Place: Clontarf Dublin 3

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

columnists

Electorate is to blame for general election mess

Dan Kiely, CEO of Voxpro, (Irish Examiner, April 2) said “the decision of the electorate in February’s general election was abundantly clear. The people want change and stability.”

Tune in: half of radio listeners are women

We must condemn Hamas as we did the paramilitaries

Kenny’s pay compares well with other leaders

We have knowingly elected parties opposed to X case legislation

It has been said many times that the Oireachtas and governments have shirked an obligation placed on them by the Supreme Court in 1992 to legislate for the X case.

Mon, 26 Nov, 2012

Call for no pay or expenses for councillors ignores lessons of history

Brendan Ronayne says that city and county councillors should receive no pay and no expenses (Letters, Nov 19).

Thu, 22 Nov, 2012

In her letter last Saturday, Caitríona McClean said that “the main reason that Mr Kenny is now the Taoiseach” was because of the “flawed system of reporting, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)”.

Wed, 13 Jun, 2012

Shorter work week could ease job losses

I am writing to you about the letter in your paper recently (Jan 17), which said that a 4 1/2 day week would solve unemployment.

Wed, 25 Jan, 2012

Fianna Fáil has sense of humour

FIANNA Fáil’s Michael McGrath TD has called on the Government not to pay the €715 million bill to Anglo bondholders.

Thu, 03 Nov, 2011

Maths is optional

RÓISÍN LAWLESS asks if Enda Kenny will also propose that Maths be made an optional subject for the Leaving Cert, in view of the poor results obtained by students in recent years (Feb 12).

Thu, 17 Feb, 2011

Suicide of pregnant woman is preventable

IT perplexes me that any rational person can support the view that a woman who has threatened suicide should be entitled to an abortion.

Wed, 29 Dec, 2010

Cowen country

THE Taoiseach on radio yesterday morning perfectly reflected the state of the nation... wobbly.

Wed, 15 Sep, 2010

Killers at the wheel

AM I the only one who is sick and tired of all the cant and hypocrisy – especially in the media – about the murderous behaviour of boys and young men on our roads?

Sat, 17 Jul, 2010

Call to outlaw sodomy is 17 years too late

IN his rather bizarre interpretation of the Civil Partnership Bill, Fr Tom Ingoldsby SDB claims it will legalise what he calls “sodomy” (Letters, June 23).

Thu, 01 Jul, 2010

Hard to call

WHO least needs a general election now – Fine Gael paralysed by a power struggle or Fianna Fáil paralysed by the consequences of their own fiscal recklessness and corruption?

Wed, 16 Jun, 2010

Political police

NEXT time I’m stopped by a garda at a checkpoint I think I’ll ask him if he’s Fine Gael or Fianna Fáíl.

Tue, 04 May, 2010

Why Cullen’s use of ‘rape’ term is helpful

I LISTENED with interest as Martin Cullen likened his treatment by the media to “waking up every morning and being raped”.

Thu, 28 Jan, 2010

A dash with ice

THE greatest cause of danger on our roads has not been the ice and snow, but the outbreak of mass hysteria among commuters which seems to accompany any spell of harsh weather.

Tue, 12 Jan, 2010

Each-way pundits have a personal agenda

I PREDICT that the “independent commentators” (Shane Ross, David McWilliams, et al) who are calling for a public inquiry into the banks will be the first people to complain 10 years from now when any such inquiry turns into a Flood Tribunal-style white elephant.

Thu, 24 Dec, 2009

Lock them out

AT a time of national strife, when tens of thousands of private sector workers have lost their jobs and countless others have taken huge pay cuts, last Tuesday’s public sector strikes were nothing short of treason, and an insult to the public at large.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2009

Stay of execution

THE Greens have given themselves a stay of execution, but I’m one hangman who will wait patiently.

Fri, 16 Oct, 2009

Worker rights charter a giant leap forward

IN his letter on EU workers’ rights (September 7), Martin Ferris says the solemn declaration on the issue contains “no new instruments to promote or protect workers’ rights” and it has “no meaningful legal status”.

Tue, 29 Sep, 2009

Bubble economics

THE NAMA proposal states that the banks will be paid for loans based on rising property values at some point in the future, thereby ensuring the taxpayer breaks even on the deal.

Tue, 15 Sep, 2009

As a Catholic vehemently opposed to abortion, Cóir does not speak for me

RTÉ radio is to be commended for their investigative piece on the anti-Lisbon group Cóir last Sunday (September 6).

Mon, 14 Sep, 2009

Lead by example

AS an alternative to making large and necessary cutbacks to the public sector, Jack O’Connor of SIPTU has called for higher rates of income tax for all workers.

Mon, 20 Jul, 2009

Government waste the issue – not judges’ levy

THE storm over judges’ contributions to the pension levy is surely the greatest red herring to have been wheeled out since the beginning of the economic crisis.

Fri, 26 Jun, 2009

Taoiseach is hearing the wrong message

AS a response to the recent local and European election results, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has vowed to re-organise and modernise the Fianna Fáil organisation to make it “fit for purpose”.

Mon, 15 Jun, 2009

End of the affair?

NOW that US President Barack Obama has revealed a tax plan which will damage US companies in Ireland to the tune of €2.5bn, is there any chance that those here who cheered him into office will apologise to those of us who (to coin a phrase) had the audacity to hope the other guy would win the election, for this very reason?

Wed, 13 May, 2009

The real pandemics

IN a week or so, more than 170 people have died as a result of the swine flu outbreak – leading to a global panic about its implications.

Fri, 01 May, 2009

Council seats do not belong to parties

IN his letter (March 18), WB O’Flaherty insists that councillors Deirdre Forde and Chris O’Leary ought to resign their seats because they have recently resigned from their respective parties.

Mon, 23 Mar, 2009

Martin’s arrogant dismissal of Lisbon vote

IN the Orwellian world of our Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, no means yes (January 16).

Sat, 24 Jan, 2009

Will Bertie write a new chapter on patriotism?

THE Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and the Minister for Finance have called on us all to be “patriotic” and to support Irish business in the current economic climate.

Wed, 07 Jan, 2009

Silicone Alley

THE Government’s ‘new’ economic plan focuses on some mythical hi-tech future — Silicone Alley in the Bog of Allen.

Sat, 20 Dec, 2008

The last straw

SO Matt Cooper (December 12) thinks Charlie McCreevy is the answer to our economic woes.

Tue, 16 Dec, 2008

Two-tier pay scale for TDs is a daft idea

FLORENCE CRAVEN has peddled more than a few bizarre ideas on your letters page, but her suggestion that Government backbenchers should get a bigger salary than opposition backbenchers is just plain daft (Letters, September 25).

Fri, 03 Oct, 2008

Libertas agenda

LIBERTAS leader Declan Ganley opposes the Lisbon Treaty and a stronger EU. The US government opposes the Lisbon Treaty and a stronger EU, fearing it will threaten its political and economic dominance.

Fri, 26 Sep, 2008

Food for thought

A Fianna Fáil think-in is a mind-blowing concept.

Wed, 17 Sep, 2008

Cuts hit needy here and abroad

FIANNA Fáil, in opposition, once infamously claimed that spending cuts would “hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped” before setting out to do just that in government.

Sat, 12 Jul, 2008

We’re in no position to dictate to others

IT WAS reported recently that Patricia McKenna has called on Taoiseach Brian Cowen to demand a halt to the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty by other member states, in the same way that the EU constitution was stalled immediately after the French and Dutch referendum defeats.

Mon, 30 Jun, 2008

Commission did not intervene to help one side

ONCE again I have to protest at your publication of outrageous allegations against the independent Referendum Commission.

Fri, 20 Jun, 2008

Language policy critic hits the wrong target

IN his letter (April 25), Darren Mac an Phríora seems to adopt the bizarre tactics of the more extreme elements of the Irish language lobby by attacking politicians who have distinct policies on the language and praising those who have none at all.

Sat, 10 May, 2008

Farmer U-turn

SO the farmers are threatening to join the Lisbon Treaty naysayers if world trade talks yield a deal not to their liking.

Mon, 28 Apr, 2008

Treaty is not a threat to neutrality

KEVIN FOLEY (Letters, April 16) makes so many incorrect statements about the Lisbon treaty it would be difficult to address them all in one attempt.

Sat, 19 Apr, 2008

Bertie brought down by media bias

IRELAND has lost the genuine, astute and honourable leadership of a fine Taoiseach in his prime, not to the evidence and discernment of the Mahon Tribunal, not to democratic elections, but to the prejudice of the media.

Fri, 04 Apr, 2008

Going nowhere

OIL is out just as motorways are in, but the wastrels still don’t get it.

Fri, 29 Feb, 2008

Bertie unfit for new top job here or in EU

WHAT does it say for the state of our democracy when a Taoiseach can be interviewed on the national broadcaster — as Bertie Ahern was recently — and say that the leaking of his correspondence with the Revenue was “a new low in Irish life”, while at the same time seeing nothing wrong with accepting the equivalent of up to €300,000 from private individuals.

Mon, 28 Jan, 2008

Pope’s new convert an architect of Iraq war

IN his Christmas message, Pope Benedict XVI called for the Child Jesus to “bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions” to world conflicts, including “the whole of the Middle East — especially Iraq”.

Mon, 07 Jan, 2008

Man of the new year

’08 ... Obama ... OK.

Mon, 24 Dec, 2007