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100 years of Fianna Fáil: Party must move from analysis to action to survive another century

100 years of Fianna Fáil: Party must move from analysis to action to survive another century

As we reflect on 100 years as a party, I want Fianna Fáil to return to its roots as a political movement, writes Fianna Fáil TD James O'Connor

Margaret E Ward: Technology’s war on women — the new coercive control and confinement

Margaret E Ward: Technology’s war on women — the new coercive control and confinement

Ireland must act on fossil fuel phase-out

Ireland must act on fossil fuel phase-out

Diversity and inclusion policies change lives — including mine

Diversity and inclusion policies change lives — including mine

This is my father and it's the first time we met

This is my father and it's the first time we met

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: People care about losing the natural world — politics must catch up

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: People care about losing the natural world — politics must catch up

Our Independent Advisory Committee on nature restoration found that the Irish public cares deeply about its natural environment and its links to our heritage and culture — people feel the nature-related losses of recent decades acutely

Thu, 30 Apr, 2026

Ireland's small towns growing in population but shrinking in opportunity

Ireland's small towns growing in population but shrinking in opportunity

Independent urban towns are in a different level of social crisis to the rest of the country — unemployment at 5.9%, the highest of any area type, 17% at risk of poverty, and 20% of their households reliant on social welfare

Thu, 30 Apr, 2026

Ireland's small towns 'in trouble' as traditional shops and pubs disappear

Ireland's small towns 'in trouble' as traditional shops and pubs disappear

The latest research from the CSO passed without much notice, but it showed our 'independent' small towns are in big trouble, writes Listowel native Conor Keane

Thu, 30 Apr, 2026

Free travel will help people fleeing abusive homes

Free travel will help people fleeing abusive homes

A survivor of violence who leaves their home is already at a huge disadvantage — access to travel will make things a little bit easier

Thu, 30 Apr, 2026

Mobbing at work - help me sign

Workplace bullying is not rare — and the response is not improving

Awareness of bullying has improved, but understanding hasn’t kept pace. Too often, behaviours are dismissed as 'management style' or 'personality clashes'

Wed, 29 Apr, 2026

Upset depressed young woman lying on couch feeling strong headache

Homeless figures don't count all those without housing

Our definition of homelessness leaves out many single adults who are sleeping in cars, couch-surfing or leaving prison or hospital without a home, writes Dermot Kavanagh of Cork Simon

Wed, 29 Apr, 2026

Politician Addressing Conference

Supports have improved for women in politics but there is more to do

To keep women in local politics, we need to build a sustainable working environment that enables current and future female councillors to participate, lead, influence, and remain in public life

Wed, 29 Apr, 2026

Veterinarian examining German Shepherd Dog

Cost-of-living crisis is impacting how we look after our pets

I’ve become accustomed to seeing good-willed owners forced to surrender their pets or pushed into neglect, due to the sheer unaffordability of veterinary care

Wed, 29 Apr, 2026

Missing dogs tell a different story of greyhound welfare

Missing dogs tell a different story of greyhound welfare

Analysis of the discrepancies in the Greyhound Racing Ireland traceability system, versus its race management system, shows thousands of dogs missing, presumed dead

Tue, 28 Apr, 2026

HBO Harry Potter series

Millennials have a moral obligation to avoid the Harry Potter reboot

It’s time to ditch the nostalgia and extend that empathy to our trans siblings, writes David Monaghan

Tue, 28 Apr, 2026

Sprucing up the truth: Schools should not be a battleground for vested interests

Sprucing up the truth: Schools should not be a battleground for vested interests

As public awareness of the negative impacts of industrial forestry has grown, so too has the sector’s efforts to reshape the narrative with stunts like the deeply misleading booklet given to primary school children

Tue, 28 Apr, 2026

Mick Clifford: Nobody needs to 'lawyer up' to investigate treatment of Limerick gardaí

Mick Clifford: Nobody needs to 'lawyer up' to investigate treatment of Limerick gardaí

Some public inquiries have been very expensive and can take years, but an inquiry into lengthy suspensions and decisions to prosecute some gardaí could be done quickly and without huge cost

Mon, 27 Apr, 2026

Meet the team in Cork helping to make dementia become a more manageable chronic disease

Meet the team in Cork helping to make dementia become a more manageable chronic disease

'Early diagnosis will be commonplace, it will be normalised and early intervention will slow the progression of dementia'

Mon, 27 Apr, 2026

Netflix's "Too Much" UK Special Screening

Colin Sheridan: Has the world finally caught up with Lena Dunham's vision?

Lena Dunham's Girls changed how we watched television. As her new memoir is released, Colin Sheridan asks whether the rest of the world has finally caught up

Mon, 27 Apr, 2026

Workers Preparing for a Construction Task

We need a change in attitude to construction jobs if we are to deliver on housing and infrastructure

Labour shortage in construction-related roles is no longer a blip — it's a structural challenge shaped by multiple factors that urgently need addressing

Mon, 27 Apr, 2026

Rows of books in shelves

Barry Andrews: Big publishers are ripping off our public libraries

Libraries are for everyone. In a noisy and hectic world, they are one of the few quiet places we have left, but the public library model is in danger, writes Barry Andrews

Mon, 27 Apr, 2026

Losing my dad during covid is something I will never get over

Losing my dad during covid is something I will never get over

As the interim findings of the Government-appointed independent review into the covid-19 pandemic response emerge, Darina Clancy recalls the "very particular kind of torture" her father had to endure before his death amid lockdown restrictions.

Sat, 25 Apr, 2026

Tadgh McNally: Fine Gael has good reason to wish Leo Varadkar would just go away

Tadgh McNally: Fine Gael has good reason to wish Leo Varadkar would just go away

With the party's rural TDs still smarting after the fuel protests earlier this month, and the looming by-election in rural Galway-West, the former taoiseach's remarks on rural Ireland have not gone down well

Sat, 25 Apr, 2026

Cyberattack and internet crime, hacking and malware concepts. Digital binary code data numbers and secure lock icons on hacker'

Major changes to espionage laws abroad sparks domestic review

The 1963 Official Secrets Act — enacted before developments in physical spying technologies, the internet, digital spying technologies, cyber espionage — needs to be updated, writes Cormac O'Keeffe

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026

Louise Burne: Back and forth over shed laws shows unease still lodged between coalition parties

Louise Burne: Back and forth over shed laws shows unease still lodged between coalition parties

Now that they are back on the same page, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have to begin defending the modular homes plans as the parliamentary scrutiny begins

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026

Shallow focus of summer flowers seen in a back garden.

Shed laws: New planning rules will cut red tape for homeowners

Exemptions 'will empower people to make minor changes to their homes without planning permission, while creating housing options'

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026

Shed laws: We can't allow the creation of a shadow back garden rental market

Shed laws: We can't allow the creation of a shadow back garden rental market

bad actors will exploit any loophole they are given, and this proposal risks handing them a significant one, writes Labour TD Conor Sheehan

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026

Wooden garden shed in a summer

Small, practical measures can work alongside big ideas on solving housing crisis

The Government's move to allow small, self-contained units in gardens without planning has drawn sharp criticism but Ireland’s housing crisis is too urgent to turn down ideas that could improve people's lives in the here and now

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026

Offshore Wind Farm

Fuel crisis shows Ireland cannot build a secure future on imported energy

Ireland needs to harness its own abundant renewable energy resources as quickly as possible and reduce its exposure to volatile global fossil fuel prices, writes Scott Sutherland, project director of Codling Wind Park

Thu, 23 Apr, 2026

Adi Roche: Forty years have passed but Irish commitment to Chornobyl remains

Adi Roche: Forty years have passed but Irish commitment to Chornobyl remains

The disaster sparked four decades of compassion, resilience, and radical kindness demonstrating the remarkable spirit of human solidarity

Thu, 23 Apr, 2026

Singing together can help build community in divisive times

Singing together can help build community in divisive times

Singers have always known that singing is not just an art form, but something that contributes to public health and community connection, writes Peter Stobart, director at the Cork International Choral Festival

Thu, 23 Apr, 2026

Woman with red manicure holding blister with contraceptive hormonal pills in her hands closeup

Contraception is free, but it's not reaching everyone who needs it

Migrant, Traveller, and disabled women, along with older women and members of the LGBT+ community, face significant barriers accessing the scheme, new research shows

Wed, 22 Apr, 2026

Seán Kelly: Viktor Orbán's loss is the EU's opportunity for a bold move on foreign policy

Seán Kelly: Viktor Orbán's loss is the EU's opportunity for a bold move on foreign policy

We need a strong EU, capable of acting swiftly, decisively and in the interests of the vast majority of its member states, writes Seán Kelly, MEP for Ireland South

Wed, 22 Apr, 2026

Donald Trump

TP O'Mahony: Link between religion and politics in the US is unique in the West

Unlike Europe, the USA remains an intensely religious society

Wed, 22 Apr, 2026

Online abuse of politicians is a profitable business

Online abuse of politicians is a profitable business

Senator Eileen Flynn's comments on far-right use of the tricolour have made her a lightning rod for online abuse — because viral hatred is highly profitable

Tue, 21 Apr, 2026

Power must be held accountable even in moments of pressure

Power must be held accountable even in moments of pressure

Political signalling, shifts in language, and the gradual stretching of institutional norms all erode democracy

Tue, 21 Apr, 2026

Multiethnic doctors conversation African American therapist and Caucasian surgeon physician men talking brainstorming diagnosis

Ireland is addicted to contracting away all kinds of State capacity

By treating governance as contract administration, we are letting our sovereignty erode gradually through every decision we outsource, writes Paul Davis

Tue, 21 Apr, 2026

Here are the country's most senior civil servants running Ireland

Here are the country's most senior civil servants running Ireland

As a successor was announced last week to Ireland's best-paid civil servant, we take a look at the people responsible for the day-to-day running of the Government's departments

Mon, 20 Apr, 2026

Cameroon Africa Pope

‘I’m not a politician’: Clash with Pope Leo could prove dangerous for Donald Trump

Asymmetric clash between a president who treats power in transactional terms and a pope who frames war, migration, and human dignity as matters of moral principle

Mon, 20 Apr, 2026

10-year-old Nafez fight malnutrition and brain atrophy as hunger crisis worsens in Gaza

Global food systems are under fire due to a lack of political will

Hunger and famine as a result war is a political problem, therefore diplomacy, conflict prevention, and peace-building are central to any lasting solution

Mon, 20 Apr, 2026

Pride of Ireland awards - Dublin

Philomena's Law: Campaign steps up for UK-based survivors of mother and baby homes

Rosemary Adaser has come out of retirement to support a bill to ensure survivors in Britain are not effectively penalised for redress payments

Sun, 19 Apr, 2026

National Fuel Protest

Are disruptive protests the new political force in Ireland? Fuel blockades expose state vulnerabilities

Fuel blockades reveal a shift towards disruptive, decentralised protest tactics that challenge traditional politics and force faster government engagement

Sat, 18 Apr, 2026

From defiance to departure: 45 hours that changed everything for Michael Healy-Rae

From defiance to departure: 45 hours that changed everything for Michael Healy-Rae

A sudden reversal, internal pressure and local politics combined to trigger a dramatic exit that caught Government off guard

Sat, 18 Apr, 2026

Middle East conflict

Louise Burne: All talk, no takeover — the problem with plotting Micheál Martin’s exit

Renewed unrest within Fianna Fáil highlights growing frustration, but leadership challengers still hesitate to make a decisive move

Sat, 18 Apr, 2026

The tricolour is a powerful symbol of inclusion so let's reclaim it from those who use it to sow division

The tricolour is a powerful symbol of inclusion so let's reclaim it from those who use it to sow division

In recent days, the Irish tricolour has been raised, waved, and worn by individuals and groups who claim to speak for the people, even as they challenge the very democratic processes through which the will of the people is expressed

Sat, 18 Apr, 2026

Young Couple Arguing and Fighting. Domestic Violence Scene of Emotional abuse, Stressed Woman and aggressive Man Having Almost V

Conviction of Scottish man in wife's suicide is a landmark case

Can someone really 'choose' to end their life, when their life is lived under threats and coercion on a daily basis?

Fri, 17 Apr, 2026

Our politics can't cope with TikTok's emotional instancy

Our politics can't cope with TikTok's emotional instancy

Nobody is being deceived about the price of diesel - but the emotional register of this issue was skewed by online platforms

Fri, 17 Apr, 2026

The Mick Clifford Podcast: Is Micheál Martin's leadership in peril?

The Mick Clifford Podcast: Is Micheál Martin's leadership in peril?

Can Micheál Martin hang onto the Fianna Fáil leadership?

Listen | Thu, 16 Apr, 2026

Lithuanian soldiers

Conscription is being reintroduced all over Europe — where is the debate?

Germany has introduced laws assessing young men for military service and preventing them travelling for extended periods without military consent, writes Samuel Rogers

Thu, 16 Apr, 2026

Colleagues shaking hands in business partnership meeting. Business dispute mediation.

Mediation should be the first resort for conflict resolution

Global conflict and disruption is a poison in our lives, making all of us more anxious and stressed. But there is a better way to deal with conflict, writes Róisín O'Shea

Thu, 16 Apr, 2026

National Fuel Protest

Fuel furore shows our systems are more fragile than we think

This uneasy moment demands more of us than simply sharing social media posts — we must think deeply about the systems we want, writes Orla McAndrew

Wed, 15 Apr, 2026

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