The results of an election will not materially change the diffuse make-up of our democratic choice, writes Gerard Howlin.

Ireland desperately needs more public transport. In rural areas it’s anaemic, says Gerard Howlin.

Key cultural change at stake is a preparedness to take responsibility, rather than disavow it, writes Gerard Howlin.

Grand-coalition would be a selfeating ebola, and leave its advocates more discomforted than ever, writes Gerard Howlin

By engorging the presidency... it disturbs a delicate equilibrium in which the president is primarily a bulwark for restraint in the face of potential irresponsibility, writes Gerard Howlin.

Sinn Féin is at the edge of the centre. Whether it is Promised Land or quicksand remains to be seen, writes Gerard Howlin.

With income tax we are dangerously out of kilter with the tax norms of countries we want to emulate, writes Gerard Howlin

Fine Gael today has no sense of how to become competitive outside its own comfort zone, writes Gerard Howlin.

It is in the gritty detail of difficult policy decisions that lies the ultimate test of character. In that regard, there is more going on this week than the main headlines indicate, writes Gerard Howlin

Vested interests within the system benefit from work practices that are costly in cash, and contribute to keeping people ‘living on the list’ in pain, writes Gerard Howlin.