Hi °C | Lo °C James Dempsey: Why Pixar pray that Planes will fly with audiences
At first glance it almost looks like a sketch thought up by The Onion or Saturday Night Live, but make no mistake, Planes is no parody.
Kim Bielenberg: Irish politicians more than a match for Obama when it comes to comedy routines
It is not normally the job of a statesman, but President Obama showed promise as a funny man when he had them rolling in the aisles at the recent White House Correspondents’ dinner.
Lawrence Summers: The lessons of Reinhart-Rogoff
THE economics commentariat and no small part of the political debate in recent weeks has been consumed with the controversy surrounding the work of my Harvard colleagues (and friends) Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff (RR).
Seamus Coffey: Ireland is not in a position to move to zero austerity
THE economic debate of the recent weeks has centred around arguments that “austerity isn’t working” or claims that “austerity is over”.
Kim Bielenberg: It’s a moral panic – kids go mad with the iPad
Another new technology comes along and as sure as night follows day we have a moral panic about what it is doing to our children.
Barry Duggan: Siege of Montpellier kicks off with red army invasion
The Munster siege of Montpellier is underway with red army supporters invading from all possible routes.
Jorgo Riss: The European energy battle comes to town
DUBLIN is today the setting for a decisive round in the fight to clean up Europe’s energy system.
Mary Kenny: The template of the male-female bond is deeply embedded: just look at stereotypes in children's books
I was walking along with my younger granddaughter, Eleanor, and trying to teach her about city traffic.
Kim Bielenberg: Portly Cabrera and his gym-free lifestyle are an inspiration to many
He may have been the narrow loser in the Masters play-off, but we should all raise a glass to Angel Cabrera.
James Dempsey: €120m Oblivion just a reheated mish-mash of every sci-fi cliché in the book
AFTER seeing the science fiction film that brought Tom Cruise face to face with the Tánaiste and Tubridy last week, you may be left wondering one thing – just how oblivious do the makers of Oblivion think that their audience actually is?
Maurice Hayes: No questioning Thatcher's place as a major figure in British Politics
She broke many moulds – not only in being the first woman Prime Minister – and might well have been better remembered had she had the grace to step down after two terms rather than having to be pushed in a Cabinet coup half-way through the third.
Alan McQuaid: Better late than never to admit austerity was wrong
Ashoka Mody, former IMF chief of Mission to Ireland, has admitted that austerity alone as a way of solving the country’s economic crisis was a mistake and is counter-productive.
Mary Kenny: A woman leader has to learn to impose her voice on the male cacophony of parliament
One of the more instructive aspects of the late Margaret Thatcher's career – as a politician and a public figure – involved the changes and development of her voice.
Ailish O’Hora: Korea’s DMZ was an intimidating place in 2004, it must be tense as hell now
THE Demilitarised Zone, which separates North and South Korea, was an intimidating place back in 2004, but it must be tense as hell at the moment.
Can we please stop using the term 'working mother' to mean mothers with jobs – all mums work
Working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers: that's a line of debate frequently aired in the public realm.
Ailish O’Hora: Troika says we’ll just have to suck it up
THERE’S no going back now. The latest report from the Troika on Ireland’s progress under the EU/IMF/ECB bailout programme says stick with it – and that’s just what we will have to do.
Kim Bielenberg: Fine Gael opponents of threesomes will have to roll over
In these cold late Spring days there is no doubt that the Fine Gael TD Michelle Mulherin has warmed the cockles with her concerns about threesomes.
Alan McQuaid: Positive surprises may come from domestic economy as recovery continues
RECENT economic data from the Central Statistics Office show that Ireland was one of the best performing countries in the Eurozone last year, continuing a gradual recovery from its financial crisis, though activity tailed off in the second half of 2012 as merchandise exports stalled.
Kate Rowan: What makes a rugby player the flavour of the week?
IMAGINE over 80,000 fans in Croke Park cheering on Ireland at home in the Rugby World Cup in 2027 or even sooner in 2023.
Tom Heneghan: Every day Pope Francis shows more contrasts with predecessor Benedict
WITH every day Pope Francis reigns, his style reveals more contrasts with his predecessor Benedict in ways that amount to an unspoken criticism of how the retired pontiff conducted his papacy.
Kate Rowan: Wales and Ireland - a total eclipse of rugby hearts
IN THE shade of the home of Irish rugby, the Aviva Stadium, there is a billboard encouraging passers by to “Visit Wales” with the tagline “Wales – love our coast”.
Kim Bielenberg: Come on One Direction – tea bags and milk? You should be more demanding
When it comes to pop star excess One Direction are something of a disappointment with their request for tea bags, milk and a kettle before their Irish concerts.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Brave Ireland is poster-child of EMU cruelty and folly
IT has endured a fiscal squeeze of 16pc of GDP. It has stabilised the colossal debts left from taking on the gambling losses of Anglo Irish Bank at EU behest, that is to say from shielding German, British, Dutch and Belgian lenders from systemic contagion at a critical moment.
Kim Bielenberg: Why the Breaking Bad generation won’t pay Rabbitte’s broadcast charge
It should be called the Breaking Bad levy. Pat Rabbitte wants to put a broadcast charge on every household in the country even if they don’t have a TV set.
Robert Fisk: The West has never understood Syria so we’re unlikely to start now
IN Syria these days, we are resorting to our racist little maps. The Alawite mountains and the town of Qardaha, home of the Assad family – colour it dark red.
James Dempsey: Age may triumph over youth as Jennifer Lawrence bids for Oscar glory
In a year that has stirred the now expected controversy, with omissions and inclusions that have turned heads, there’s some certainty heading into this Sunday’s 85th Academy Awards’ ceremony – Daniel Day Lewis, Anne Hathaway and Argo.
Kate Rowan: Tales of the unexpected just keep coming in Ireland’s Six Nations
THE fan’s face was ashen. He looked thoroughly shaken as he muttered, “I didn’t see that coming.”
Geoffrey Macnab: The madness of Daniel Day-Lewis – a unique Method that has led to a deserved third Oscar
To call Daniel Day-Lewis a “method actor” is to understate the case. Day-Lewis, who has just won his third Best Actor Oscar for Lincoln, uses very mystical language to describe his craft.
Steve Scherer: Berlusconi comeback revives nightmare for country’s centre-left
SILVIO Berlusconi’s remarkable fightback ahead of Italy's election has revived a recurring nightmare for the country's centre-left - that they can throw away a commanding lead in the final days before the weekend vote.
Lise Hand: Standing ovation for President Higgins after UNESCO speech
President gets a rapturous reception for speech at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris today.
Kim Bielenberg: Work out your property tax by how far you live from Bono
WHEN it comes to working out how much we should pay in property tax there is no end to the Revenue’s snooping capabilities.
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