Inheritance tax is a modest payback for a massive benefit
Cutting inheritance tax benefits the offspring of the generation now leaving property behind - and their parents already enjoyed mortgage interest relief in the past
Gerard Howlin
Gerard Howlin columns
Who is Jack Chambers? Nobody knows but we’re about to find out
The new Minister must use the pre-election budget to perform an interconnected series of balances
The question is not whether we decarbonise - it’s whether we do it quickly or get left behind
We need to stop talking about climate obligations and look at the opportunities
We are distracted by personalities, but what’s really at stake in this year of elections is policy
The great issues of our times are ageing, climate, and generative AI
Ask Ukraine about the value of Irish ‘solidarity’: it is €38.80 per week
Disjointed responses to different humanitarian crises are dictated by their distance, our convenience and political opportunism
Limerick’s mayoral election will either be an embarrassing novelty or a brave new world
The vote - to be held four weeks from today - is an important experiment in extending local government. A lot rests on voters’ choice
We now know which hospitals are overspending and which are delivering. Let’s fund them accordingly
In the past, there was a formula which ensured that the worse things were, the more money you got. That’s no longer the case
Next election will herald an age of Independents
Series of flip-flops by Sinn Féin on hate speech, the Nature Restoration Law, and the recent referendums raises questions. If they can’t speak clearly for themselves, how can they speak for us?
The idea this Government has another year is constitutionally correct but politically preposterous
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs know they are franchisees of brands in decline
‘Political advisers are like poisoners: either famous or good at their job’
A short history of political advisers in Ireland, from the early 1990s to today
The world is burning, but Sinn Féin is focusing on the local elections
The party decided not to be the party of change on climate change, which may be a smart political calculation, but comes at a cost
The children’s hospital project has been both meticulously planned and overly rushed
The problem isn’t the overrun - it is that the cost was grossly underestimated and all the information the market needed to squeeze the Government was made public
It’s official: The national mood is lightening. The black clouds are turning grey
There are no signs that the lightening of the mood is helping the Government parties. But it’s not necessarily good for Sinn Féin either
The concerns and prejudice boiling over in small towns mark the end of an era for Ireland
Politics is now increasingly a zero-sum contest seeking only tactical advantage
The young are caught in a grotesquely unfair trap
Unable to afford their own homes or save for a pension, they’ll have to carry the burden of paying for the pensions of the home-owning generation. More must be asked of older people
There is a grim Irish tradition of arson, from burning big houses to burning refugee centres
Accommodating asylum seekers and refugees is a medium-sized infrastructure problem in danger of imminent political contamination by the far right
Some of those who were attracted to Sinn Féin’s paramilitary past are now veering far-right
Sinn Féin rode wave of support on core social issues, but the context has now changed to law, order and immigration
Ireland doesn’t have the right people in the right places in the European Parliament
Too many of our 13 MEPs are in peripheral groups, where little real power is exercised. Thirty per cent of Ireland’s parliamentary presence is in a group that comprises just over 5 per cent of the parliament
Change is coming in Ireland – just not how the Government or the Opposition imagines
Ireland cannot sustain a bigger state on our current tax base
A government that cannot budget credibly is not a credible government
Just as a government worthy of the name must pass a budget that is credible, the health service must be able to live within its allocation
Health estimate is fiction and passing it makes a mockery of the Dáil
Budget day saw rare flashes of leadership but these were overshadowed by imprudent overspending
Ireland is on the frontline of the battle against misinformation
We have EU-wide responsibilities that are enormous in scale and consequence
Micheál Martin may be Sinn Féin’s greatest accidental cheerleader
If there is a slam dunk election in the making, it is an inside job, and Martin is a chief architect
There is a direct line between threat to Irish sovereignty and social disintegration
We are under-prepared and ill-equipped for the real threats to our sovereignty
Rhodes is burning but roads are the burning budget issue in Ireland
Leo Varadkar’s support for roads is nostalgia for a world suffocating on its own emissions
Gerard Howlin: There is a reason this RTÉ soap opera eclipsed the heatwave in Europe
Self-referential news cycle prioritising this controversy in the face of climate breakdown is a deadly extension of fake news
Women in politics
A grassroots organisation aims to equip women with the skills, knowledge and confidence to run in local elections
Online abuse, sexist structures, night shifts: no wonder more women don’t go into politics
In terms of gender, the Dáil is barely more representative than the ascendancy parliament in the eighteenth century. A culture change is needed
President Higgins has created an unprecedented state of exception for himself
He cannot behave now as if he is still on the hustings, because it changes the future as well as the present
Sinn Féin and Fine Gael on wrong side of history regarding climate crisis
Gerard Howlin: Decarbonisation politics is led by competition between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael for the rural vote
Micheál Martin has remade Fianna Fáil into a vehicle for its leader
Gerard Howlin: The Tánaiste’s next move could be European Commissioner, President of the Council, President of Ireland or even rotating Taoiseach. The outlook for the party is grimmer
Mortgage interest relief is another blow to those who are young, unhoused and up the creek
Gerard Howlin: It further imbalances an already out of kilter tax system, again, against the young
Unlike most politicians, Robert Watt wants the reality of power but not the theatre
Gerard Howlin: As any other civil servant could have told him, if you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made
Biden visit marks end of era as passing time has thinned out Irish-American blood
US president identifies as Irish in America but he visits Ireland as an American, a foreigner, albeit one with close ties of affection
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