Fergus Finlay has never come across nationalism that seemed essentially to be based on snobbery. If there is one in the world, he thinks Catalan nationalism might qualify

Early education is seen internationally as one of the keys to breaking the cycle of poverty — wouldn’t you think that a country that has one-in-nine of its children living in consistent poverty would finally start to put a value on the things that can break that cycle, writes Fergus Finlay.

I hope O’Leary comes through this crisis... But I also hope he learns some humility, writes Fergus Finlay

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the drive and the creativity of people living and working in rural Ireland, writes Fergus Finlay

The only logical solution... is for Britain to declare that it will withdraw from the North, writes Fergus Finlay.

We are raising a generation of children without hope because we are unwilling or unable to start building local authority houses again, writes Fergus Finlay

EVERYONE who knew Ross Coakley, especially as he approached the end of his life, respected and admired him, writes Fergus Finlay

Every third level college in Ireland keeps the points for a number of their courses artificially high, with the points system nothing more than a rationing process, writes Fergus Finlay.

It may, right now, seem a bit inconsequential, but we are going to choose a President

On average, it’s €355 for a child starting school — that’s more than €1,000 if you have three children, writes Fergus Finlay.