Has the public had enough of presidents like Michael D Higgins?
Presidential elections generate an acute interest in who and what we would like to symbolise our Republic
Diarmaid Ferriter
Diarmaid Ferriter columns
The best books for summer 2025: our critics’ top picks
Sarah Moss, Joseph O’Connor, Wendy Erskine, John Banville, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and other authors and reviewers choose their top reads for the holidays
The GPO is not ‘sacred ground’. It’s so much more than that
There’s an opportunity to turn it into a building that can generate pride, and improve the perception of a space widely regarded as deficient and devoid of imagination
Ireland was a place where ruthless husbands were free to ‘bounce a boot off’ their wives
Researchers in the 1930s found that in some cases it was acceptable to beat a childless wife for being ‘barren’. Fifty years on, there’s no happy ending
How can we stop corporate gombeen men running amok again? Credit unions could be the answer
AIB said this week it owes an ‘immense debt of gratitude’ to the Irish taxpayer. Indeed it does
The great tragedy is there’s no political pendulum to restrain Israel’s Cromwellian impulses
What was deemed politically unacceptable by British imperialists a century ago is permitted today at hideous cost to the people of Gaza
Ryanair is greenwashing to a comical degree
Airlines will not reduce their carbon footprint if they dramatically increase the number of flights, whatever they say about cutting emissions per passenger
Ireland must not follow England’s example on maintaining waterways
England is accustomed to seeing rivers as a filthy threat, but we can’t let the same thing happen here
Was it for this craven display that London endured the Blitz?
The relentless focus on trade has skewed any determination to confront the terrifying echoes of the 1930s. Europeans should be much more vocal about it
Remembering the many talents of broadcaster, activist and historian Máire de Paor
Committed socialist and feminist lived through a time when attitudes to women in Irish society were decidedly narrow
Donald Trump’s chilling assault on universities mirrors that of the Nazis in 1930s Germany
Expect book burnings soon to further scapegoat the “enemies of the nation”
In Ireland, we are obsessed with the land – owning it, not roaming it
Ireland has no equivalent of the Swedish concept of Allemansrätten (everyone’s right to roam) or the 225,000 km of public rights of way in England and Wales
The hurt that dripped from Michael O’Brien and others has to be part of Pope Francis’s legacy
The personal experience he vividly outlined on RTÉ television in 2009 was part of the reason Francis’s visit to Ireland nine years later was so different from the previous Irish papal visit
Too many Irish teachers are wrecked and hate their jobs
There are too many wrecked teachers out there; too many hate their jobs; too many depart prematurely
Life admin has become more irksome as many utility firms treat customers with contempt
In a country where many utility companies treat their customers with contempt and consumers pay 42 per cent more for goods and services, life admin can be eviscerating
Pope Francis’s synodal reforms: Vatican II 60 years on
Church leaders are at last embracing much-needed change
From ‘damned Englishman’ to ‘f**king a**hole’: A history of Ireland in 25 Dáil insults
The language has become coarser but it is striking how fuelled by testosterone the Dáil has always been
A century after the Monto, street prostitution has been replaced by sordid networks run by pimps
Ireland was never pure, but our 21st century ‘new order’ - with women human trafficked into the sex trade and much focus on toxic masculinity - is alarming
The vagina detector test at the entrance to the Vatican is not about to be decommissioned
Pope Francis’s pontificate has been about evasion as well as empathy, and he has made it clear holy orders are reserved for men
Nobody should be mocked or lampooned for decrying the consequences of the new arms race
The Irish approach to foreign policy should not be to exaggerate our purity or indulge dictators, but neither should we parrot criticisms of our neutrality from miliary aligned states
Burning question for Europe now is how to deal with an elected American tyrant
Donald Trump’s presidency has also generated a new focus on questions of identity and doubt in Europe
Éamon de Valera was the first to suggest ‘garden cabins’ as a solution to an Irish social dilemma
Continuity of ‘implacable social systems’ witnesses the refloating of an old focus on the back garden
Experiences of Troubles victims have run like submerged streams beneath the dry land of blame
Families have different views on the Omagh inquiry, but what they all hold sacred is the need for their loved ones’ stories to be heard
Ministerial overload isn’t going to solve our problems. Neither is Civil Service squeeze
Enduring power of ‘permanent government’ - the Civil Service - may explain why only ex-ministers speak frankly after leaving government
Underground cabling could answer challenge of keeping lights on after storms
Technical challenges and cost of extensive underground cabling would be enormous but ESB needs to produce a plan to cope with scale of climate change
Mulcahy’s push for alternative to Fianna Fáil in 1948 government talks ‘enhanced democracy’, UCD event told
Parties involved in present government formation talks owe debt of gratitude to former FG leader, says Prof Diarmaid Ferriter
Biden’s legacy will be tarnished by his vanity and stubbornness
The outgoing US president will also be remembered for disastrous foreign policy choices, including his refusal to curb the excesses of Israel
Forget pandering to Independent TDs, these are the issues the new government needs to deal with
The consequences of business as usual are ever more frightening, particularly in relation to climate change
It’s time Dublin had a statue to unconventional, complex Maud Gonne MacBride
Attitudes to her have been reductive, shaped by the mores of the time and her failed marriage
During this hard men era, Ireland would do well to remember Seán MacBride’s words
MacBride asked ‘if those vested with authority and power practice injustice, resort to torture and killing, is it not inevitable that those who are victims will react with similar methods?’
Do not, on any account, forget the importance of the perfect Christmas hairstyling
How to achieve the perfect Christmas tree, the perfect table setting, the perfect family time: don’t bother trying. Reject perfection is all its greedy, grabbing guises
Is it time for Opposition parties to come together under the banner ‘Put them out’?
Given today’s political landscape, the current Opposition might well profit from looking closely at what happened in 1948
Diarmaid Ferriter: Greens deemed irrelevant in shallow campaigns with magic money and social media stunts
Weeks of magic money, fantasy manifestos and hand-shaking marathons have come to this
Cillian Murphy’s view of Ireland in the 1980s as ‘the dark ages’ misses the point
Small Things Like These raises a wider question about the communication of our history as one giant, black cloud occasionally interrupted by a lone, bright star
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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