If politics is the art of the possible then the Democratic Unionist Party have delivered a masterclass — one even their Sinn Féin rivals must applaud if its naked opportunism does not offend their high-minded sense of propriety.

Emigration is, like rain, a constant of Irish life.

AT a moment when the air crackles with indignation over the gender balance of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s first cabinet and his chorus line of junior ministers, it may seem incongruous to speculate about which of two powerful women, each at a career pinnacle, will resign, be ushered gently towards the door, or simply be fired, first. 

THE ongoing confusion around the status of Killarney National Park as a Unesco world biosphere reserve and efforts to extend that status to an area five times the size of the current park epitomise our less than admirable and too often dishonest attitude towards the environment.

Since London’s Grenfell catastrophe the air has been thick with accusations. 

AS our political discourse frets judicial appointments, as it tosses and turns about Brexit, as it tries to keep up with revelations about more unearthed Garda accounts and wallows in angst provoked by the gender balance of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s cabinet, 20m people in four East African countries face starvation. 

LIKE every disaster of its kind, the Grenfell catastrophe has provoked a re-examination of the safety standards which, had they been applied and acted on when they should have been, might have averted tragedy.

EVERY now and then the past intrudes on our today. Sometimes it brings a smile, maybe the glow of a happy memory.

THE compo culture so alive in this country reflects poorly on us all. 

ONE of the unfortunate consequences of joining the European Union was the negative impact on the commercial fishing industry.