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Finn McredmondThe Irish Times |
Leaving office as a political leader must be tricky. Most resign in similar fashion: weary, with a reputation diminished either by scandal,...
Herodotus – writing in the 5th century BC – contended more than once that a solar eclipse changed the entire course of history. First, the Medes...
The Irish have no claim to inventing the chicken sandwich. Though you would be forgiven for falling for such exceptionalist stories given the viral...
When Leo Varadkar resigned last week, the cynics emerged: his domestic record is a profound housing crisis; a weary Fine Gael dragging its heels...
This year ought to be a genuinely galvanising period in the politics of the west. Leo Varadkar’s surprise announcement yesterday that he is stepping...
The political theorist Walter Bagehot’s famous adage about the British monarchy – that its “mystery” is the source of its vitality – has...
The political theorist Walter Bagehot’s famous adage about the British monarchy – that its “mystery” is the source of its vitality – has...
In 2020 the editorial board of the New York Times was faced with a simple task: endorse one Democrat candidate for president. In a rather catastrophic...
It is hard for any pub in central London to stand out as particularly remarkable. They are all pretty similar – with around 430 in the borough of...
It is hard for any pub in central London to stand out as particularly remarkable. They are all pretty similar – with around 430 in the borough of...
There is plenty to dislike about the culture’s current obsession with remakes. Hollywood, it seems, has run out of ideas. In very recent memory we...
“Carignan,” a friend said, staring into the middle distance, “is an unfairly maligned grape.” I zoned out and my mind raced back to...
For all the emphasis on common purpose – intertwined heritage with the Irish and the Anglo-Saxons; Joe Biden’s ancestral love for Mayo – on...
The British are more sentimental than they appear. But the stereotype is persistent; it is a nation for the stoic, unemotional, stiff-upper-lipped...
The late 1990s and early 2000s may stand out as a particularly noxious period for women – replete with a celeb mag culture that drove Britney Spears...
The Irish in London tend to lean heavily on their national identity. This trait comes in many forms: loud declarations about the city’s inadequate...
Last week, Sheryl Sandberg announced she was standing down from the board at Meta, the parent company of Facebook. When it comes to those boasting a...
January 2018 was a different place. The row over how to achieve Brexit raged on under a divided and seemingly doomed Conservative UK government, with...
In 2016, Michael Gove – then secretary of state in the British Justice department – declared Britain “sick of experts”. It set the tone for...
Last year a Canadian farmer sent a very expensive emoji. This is a simple story of 21st century contract law: a grain buyer – looking to purchase 87...
“As the fighting in Gaza continues, we call for all parties to protect civilians, especially women and children, and to forcefully condemn...
Last week, on a particularly rainy and dark night, I was up-sold a bottle of wine by a rather effective sommelier. “I will never financially recover...
Last month David Cameron was made Rishi Sunak’s foreign secretary. But foisting a former prime minister who is no longer in the House of Commons...
In the wake of the Dublin riots the country was beset with anxious hand-wringing: how could this happen? This isn’t who we are! Ireland is gentle...
What do military strategist Henry Kissinger, tech entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg, eco-influencer Greta Thunberg and rapacious dictator Joseph Stalin...
The last decade has seen the emergence of a new global anxiety: the rise of so-called misinformation. Social media; highly editorialised right-wing...
Rishi Sunak is desperate to fashion himself as a break from the status quo. Since 2016 Britain has endured a chaotic exit from the European Union,...
Poor Bart Simpson. The 10-year-old son of America’s most famous family has spent 31 years being throttled by his father in one of the TV shows...
Matthew Perry, who died last weekend aged 54, published his memoir almost exactly a year ago to the day. Its opening line reads: “Hi, my name is...
They say celebrities are frozen at the age they become famous. For Britney Spears that would be October 23rd, 1998, at 16 years of age. Spears had...
The chaos of Brexit brought with it several by-products. Among them, Ireland’s increased fervour for the European Union was perhaps the least...
On October 7th, in the hours after Hamas’s murderous attack of Israeli citizens, Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee wrote a letter...
This summer pop behemoth Taylor Swift embarked on her Eras Tour. As it wends its way into a second and third leg next year, it is set to be the...
The family unit has become important currency. YouTube and TikTok — video sharing platforms — are groaning under the weight of so-called family...
It is hardly insightful to point out that Irish women have repeatedly been relegated and underestimated in this country’s history. We are enthralled...
If you are in the market for a new pet you might find yourself googling the explosively trendy American XL bully – a relatively new breed that is a...
It has been a terribly hot and long summer in London. And when I reminisce about the light evenings and the thick air – in the midst of the ensuing...
The British Conservatives have not endeared themselves to Ireland. Since 2016 the party and its rotating cast of beleaguered leaders – David...
Ryan Tubridy – who will not be returning to RTÉ in the wake of this summer’s payment scandal – has been on a jaunt around London’s West End...