A party that cannot get a tenth of the vote in Dublin or Galway retains power. This is dangerous
It feels like we’re in that strange hiatus now. Fianna Fáil has no ground beneath its feet
Fintan O'Toole
Fintan O'Toole columns
Artificial intelligence spells a real climate disaster
Despite the tech industry’s efforts to squash concern about the devastating climate impacts of AI, resistance is growing
Gerry Hutch and Bertie Ahern performed ‘Lanigan’s Ball racism’
Why are Hutch and Ahern so bothered about immigrants from Congo and Somalia? Because they are shorthand for ‘Darkest Africa’
How do we get from a cattle fair in Macroom in 1992 to the possible next governor of California?
Steve Hilton recognised early that oligarchic fascism could be dressed up as anti-elitism. And the signs were there at a Macroom cattle fair in 1992
How does a politician conclude a big truck needs three times more public money than a pensioner?
We have a political economy in which the only currency is the decibel
Fianna Fáil created a middle class but has little to say to a generation unable to join it
With its disastrous housing policies, Fianna Fáil has lost touch with its own successes
Ireland’s governing philosophy is learned helplessness – and it is getting worse
Every pressure group now knows it can be the unstoppable force that meets the moveable government
Who represents the Irish people?
The organisers of the fuel protests had neither the right nor the authority to speak on behalf of ‘the people of Ireland’
Ireland’s far-right movement will emerge from the ‘breakfast roll-atariat’
Fuel protests have seen big wheels driven over democratic norms
Trump’s random gibberish is more terrifying than lies. It is a sign of derangement
The US president isn’t making this stuff up – it’s making him up
Donald Trump is like a child pulling the wings off flies – all means and no end
We are seeing something new in human history: the relishing of annihilation as entertainment
Once one of the most influential people in Irish media, he ignored his own golden rule
A journalist using AI-generated quotes in articles about AI is like a doctor injecting one virus in the hope of curing another
Trump’s war on Iran could spell the end of the EU
A deep economic crisis, shocking terrorist attacks in EU cities plus an unprecedented wave of refugees would lead to a far-right surge that the EU may not survive
How Micheál Martin should handle Trump for St Patrick’s Day: ‘Lie back and think of Ireland’
From ‘silence, guile and cunning’ to ‘don’t go’, here’s some advice for the Taoiseach on how to survive the Shamrock Ceremony
Donald Trump is not mentally ill, but he is mad
Someone needs to tell him the truth or swathes of the world could be turned into Gaza writ large
Ireland has spent the last 70 years unsuccessfully trying to dethrone King Cattle
Mind-blowing documentary on RTÉ shows the parallel planet of Ireland’s cattle monarchy continues to exist
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Catholic Church
Fintan O’Toole’s analogy between the decline of the Catholic Church and the potential fall of the British monarchy is clever
Britain’s King Charles should heed the lesson of the crumbling Irish Catholic Church
Abusers did not bring down the hierarchy here, it was down to the repeated cover-ups by bishops
Sinn Féin, Ukraine and the Spanish Civil War
In Ukraine ‘the issues are clearer’, and we cannot know who would have won in Spain with no intervention
Fintan O’Toole: What would fascism look like in the 2020s?
Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan
For Sinn Féin, Tiocfaidh ár lá is being replaced by Turn the Other Cheek
Sinn Féin is rightly proud of republicanism’s role in the fight against fascism in Spain. So why is it now opposing assistance for Ukraine?
Epstein files are where the grammar of wealth meets the vocabulary of the brothel
Jeffrey Epstein and his friends were culture warriors – the war they waged was against women
Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson will go down in history as crawlers and creeps
If we want to understand why democracy is in such trouble, we can learn plenty from the careers of two men who were once stellar figures in democratic politics
If Trump goes after Ireland, he will also destroy a lot of US wealth
We’ve made ourselves dependent on American capitalism but for America it’s a hugely lucrative dependency
One big idea: Fintan O’Toole, Maria Steen, Joseph O’Connor and others offer a to-do list for Government
Voices from across Irish life choose a single thing the Government should – and could – try to accomplish in its second year in office
Why is Ireland so badly governed? Here’s why...
Road Safety Authority requests show our TDs are not doing the jobs they are elected to do
A superpower has affirmed its right to hegemony over Ireland. Are we paying attention?
Steve Bannon’s boasts are not just those of a marginal blowhard – they chime with the fully official American claim on the hemisphere in which we live
Trump’s Walmart warmongering in Venezuela isn’t just empire building. For him it’s entertainment
Capturing Maduro and putting him on display is US president's version of a Roman emperor’s triumph, entertainment for a senile king
The old Irish habit of begrudgery didn’t disappear, it just turned in another direction
Racism and xenophobia are begrudgery writ large. They divide humanity into an Us and Them
Ireland’s Christmas story is still underpinned by separation anxiety
The Gaybo Christmas call was a necessary national ritual, one that turned private pain into public joy
This is a column about the Opium War – all resemblance to living people entirely intended
For the opium lords of 1839, think the tech bros of 2025. For opium, think algorithms
Eurovision glitz is part of Israel’s claim to be European – and that matters
The displacement of Israel from Asia to Europe is neither innocent nor inconsequential
Remembering Martin Parr: A lovely, warm, gentle man who dragged me out of bed at 5.30am
British photographer always persevered in his belief that there is humanity in humour and humour in humanity
Fintan O’Toole: Ireland has two economies, one bourgeois, one proletarian. Both are broken
The bourgeoisification of the Irish workforce is a remarkable phenomenon
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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