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Person: Mick Clifford

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>Hopefully, these books are to your taste, but if not go out and buy another book, sit down and escape into another world for an hour or two, phoneless. File photo: Alamy/PA</p>

S columnists

Mick Clifford: Put away the phones and lose yourself in these four books from 2025

From politics and power to sport and memoir, these books reward patience, curiosity, and time away from the scroll.

Michael Clifford

Mick Clifford: The ghost of the Progressive Democrats returns to haunt Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil

Michael Clifford

SMick Clifford: Still no justice for innocent victims of the Troubles

Michael Clifford

SMick Clifford: A tale of two Alices who have lived lives full of warmth and compassion

Michael Clifford

SMick Clifford: Ivan Yates plays the victim while stamping on integrity of the media

UCC abandons business school: How millions in public money were spent with little to show

S spotlight

UCC abandons business school: How millions in public money were spent with little to show

Depressed woman talking to her pchychologist closeup

S Mild, moderate, or severe? Proposed regulations for therapists proving explosive

The last decade has seen an explosion in the number of people seeking out a talking therapy — but new regulations separating counsellors from psychotherapists could present problems for both professional and patient.

Mon, 20 Oct, 2025

Mick Clifford: Catherine Connolly’s likely win signals a shift in Ireland’s political landscape

Mick Clifford: Catherine Connolly’s likely win signals a shift in Ireland’s political landscape

Catherine Connolly’s likely election as president marks not just a personal triumph, but a turning point in Ireland’s anti-establishment politics

Sun, 19 Oct, 2025

Mick Clifford: Jury is still out on whether Ian Bailey murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier

S Mick Clifford: Jury is still out on whether Ian Bailey murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier

Jim Sheridan’s 'Re-Creation' imagines the trial Ian Bailey never faced, reopening debate around Ireland’s most haunting unsolved murder

Sun, 12 Oct, 2025

Mick Clifford: Was it hubris that led Micheál Martin to dismiss Jim Gavin’s deficits?

Mick Clifford: Was it hubris that led Micheál Martin to dismiss Jim Gavin’s deficits?

While it appears unlikely that someone will emerge to take on a damaged Mr Martin, his departure will no longer be on his own terms

Wed, 08 Oct, 2025

Mick Clifford: Sinn Féin's rush for a border poll will do nothing for peace on this island

S Mick Clifford: Sinn Féin's rush for a border poll will do nothing for peace on this island

Sinn Féin's stampede towards a border poll will do nothing to build a new and peaceful Ireland for all citizens, writes Mick Clifford

Sun, 05 Oct, 2025

Mick Clifford: Why successive governments put landowners ahead of the common good

S Mick Clifford: Why successive governments put landowners ahead of the common good

For decades, governments enriched landowners through rezoning while failing to deliver a fair, functioning planning system

Sun, 21 Sep, 2025

Mick Clifford: Eoin Hayes and the Social Democrats' self-induced trauma

S Mick Clifford: Eoin Hayes and the Social Democrats' self-induced trauma

A photograph of Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes in blackface from 16 years ago has surfaced, and his party has reacted as if a deep, dark secret from his past had been uncovered

Tue, 16 Sep, 2025

British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference

S Mick Clifford: Simon Harris threats highlight toxic abuse of politicians on social media

While politicians are generally subjected to the worst of abuse, women across public life are targeted in a more hateful way than men

Sun, 07 Sep, 2025

Jim Gavin 30/7/2025

S Mick Clifford: A Jim Gavin run for the presidency will finally add some colour to the contest

He has mastered Gaelic football, the former Dubs boss would have to tackle what Seamus Brennan once famously described as senior hurling if he wanted to become the President, writes Mick Clifford

Sat, 30 Aug, 2025

Woman looking at houses and flats in the window of an estate agent in London, UK

S Mick Clifford: No country for young people if housing crisis is not fixed

Today’s school leavers should be better equipped that those who went before to go out in the world and make the most if it. However, inequality is draining hope

Sat, 23 Aug, 2025

78th Cannes Film Festival

Mick Clifford: Bono blasted over Gaza — but was his silence actually a moral choice?

Bono’s Gaza response drew fierce backlash, but his decades of activism on Aids and poverty tell a more complicated story

Sun, 17 Aug, 2025

Terry Prone: So you’re thinking of running for the Áras... Are you out of your mind?

S Terry Prone: So you’re thinking of running for the Áras... Are you out of your mind?

Ahead of every presidential election, deluded outliers consider running. They look you fearlessly in the eye and affirm in a quiet voice that they want to make a difference. Like Mary Robinson

Mon, 11 Aug, 2025

GEMMA O’DOHERTY;

S Mick Clifford: Political leaders risk credibility by peddling unfounded conspiracy theories

Mainstream politicians adopting fringe conspiracy rhetoric risk eroding trust, fuelling division, and undermining Ireland’s democratic debate

Sun, 10 Aug, 2025

Mick Clifford: McCabe echoes in new garda whistleblower case — are lessons from tribunal being ignored?

S Mick Clifford: McCabe echoes in new garda whistleblower case — are lessons from tribunal being ignored?

New whistleblower allegations of Garda misconduct are surfacing — but just like Maurice McCabe’s case, they’re being largely ignored

Sun, 20 Jul, 2025

Excited group of college graduates throwing their hats in celebration

Mick Clifford: Third-level fee rise sparks backlash — but who is really hardest hit?

The backlash over third-level fees exposes not just political short-termism, but a deeper failure to prioritise true hardship

Sat, 05 Jul, 2025

Dublin protests

S Mick Clifford: Make Ireland Great Again marchers want to turn back the clock — but to what, and at what cost?

As anti-immigrant protests grow louder, we must ask: do we really want to return to a darker past?

Sun, 29 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: Trump’s war on free speech is now targeting Ireland and its media regulators

Mick Clifford: Trump’s war on free speech is now targeting Ireland and its media regulators

Trump's grip on speech and surveillance is now crossing the Atlantic, with real consequences for Ireland’s media and students

Sat, 21 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: Arts Council CEO Maureen Kennelly was an easy target for minister

S Mick Clifford: Arts Council CEO Maureen Kennelly was an easy target for minister

Minister O'Donovan has thrown Arts Council's Maureen Kennelly under the bus rather than properly deal with departmental dysfunction, writes Mick Clifford

Tue, 17 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: Carlow’s shooting tragedy forces a reckoning with how justice is administered

S Mick Clifford: Carlow’s shooting tragedy forces a reckoning with how justice is administered

The Evan Fitzgerald case highlights serious questions about garda operations, judicial transparency, and how vulnerable individuals are treated

Sat, 14 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: The performance of innocence — what Sunny Jacobs’ story left out

Mick Clifford: The performance of innocence — what Sunny Jacobs’ story left out

Sunny Jacobs’ tragic death prompts reflection on how truth and myth blurred in one of Ireland’s most complex justice sagas

Sun, 08 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: Shane O’Farrell case shows the State still protects itself, not its people

S Mick Clifford: Shane O’Farrell case shows the State still protects itself, not its people

Ireland’s justice failures are not isolated — they reflect a deeper State culture of denial, deflection, and self-protection

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Mick Clifford: No genocide in South Africa — but Gaza tells a different story

S Mick Clifford: No genocide in South Africa — but Gaza tells a different story

As Trump peddles racial myths in the Oval Office, a real genocide unfolds — in Gaza, before the world’s eyes

Sat, 24 May, 2025

Mick Clifford: Government needs to come clean on housing numbers

Mick Clifford: Government needs to come clean on housing numbers

In a housing crisis, information should be power — but murky statistics and unanswered questions are blocking public understanding

Wed, 21 May, 2025

FILE PHOTO Bauer Media Audio has agreed to buy Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Group for over €100m. Communicorp includes radio stat

Mick Clifford: The price of peace and pyjamas — is remote work a cultural ticking time bomb?

Remote work has transformed lives, but the loss of in-person interaction may carry unseen long-term costs, especially for Gen Z

Sun, 18 May, 2025

Mick Clifford: Coppinger’s Gript snub should concern anyone who values media freedom

S Mick Clifford: Coppinger’s Gript snub should concern anyone who values media freedom

Selective engagement with the press may feel righteous, but it risks damaging the democratic ideals politicians claim to defend

Sun, 11 May, 2025

Israel Palestinians

Mick Clifford: The ambulance massacre Israel tried — and failed — to hide

The killing of Gaza’s paramedics exposes a chilling pattern of dehumanisation and echoes of past atrocities

Sun, 27 Apr, 2025

Planning Application

S Mick Clifford: Housing crisis deepens as homeowners block developments to ‘protect character’

In a housing crisis, objecting to every development under the guise of ‘character’ protection masks deeper societal privilege

Sun, 20 Apr, 2025

Mick Clifford: Strip search claims at Leinster House protest raise real questions — and some invented ones

S Mick Clifford: Strip search claims at Leinster House protest raise real questions — and some invented ones

Dáil claims of Garda sexual violence demand real investigation — but not at the cost of facts or credibility

Sun, 06 Apr, 2025

Water bills set to rise

Mick Clifford: Water shortages in the next decade are a real possibility

Investment, political will, and a new attitude to a precious resource are critical, writes Mick Clifford

Mon, 31 Mar, 2025

Mick Clifford: Two fingers to democracy — How Michael Lowry became the Government’s biggest liability

S Mick Clifford: Two fingers to democracy — How Michael Lowry became the Government’s biggest liability

Michael Lowry’s shadow looms over the Government, exposing the fragility of political integrity and the cost of dishonesty

Sun, 30 Mar, 2025

Mick Clifford: The land of a hundred thousand welcomes — and unwelcome truths

Mick Clifford: The land of a hundred thousand welcomes — and unwelcome truths

Ireland’s global image took a hit this week as Conor McGregor, social media, and viral headlines shaped the narrative

Sat, 22 Mar, 2025

Mick Clifford: Why Ireland must face tough questions about its covid strategy

S Mick Clifford: Why Ireland must face tough questions about its covid strategy

Ireland’s pandemic response shaped lives, but did it cause more harm than good? A full, honest inquiry is overdue, writes Mick Clifford

Sun, 16 Mar, 2025

Russia Ukraine War

S Mick Clifford: Does neutrality still protect Ireland? Why it’s time for an honest conversation

As global threats rise, Ireland’s neutrality faces scrutiny. Is it a principled stance or outdated idealism? The debate intensifies

Sun, 09 Mar, 2025

Mick Clifford: Who will be Ireland’s next president? The potential candidates so far

Mick Clifford: Who will be Ireland’s next president? The potential candidates so far

Ireland’s presidential race is soon to begin gathering pace, with major names emerging as potential candidates. Who will take on the challenge of Áras an Uachtaráin?

Sun, 02 Mar, 2025

General Election Ireland 2024

Mick Clifford: Foul play in the Dáil? Micheál Martin’s Irish dribble leaves everyone confused

A linguistic slip — or strategic play? Taoiseach’s Dáil exchange sparks debate over language, politics, and truth

Sun, 23 Feb, 2025

Minister to meet woman who wants inquiry into the death of her son killed in hit-and-run

S Mick Clifford: The cynical use of a tragedy to play politics

Politicians are doing a great disservice to a bereaved family

Sat, 15 Feb, 2025

Omagh Bombing Inquiry

S Mick Clifford: No room for closure when history is rewritten

Between them, the Republican movement and the British state are determined that there will not be a full reckoning with the past

Sun, 09 Feb, 2025

Mick Clifford: From pardons to trade wars, Trump’s first 20 days signal a wild presidency

Mick Clifford: From pardons to trade wars, Trump’s first 20 days signal a wild presidency

Donald Trump’s first 20 days in office have been marked by chaos, extreme policies, and a dangerous hunger for power

Sat, 08 Feb, 2025

Tom Dunne: Bob Dylan film is a glorious take on our darling young one

S Mick Clifford: Threat to humanity still blowin’ in the wind

Bob Dylan has always seen things that are beyond the vision of most of us

Sun, 02 Feb, 2025

Donald Trump

Mick Clifford: The Donald living the lie in the Trump world

Whether America and all it purports to represent can outlive this individual will be the story of the coming years

Sun, 26 Jan, 2025

Mick Clifford: Michael D Higgins's words have consequences

Mick Clifford: Michael D Higgins's words have consequences

The President's popularity is unquestionable but his successor should not use the office to openly criticise policy

Sat, 18 Jan, 2025

Mick Clifford: Ireland must pass the Occupied Territories Bill despite the likely Trump reaction

S Mick Clifford: Ireland must pass the Occupied Territories Bill despite the likely Trump reaction

All too often western democracies like ours hold noses and look away from severe human rights abuses in pursuit of our own economic interests. We must not do this when it comes to the war in Gaza, writes Mick Clifford

Sun, 12 Jan, 2025

Mick Clifford: Difficult to see how the next Government will make us any better off

S Mick Clifford: Difficult to see how the next Government will make us any better off

Influence of independents will be seen in what will not get done — rather than creating positive change

Sun, 05 Jan, 2025

Cillian Murphy

Mick Clifford's A to Z of 2024: A look back at the people who shaped the passing year

A look back at the passing year and the people who shaped it, for good and ill

Mon, 30 Dec, 2024