Why Ireland needs Church-State separation

Thu, Jun 22, 2017

Crisis situations can often lead to unresolved issues being brought to the fore, and while the worst extremes of the financial and political crisis facing Ireland have been temporarily papered over, a host of other issues have reemerged to expose the social, political, and operational contradictions of the State.

Promotion for Kyne, and a return for Cannon, under new Taoiseach Varadkar

Thu, Jun 22, 2017

Seán Kyne has been given a junior ministerial portfolio that takes him across two government departments, while Ciaran Cannon has been rescued from the backbenches, having also been appointed a Minister of State, under new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Eight lessons Irish politicians can learn from the UK election

Thu, Jun 15, 2017

What a dramatic six weeks it has been for anyone closely following political events in Britain. While Insider does not want to be accused of hyperbole, what we have witnessed has been nothing short of a political meltdown for prime minister Theresa May and the Tories.

Ordinary people continue to pay the price for the elites failures

Thu, Jun 01, 2017

So where were you, the historic day the great Seánie Fitzpatrick walked scot-free from court? Coincidentally Insider was in the public gallery of an Irish district court, to see, via video link from prison, an array of petty offenders being further remanded in custody.

Precarious, contingent, flexible, unstable, stressful

Thu, May 25, 2017

Questions of labour, and its conditions, are moving into the centre of the political discussion again, driven by the rise of the so-called 'gig economy' - the notion that the sort of 'side-gig' job, long being used by many to supplement regular incomes, might instead become a mainstay of the economy.

Galway - welcome to Varadkar country

Thu, May 25, 2017

Hildegarde Naughton has set her face against the prevailing blue wind by pledging support to Housing Minister Simon Coveney in the Fine Gael leadership battle, but it is an isolated stance as Galway is overwhelmingly Leo Varadkar country.

Farrell, Cubbard, Keane - the coming generation?

Thu, May 11, 2017

THE LATE Bobby Molloy clocked in an astonishing 37 years as TD for Galway West, being first elected in 1965, and eventually standing down in 2002. The only other TD to yet come close to that tally is Fianna Fáil's Éamon Ó Cuív who celebrates 25 years in Dáil Éireann this year.

FF comeback continues as survey shows no recovery for Labour

Thu, May 11, 2017

A survey conducted by Ipsos/MRBI for the Galway Advertiser in County Galway, including Galway city, shows the Labour party struggling to recover from its disappointing showing in the 2016 General Election. The survey was conducted in late March and early April 2017.

Will the UK election be anything other than a Tory landslide?

Thu, May 04, 2017

Last weekend, Insider enjoyed various documentaries and interviews commemorating the 20th anniversary of one of the most extraordinary nights in political history - Labour’s landslide win in the 1997 UK general election. Now, two decades on, as the UK electorate goes to the polls again Insider sees some interesting parallels with 1997.

Ruth Coppinger to address Galway launch of Solidarity

Thu, May 04, 2017

The official launch meeting of Solidarity - formerly known as the Anti-Austerity Alliance - takes place this evening at 8pm in the Western Hotel, Prospect Hill, with eh main speaker being Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger.

Why the housing crisis is engineered, not accidental

Thu, Apr 27, 2017

Back in February, when the Dáil debated the hospital waiting list scandal, Fine Gael Galway West TD Hildegard Naughton fired out a press release detailing another outrageous statistic about UHG’s A&E Department - as if it had nothing to do with her party.

New ideas needed to tackle city's traffic problems - and time is running out

Thu, Apr 20, 2017

Insider read recently how the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, was calling for public submissions to advise him on how to spend the extra €2.65 billion available to him on infrastructure in this year's Mid-Term Review.

Who will run and who might win Galway West at the next election?

Thu, Apr 20, 2017

Theresa May's decision to call a snap election in Britain - following numerous pledges that she would do no such thing - took political watchers by surprise this week, especially here in Ireland where there has been an ongoing, daily, assumption that our current Government will fall any day now.

Stop blaming Brussels for our own failures

Thu, Apr 13, 2017

The rise of the alt.right across Europe, the election of Donald J Trump as US president, Britain triggering Article 50 and Brexit really getting under way - all of which must be particularly exciting from Vladimir Putin’s perspective - has led Insider to ask, what really is the case with the European Union and Ireland?

Voters get what they deserve

Thu, Apr 06, 2017

For the first time in Insider’s memory, most of his non-political friends are uncertain of who they will vote for in the next General Election. Of course, some are certain who they will not vote for, but a clear majority are undecided and Insider has never seen such disillusionment.

Challenges and opportunities for Ireland's four main parties

Thu, Mar 30, 2017

This time last year Irish politics was in a state of paralysis; the most inconclusive general election result in the State’s history was followed by 10 weeks of protracted negotiations to form a government. One year on, and with a sense the next electoral test may not be far away, Insider has been considering the shape the various parties find themselves in and their battle plans both locally and nationally.

Alternative facts, fake news, and plain old lies

Thu, Mar 09, 2017

We have certainly been spoilt for choice when it comes to aphorisms that sum up the challenges for contemporary politics, particularly when it comes to the role of the media.

The year will not pass without a general election

Thu, Mar 02, 2017

The air in political circles is dense with anxiety these days. Having been pulled back from the brink of a cliff edge which was heading straight into the depths of an election nobody wanted, TDs remain cautiously hopeful that more time can be had before facing the electorate.

The centre that is not holding

Thu, Feb 16, 2017

Insider notes with amusement that the past three years have been catastrophic times for what, in the fantastic place that is the mind of the average Irish Times or Guardian journalist, passes for the 'the political centre'.

It's time we talked about a post-capitalist society

Thu, Feb 09, 2017

When Donald Trump was elected on a platform of far-right populism, many thought that, once in office he would soften his cough a good bit, or at least the “checks and balances” of the American political system would go some way to restrict his more madcap proposals.

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