A REPUBLIC is no longer a republic if democracy does not matter. Democracy stops mattering if the right to dissent, and to protest, is not protected, if the rights of minorities are ignored, if government does not listen to the people. A republic stops being a republic the day fear is used to manipulate public discourse.

Will the Government last? That’s the issue on everyone’s mind right now.

DEAR TAOISEACH, Do you know the old joke about the cruise ship magician whose act was always being ruined by the clever parrot?

I THINK there might be more merit in supporting Maíria Cahill than in attacking Gerry Adams. I’ve two reasons for saying that, and I realise that people who read that sentence might see it as the beginning of an apologia for Adams or Sinn Féin. I don’t mean it that way, and hope to make that clear.

A referendum on gay marriage won't pass easily even though it affects the happiness and security of thousands in our society, writes Fergus Finlay.

For a number of years now, I’ve gone over to Buswells Hotel near the Dáil with colleagues from our sector to listen to the budget announcement, and to respond quickly to any media requests for comment.

TODAY’S the day. We’ll discover if the Government has a chance of making history, and of becoming the first coalition in our history to be re-elected. Today’s Budget will be the first of two tests.

YOU contacted me in your droves last week and expressed yourselves in words of one syllable — all because I queried the significance of the John McNulty debacle.

IS it just me, or has the political world gone mad? I’ve never seen so much invective heaped on a political leader, from outside and inside his own party. 

ISN’T Culture Night fantastic? I don’t know what it was like down your way, but throughout Dublin there was just an amazing buzz last Friday night. Queues everywhere to get into places like St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Dublinia exhibition, and throngs of people in the streets. There was an incredible downpour around half seven, but it didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits.