Article Category: Last Refuge

SIMON HARRIS’S LEADERSHIP TIMING

June 15, 2023
HAS ANYONE noticed that of the two junior ministers now increasingly mentioned as possible Fine Gael leadership rivals to senior minister Simon Harris, both... Read more »

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MURPHY’S SOC DEMS OWN GOALS

June 15, 2023
WAS THE blundering performance put in by Catherine Murphy in the Denis O’Brien/Siteserv saga one of the reasons for the change in the Social... Read more »

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SIMON COVENEY’S CONSTITUENCY

June 15, 2023
IS SIMON COVENEY trying to emulate British Tory prime minister Harold McMillan’s electoral slogan, “You’ve never had it so good”, in an effort to... Read more »

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PACIFISTS SILENCED AT MARTIN’S FORUMS

June 15, 2023
INDICATIONS OF the militarist tenor of Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin’s Forum on International Security were noted in The Phoenix (see edition... Read more »

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TRIPLE-COCK-UP BY GREENS

June 1, 2023

THE BUSINESS POST recently had on its front page a piece about the Green Party’s shift towards abolition of the triple lock –... Read more »

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BURYING MOUNTBATTEN

June 1, 2023
ANOTHER EXAMPLE of the ‘special relationship’ between the US and Britain is the revelation – covered in the British media but not, for some... Read more »

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KATE HASN’T GONE AWAY, YOU KNOW

June 1, 2023

AN AIR of mystery and intrigue surrounds Fine Gael councillor Emma Blain’s step onto the political chess board of Dublin Bay South (DBS)... Read more »

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HUGO MACNEILL’S GONG

June 1, 2023

THE EXCITED word among the goys in south Dublin rugger clubs is that Hugo MacNeill will shortly receive a measure of compensation for... Read more »

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CONTENDERS CIRCLE VARADKAR

May 18, 2023

THE FEAR of an unseemly power struggle being displayed in public is one reason for the paralysis in Fine Gael over increasingly poor... Read more »

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WATT’S PUBLIC SPENDING CONTROLS

May 18, 2023

While many politicians and commentators have been falling over themselves to characterise health department secretary general Robert Watt as “dismissive”, “cocky”, “combative” or  “arrogant”, civil... Read more »

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LEO SWINGING TO THE LEFT?

May 18, 2023

Fine Gael’s staunch defence of the publicly owned Irish rail system against the EU’s Railway Directive continues to raise eyebrows in many quarters.... Read more »

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SINN FÉIN ‘UNITY’ IN CORK EAST

May 18, 2023

THE CORK EAST constituency was the scene of one of the triggers that provoked a rash of stories about ‘bullying’ by sensitive Sinn... Read more »

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ROBERT WATT’S PERFORMANCE

May 4, 2023

Much has been made of the demeanour of Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Health, with many Government TDs joining their... Read more »

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SOC DEMS TO ECLIPSE LABOUR?

May 3, 2023

THE ONLY constituency in the state to house both a Labour and a Social Democrats TD is Dublin Bay North (DBN) with Aodhán... Read more »

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OLD ARMIES AND NEW

May 3, 2023

THE WAR of words between the official National Army and the Respect and Loyalty to the Forgotten (RLF), a group of retired army... Read more »

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FARMERS IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

May 3, 2023

ROSCOMMON-GALWAY TD Michael Fitzmaurice got a predictable reaction from Green Party representatives when he mooted his new farmers’ party. Junior agriculture minister and... Read more »

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BERTIE’S OBSTACLE TO THE ÁRAS

April 19, 2023

ANYBODY WHO presumed that Bertie Ahern would shy away from a bid to run for the presidency in 2025 because of the adverse... Read more »

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IS SHANNON NEUTRAL GROUND?

April 19, 2023

In two recent Morning Ireland interviews, Áine Lawlor has interrogated the details of Sinn Féin’s commitment to neutrality, a sensitive issue given the... Read more »

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NO COUNCIL HOUSES – NO COUNCIL DEBATE

April 19, 2023
DAYS BEFORE Sinn Féin’s Dáil motion on ending the eviction ban and a fortnight before the ban was due to expire, Tánaiste Micheál Martin... Read more »

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HOUSING FOR ALL… ELSEWHERE

April 19, 2023

FIANNA FÁIL insiders raised an eyebrow last week at an Irish Independent report that housing minister Darragh O’Brien continues to send constituents with... Read more »

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NEUTRALITY: THE FINAL PUSH

April 6, 2023

THE GOVERNMENT has finally decided to launch a ground offensive against neutrality with a series of discussions or “forums” on the issue later... Read more »

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FREE FRANCE!

April 6, 2023

FORMER BRITISH Labour MP, now Baroness Kate Hoey (courtesy of then UK prime minister Boris Johnson in 2020) has enraged even those who... Read more »

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POLLS SPELL DISASTER FOR FF

April 6, 2023

ONCE AGAIN, the media fixation on the latest poll is on how Sinn Féin compares with both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. But... Read more »

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BERTIE TO FIX IT FOR SF/FF COALITION?

April 6, 2023

WHAT SCHEMING object has the most cunning one in mind when he tells Fianna Fáil and its leader, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, that he... Read more »

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PRESIDENT BIDEN CONGRATS IRELAND

March 23, 2023

AS TÁNAISTE and foreign minister Micheál Martin embarked on his trip to the US for the annual St Patrick’s Day performance, his press... Read more »

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‘SERIOUSLY GOOD BIT OF STUFF’

March 23, 2023

Unnoticed by the Irish media – ie her former colleagues – European ombudsman Emily O’Reilly pulled off the rare feat last week of... Read more »

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O’REILLY V HOURIGAN

March 22, 2023

THE GREEN Party chairperson and ultra-loyal lieutenant of Eamon Ryan, senator Pauline O’Reilly, is gunning for Neasa Hourigan TD as the latter contributed... Read more »

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SOC DEMS LEADER TO LOSE SEAT?

March 8, 2023

THE BIG bounce that new Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns gave the party – up five points to 9% – says something about... Read more »

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GREEN PARTY DROPS TRIPLE LOCK

March 8, 2023

THE FIANNA FÁIL leader and Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, will be pleased with Cabinet colleague Eamon Ryan, who recently persuaded his now-domesticated Green Party... Read more »

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MICHEÁL MARTIN’S NUCLEAR RECORD

March 8, 2023

THE 2023 Conference on Disarmament in Geneva last month heard Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin denounce Russia for its recent pronouncements... Read more »

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SINN FÉIN FLEES TO CENTRE

March 8, 2023

A RECENT statement by left-wing TDs and senators, excluding Sinn Féin, in the Irish Times made the ever so provocative suggestion that Ireland... Read more »

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FINE GAEL CROSSES THE BORDER

February 22, 2023

FINE GAEL’S move to set up its own organizational structures north of the border says as much about Fianna Fáil’s wavering commitment to... Read more »

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BERTIE’S GOOD OL’ BOYS

February 22, 2023

DOWN IN the constituency organisation of Fianna Fáil in Dublin Central (DC), one person who will have gritted her teeth while affecting to... Read more »

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VARADKAR TAILS FAR RIGHT

February 22, 2023

THE LATEST party political poll – from the Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes (B&A) – shows again the almost secret war raging between Fianna... Read more »

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WHO WILL WIN EXTRA DUBLIN DÁIL SEATS?

February 22, 2023

WITH ANYTHING from 11 to 21 extra seats likely to emerge from the impending constituency revisions to be brought in by the Electoral... Read more »

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GREENS DIVIDE ON NEUTRALITY

February 9, 2023

THE ONGOING mystery continues surrounding the Green Party’s policy on defence, security and neutrality – for long the most sacred of Green principles... Read more »

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