Fintan O'Toole

Fintan O'Toole columns

In Ireland we barely talk about immigration. It’s easy to see why

In Ireland we barely talk about immigration. It’s easy to see why

We should be able to discuss the fact that one in five people originates from elsewhere

By Fintan O'TooleTue Nov 14 2023 - 06:00

Ireland is taking a risk with its stance on Gaza, but someone has to

Ireland is taking a risk with its stance on Gaza, but someone has to

Insisting on one standard in a world of double standards makes for difficult moments with friends and allies, but it is easier than twisting in the wind

By Fintan O'TooleTue Nov 07 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: Israel seems set on declaring peace in a blood-soaked wasteland of rubble and dust

Fintan O’Toole: Israel seems set on declaring peace in a blood-soaked wasteland of rubble and dust

What will remain after Israel’s fury is spent? Collective punishment is not justice. Scorched earth is not security. Desolation is not peace

By Fintan O'TooleTue Oct 31 2023 - 06:00

The opposite of hatred

Fintan O’Toole’s opinion piece on Israel, Palestine and Ireland

Wed Oct 25 2023 - 03:45

Ireland is weirdly entwined with the idea of a Jewish homeland, but not in the way many imagine

Ireland is weirdly entwined with the idea of a Jewish homeland, but not in the way many imagine

Militant Irish nationalists prefer to forget that two future right-wing prime ministers of Israel were profoundly inspired by the IRA

By Fintan O'TooleTue Oct 24 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: An Israeli government obsessed with humiliating Palestinians has left its citizens undefended

Fintan O’Toole: An Israeli government obsessed with humiliating Palestinians has left its citizens undefended

All that levelling Gaza will achieve in the longer term is to remind Israel itself that it borders on an abyss

By Fintan O'TooleTue Oct 17 2023 - 06:00

Refusing to address someone by their preferred pronouns may not be unlawful, but it is rude

Refusing to address someone by their preferred pronouns may not be unlawful, but it is rude

Withholding someone’s chosen name has long been a way of asserting power over them: it’s why all the Irish were Micks, Paddies or Bridgets

By Fintan O'TooleTue Oct 10 2023 - 06:00

For years, Ireland has been doing something just as economically stupid as Brexit

For years, Ireland has been doing something just as economically stupid as Brexit

Consigning children to poverty is morally and politically wrong. But it makes no fiscal sense either

By Fintan O'TooleTue Oct 03 2023 - 06:15

It’s time for the State to declare war on dereliction

It’s time for the State to declare war on dereliction

IT Sunday: Fintan O’Toole on how ‘mainstream media’ has become a rhetorical device, not a description of reality and Fiona Reddan on what the best mortgage option is as interest rates soari

Sun Oct 01 2023 - 08:00

Dr Tony Bates: ‘Just because you have trauma in your life doesn’t make you a nice person. If you’re hurt you pass that on’

Dr Tony Bates: ‘Just because you have trauma in your life doesn’t make you a nice person. If you’re hurt you pass that on’

In his painfully honest new book, the distinguished clinical psychologist discusses his own issues with depression and his concerns about the state of mental healthcare today

By Patrick FreyneSun Oct 01 2023 - 06:00

This column is not what the mainstream media want you to hear

This column is not what the mainstream media want you to hear

If Russell Brand says he’s the victim of a conspiracy theory and Rupert Murdoch insists he’s rebel outsider, so-called ‘mainstream media’ must be the true counterculture

By Fintan O'TooleTue Sept 26 2023 - 06:15

By playing the part of a predator, Russell Brand convinced us he couldn’t be one

Brand would have us believe it’s not just his reputation but reality itself that is at stake

By Fintan O'TooleMon Sept 18 2023 - 13:10

Child poverty office targets ‘helicopter role’ to ensure all agencies deliver

Child poverty office targets ‘helicopter role’ to ensure all agencies deliver

End Child Poverty Week event also heard programmes in Scotland, Finland and New Zealand had provided inspiration

By Tim O'BrienWed Sept 13 2023 - 17:59

Varadkar could yet leave a mark of decency and justice. Here’s how

Varadkar could yet leave a mark of decency and justice. Here’s how

On October 10th, Michael McGrath could stand up in the Dáil and release 40,000 Irish children from the prison of poverty

By Fintan O'TooleTue Sept 12 2023 - 06:30

Why did the EPA delete a tweet about eating meat?

Why did the EPA delete a tweet about eating meat?

At a time of climate crisis it’s time to factor sustainability into dietary guidelines

By Hannah DalyThu Sept 07 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: The West must help Ukraine to define victory differently

Fintan O’Toole: The West must help Ukraine to define victory differently

If Putin died tomorrow, there’s no chance a democratic peacenik would replace him. The war has reshaped Russian society in ways that make autocracy even more secure

By Fintan O'TooleTue Sept 05 2023 - 06:15

Sinn Féin has what might benignly be characterised as deep ambivalence towards the State

Sinn Féin has what might benignly be characterised as deep ambivalence towards the State

Fintan O’Toole: The way to protect democracy is always through more and deeper democracy: more checks and balances, more effective means of calling those in power to account

By Fintan O'TooleSat Sept 02 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: The only difference between a good migrant and a bad one is time

Fintan O’Toole: The only difference between a good migrant and a bad one is time

Over time, strange people who came among us after terrible journeys ceased to be so strange. They became known, human, individual; not a threat but an enrichment

By Fintan O'TooleTue Aug 29 2023 - 06:30

Seamus Heaney, by Fintan O’Toole: His death 10 years ago was ‘the end of a great eloquence’

Seamus Heaney, by Fintan O’Toole: His death 10 years ago was ‘the end of a great eloquence’

Benign but not bland, temperate but not soft, the late poet is irreplaceable as a public figure

By Fintan O'TooleSat Aug 26 2023 - 05:30

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ has grappled with the same dilemma since the 1960s

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ has grappled with the same dilemma since the 1960s

Broadcaster has grappled with the same dilemma since the 1960s: to be a national jukebox or a national broadcaster

By Fintan O'TooleTue Aug 22 2023 - 06:30

Fintan O’Toole: Five things that the HSE is getting wrong

Fintan O’Toole: Five things that the HSE is getting wrong

Almost two decades of HSE ‘reforms’ have not made the slightest improvement to its collective culture

By Fintan O'TooleSun Aug 20 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: The only thing Tubridy seemed truly sorry for was himself

Fintan O’Toole: The only thing Tubridy seemed truly sorry for was himself

He has held stubbornly to a fiction, so stubbornly that it seems he might actually believe it

By Fintan O'TooleSat Aug 19 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: All my life there have been climate warnings. We’re ingenious at ignoring them

Fintan O’Toole: All my life there have been climate warnings. We’re ingenious at ignoring them

Climate change has been fully understood for decades. It has been perfectly possible not to grasp or feel it

By Fintan O'TooleTue Aug 15 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: Everywhere you look, Ireland has stark physical deficits

Fintan O’Toole: Everywhere you look, Ireland has stark physical deficits

To adapt what Brendan Behan once said about Dublin Bay, you don’t swim off Ballyvaughan, you just go through the motions

By Fintan O'TooleSat Aug 12 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: Farmers’ denial of climate reality has been shaped by the parties they support

Fintan O’Toole: Farmers’ denial of climate reality has been shaped by the parties they support

Farmers are in strange denial about the climate emergency partly because political parties, especially Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, have shaped their attitudes

By Fintan O'TooleTue Aug 08 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: Ireland can be proud of itself only if it can confront its shameful deeds

Fintan O’Toole: Ireland can be proud of itself only if it can confront its shameful deeds

Druid’s magnificent new staging of the O’Casey trilogy should be a source of national pride

By Fintan O'TooleSat Aug 05 2023 - 06:00

Fintan O’Toole: Sinéad O’Connor’s honesty was a curse for her but a blessing for us

Fintan O’Toole: Sinéad O’Connor’s honesty was a curse for her but a blessing for us

The singer shattered our perfect circle of denial about abuse and trauma. If you had been abused and traumatised, you were probably half-cracked and since you were half-cracked, who could believe you?

By Fintan O'TooleTue Aug 01 2023 - 06:28

Fintan O’Toole: Our habit of jetting off to sun holidays won’t end well. Just ask Icarus

Fintan O’Toole: Our habit of jetting off to sun holidays won’t end well. Just ask Icarus

We jet into the mind-melting heat because our minds are melted by habitude

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 29 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: A tiny area of Dublin is Ireland’s most segregated district

Fintan O’Toole: A tiny area of Dublin is Ireland’s most segregated district

The poorest part of inner-city Dublin is the triangle formed by the Customs House, the Royal Canal and the Liffey

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jul 25 2023 - 06:10

Fintan O’Toole: Why is the State investing billions in projects that depend on goodwill of property owners?

Fintan O’Toole: Why is the State investing billions in projects that depend on goodwill of property owners?

There is one phrase that does not appear anywhere in Government’s outdoor recreation strategy: ‘right of way’, the great unmentionable

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 22 2023 - 06:00

The best books of 2023 so far: Anne Enright, Joseph O’Connor, Liz Nugent, Colm Tóibín and more have their say

The best books of 2023 so far: Anne Enright, Joseph O’Connor, Liz Nugent, Colm Tóibín and more have their say

We round up some opinions on the finest reads this year which you might think worth bringing on holidays with you

By Martin DoyleSat Jul 22 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: How to survive a scandal and get everyone to forgive you

Fintan O’Toole: How to survive a scandal and get everyone to forgive you

About 1,500 years ago, Ireland’s monks solved one of the great problems of humanity: how to atone for sin

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jul 18 2023 - 06:30

Fintan O’Toole: Is any given act a potential war crime only when the other side does it?

Fintan O’Toole: Is any given act a potential war crime only when the other side does it?

Ireland is uncomfortable with any criticism of US actions, even when they are wrong

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 15 2023 - 05:00

Ryan Tubridy observations

The spotlight remains on the RTÉ presenter

Fri Jul 14 2023 - 02:00

Fintan O’Toole: In the end, Ryan Tubridy resorted to the Father Ted defence

Fintan O’Toole: In the end, Ryan Tubridy resorted to the Father Ted defence

The broadcaster had three tasks in the most important live show of his career

By Fintan O'TooleWed Jul 12 2023 - 06:06

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ bureaucrats fantasised they could turn themselves into Broadway impresarios

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ bureaucrats fantasised they could turn themselves into Broadway impresarios

The broadcaster piddled away €2.2m on the Toy Show vanity project, while showing an increasingly obvious disdain for its cultural remit

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jul 11 2023 - 06:21

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ must change or die

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ must change or die

Catherine Martin has been a quietly revolutionary minister for the arts, the best we’ve had since Michael D Higgins a quarter of a century ago

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 08 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: Noel Kelly is not Ryan Tubridy’s Father Confessor. He’s his attack dog

Fintan O’Toole: Noel Kelly is not Ryan Tubridy’s Father Confessor. He’s his attack dog

I don’t believe in the pernicious myth of the starving artist – everybody is entitled to enough money for a dignified life. But too much money is as corrosive as too little

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jul 04 2023 - 06:30

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ abandoned the public interest during Covid and capitulated to Tubridy’s tone-deaf demands

Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ abandoned the public interest during Covid and capitulated to Tubridy’s tone-deaf demands

This sorry episode shows how far the crassness of consumer culture has eroded the instincts of good citizenship

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 01 2023 - 05:00

A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell: A brilliant exercise in the uncanny

A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell: A brilliant exercise in the uncanny

Book about double murderer Malcolm Macarthur is an exercise in the uncanny

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jul 01 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: Ryan Tubridy chose silence instead of speaking out. An extended silence should follow

Fintan O’Toole: Ryan Tubridy chose silence instead of speaking out. An extended silence should follow

RTÉ broadcaster had a moral duty to call out falsehoods he was uniquely placed to discern. But in his telling, it was all a matter for somebody else

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jun 27 2023 - 06:00

Irish neutrality: A tiny Riverdance of angels dancing on the head of a Fáinne pin

Irish neutrality: A tiny Riverdance of angels dancing on the head of a Fáinne pin

Fintan O’Toole: How do we define Ireland’s ‘security’ in an age of climate chaos, mass migration and the rise of authoritarianism?

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jun 24 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: Murky links between your iPhone, our tax take and companies drilling in Carlow

Fintan O’Toole: Murky links between your iPhone, our tax take and companies drilling in Carlow

The genius of globalised capitalism is to make us forget that everything is connected

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jun 20 2023 - 06:45

Fintan O’Toole: The demise of the Kinahans will usher in another equally vile crew

Fintan O’Toole: The demise of the Kinahans will usher in another equally vile crew

If the War on Drugs is a giant trial conducted across the globe for over half a century, the empirical results are incontrovertible: drugs have won the war hands down

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jun 17 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: The ominous difference between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump

Fintan O’Toole: The ominous difference between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump

The masters of political bombast, who mass-mobilised self-pity, are now eerily in synch

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jun 13 2023 - 05:15

Fintan O’Toole: Giving Christian Brothers ownership of their sordid history adds insult to injury

Fintan O’Toole: Giving Christian Brothers ownership of their sordid history adds insult to injury

State courts committed children to these hellholes, religious orders should not have control of files

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jun 10 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: The three pillars of Ireland’s political system are crumbling

Fintan O’Toole: The three pillars of Ireland’s political system are crumbling

The three pillars of Irish politics – the Church-State alliance, party tribalism and clientelism – are crumbling

By Fintan O'TooleTue Jun 06 2023 - 05:15

Fintan O’Toole: The far right gives power to the most obnoxious little gits

Fintan O’Toole: The far right gives power to the most obnoxious little gits

What would Irish politics really look like if a clever and magnetic leader were to emerge from the far right?

By Fintan O'TooleSat Jun 03 2023 - 05:00

Jennifer O’Connell: Is the rise of the 6.30am commute a sign that Ireland is finally rebalancing?

Jennifer O’Connell: Is the rise of the 6.30am commute a sign that Ireland is finally rebalancing?

Jennifer O’Connell: By 2022, the ranks of the dawn commuter had swelled to close to 205,000. But there’s more to those numbers than tales of commuting hell

By Jennifer O'ConnellSat Jun 03 2023 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole: What if Sinn Féin makes Northern Ireland viable?

Fintan O’Toole: What if Sinn Féin makes Northern Ireland viable?

Sinn Féin has abandoned both anti-capitalism and the principle of making Northern Ireland unworkable, adopting economic policies that are not much to the left of the Republic’s mainstream

By Fintan O'TooleTue May 30 2023 - 05:00

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