Mick Clifford: Ireland should think twice before embracing the new left-right political divide

As culture wars intensify abroad, Ireland should resist importing polarisation, extremism and political certainties that corrode democratic debate

‘Father Ted’ writer Graham Linehan said US authorities should put pressure on the Irish Government to open a debate on the 2015 Gender Recognition Act.

For a long time, I was one of those who pined for a clear demarcation in Irish politics. 

Unlike most developed states, we did not have any defined left-right divide in the State. Elections were largely fought on the embers of the civil war.