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Michael Mcdowell

Michael Mcdowell

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England is mired in self-doubt and disillusionment - but Ireland can’t afford to gloat

previous day 8

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Beware the phoney, flaccid consensus on events such as Storm Éowyn or Covid

05.02.2025 9

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Musk-Trump effect has the capacity to destabilise Irish democracy

I imagine that many people in Ireland are quietly hoping that some of the more pessimistic forecasts of what the Trump presidency could mean for...

08.01.2025 10

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland in the 1980s was backward, poor and stagnant. Some politicians want to bring us back there

From the beginning of January 1973, Ireland was a member state of the EEC. But for the following decade we were in the throes of despair. By the...

01.01.2025 6

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Israel has accused Irish politicians of anti-Semitism before. It has never been true

It should come as no surprise that the Israeli foreign minister should accuse the Irish Taoiseach of anti-Semitism. After all, the spokesman for...

18.12.2024 30

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Living in rural Ireland shouldn’t be an impossible dream

If you look at large-scale maps of Ireland 100 years ago, you will see little black rectangles representing homes occupied by rural dwellers...

11.12.2024 5

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Where was the ‘parity of esteem’ talk when Fine Gael was riding high in the polls?

A novel feature of the post-election political landscape is that the new government’s life will coincide very closely with the five-year cycle for...

04.12.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

We are heading for an election result replete with uncertainty

In the last few weeks, I have written here about Friday’s election on three occasions. I make no apology for what I have written. The first piece...

27.11.2024 6

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Middle Ireland needs a new government. Independents might provide it

Is there an adult in the room? This is a question that is now being frequently asked among objective observers of the general election campaign...

20.11.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Courting of Labour by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is the worst kind of cynicism

This general election campaign is in real danger of descent into farce. The people of Ireland are not fools. They know that a general election is...

13.11.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

America deserved better than this contest, and so did the world

The fate of the western world lies, as I write, in the hands of American voters, as it has often done before. Or, to be more precise, in the few...

06.11.2024 4

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Having a million EVs by 2030 is an illusion - we cannot even meet existing electricity demand

In certain parts of the midlands with which I am very familiar, local inhabitants are regularly in receipt of outages notices from ESB Networks...

30.10.2024 4

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Sinn Féin’s leaders are not really leaders. They’re more like glove puppets for unseen controllers

In the last few weeks, there has been much publicity concerning internal disputes and disciplinary processes in Sinn Féin. Now that we are in an...

23.10.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Tackling migration requires political courage from EU member states

Germany’s major opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has now taken the position that the right to asylum has been too broadly...

16.10.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Growth of Hamas was not merely observed by Israel’s government, it was actively encouraged

It is natural that the public’s attention should, on the anniversary of the barbarous Hamas attack on Israeli men, women and children, refocus on...

09.10.2024 5

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Sex education cannot be taught on a one-size-fits-all basis

A controversy is brewing over the content of the social personal and health education (SPHE) curriculum and materials intended for use in the...

02.10.2024 4

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Children’s hospital, Metrolink and bike shed are all symptoms of a deep governmental malaise

TDs of all parties and none heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Ceann Comhairle, Sean Ó Fearghaíl, commenced the new Dáil session by...

25.09.2024 4

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Ireland must tackle the ‘pull factors’ that attract asylum applicants

The politics of the European Union are perplexing to say the least. The newly announced commission attracts media attention in much the same way as...

18.09.2024 7

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Housing crisis will not be solved by Sinn Féin or Coalition

In the wake of the €336,000 bike shelter scandal and the €13.8 billion Apple windfall, it is a dangerous time for pre-election promises and...

11.09.2024 2

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

A €336,000 bike shelter is cheap compared with cost of transforming Leinster House library

Like most people, I was pretty shocked by the revelation that a very simple bike shelter on the Leinster lawn side of our parliament had cost the...

04.09.2024 2

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Why is our capacity to deliver infrastructure projects worse now than it was in the 19th century?

Last week, Kevin O’Sullivan wrote here about the risk that Ireland might find itself a victim of heatwaves, droughts and forest fires. Since I...

28.08.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

It’s not fair to call those concerned about uncontrolled immigration ‘far right’

Anyone who thinks that the issue of immigration is going to disappear politically and be eclipsed by other issues such as housing, climate change...

21.08.2024 3

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

A Trump presidency would appease Putin’s wish to dominate eastern Europe

The seriousness of the threat that Donald Trump poses to liberal democracy was re-emphasised in his online “conversation” with Elon Musk late...

14.08.2024 20

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

Is the Metrolink really the best way to provide a rail link to Dublin Airport?

At the end of July the Government published jointly with the Department of Infrastructure of Northern Ireland a document called All-Island...

07.08.2024 10

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell

A Trump presidency will embolden Putin and Netanyahu and present a dreadful danger for the world

So much depends on the outcome of the US presidential election in November. It isn’t just the Ukraine war, the war in Gaza, a possible war with...

31.07.2024 10

The Irish Times

Michael Mcdowell