the actions of any individual in the State?" (Sunday Independent, 23.10.11). Who was responsible for the extravagant misconduct of the Tribunals that led to the Amendment proposal? Why, the legal professionals...Read Full Article |
| From: Irish Political Review: Editorials |
| Date: October, 2011 |
| By: Editorial |
| Title: Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin |
| Is Sinn Féin set to assume the leadership of Irish Republicanism following Fianna Fáil's disastrous General Election and inept handling of the Presidential campaign? Martin McGuinness's entry into the Presidential race is a bold move suggesting that even in the new era of peace and reconciliation Sinn Féin is prepared to defend its record of support for the armed struggle. The contrast with Fianna Fáil could not be more stark. That party has accepted the media's view that it is a "toxic brand". Its leader refused to stand a candidate and, worse still, solicited a chat show host to "sort of" represent it. After a few days preening himself Gay Byrne decided it would be too much trouble: a humiliating rejection for a once great party. The cause of Fianna Fáil's collapse did not begin with the Presidential election; or the last General Election; or even when the IMF/EU was called in. Its provenance can be traced to events, which long preceded that date. The character of a political party—no more than a person—is not revealed by the mere fact of experiencing a crisis, but by how it deals with it.......Read Full Article |