Opinion

Friday 16 November 2018

(L to R) Chair of the gender equality task force Marie O'Connor, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister of State with special responsibility for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O'Connor beside a statue of the 'Fearless Girl' during the launch of the Gender Action Plan 2018-2020: Accelerating Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins

Michael Kelly: 'Who wants a job based solely on gender? The glass ceiling has to end but talent must be the deciding factor'

Ronald Reagan used to joke that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." University leaders in Ireland will soon have their own form of 'help' in filling vacancies with the news that the Government is to insist...

Corbyn needs to keep the focus on the crumbling government and the prospects of an early election. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Comment

Thomas Harris: 'If he plays a clever game for early election, Corbyn could soon have the keys to No10'

Jeremy Corbyn's quickest route to Downing Street is an early election, not a second referendum. It's a frustrating time to be a Labour MP. When is it not, you may respond. But as the British government gives every appearance of...

Handout image issued by John Lewis & Partners of their 2018 Christmas advert, The Boy & The Piano, which stars Sir Elton John and his first hit Your Song. Photo: John Lewis & Partners/PA Wire

Comment

Rachel Dugan: 'John Lewis ad a cracker - if you're Elton'

Maybe it was Brexit. Maybe it was its recent sales slump. Or perhaps a commercially minded Grinch has taken over the John Lewis marketing department. Whatever the reason, the UK retailer has replaced its annual feel-good festive television ad with an Elton John music video.

Handshake: Arlene Foster greets Simon Coveney at the Ireland-Northern Ireland friendly. Picture: PA

Comment

Kevin Doyle: 'Brexit 'the new climate change' - the solution is obvious, but too difficult'

Brexit is one of those words you wish you never heard. It's an awful idea. A snake that is slowly trying to choke the life out of us.

A protestor who was blocking the road is removed by police outside the Houses of Parliament. Photo: Nick Ansell/PA

Comment

David Chance: 'A hard exit now looks the most likely outcome - and it'll deliver a cruel sucker punch to these sectors of Irish economy'

Come March 29, it could...

British Prime Minister Theresa May holds a press conference at 10 Downing Street, London, to discuss her Brexit plans. Photo: Matt Dunham/PA Wire

Editorial

Editorial: 'Wrecking ball has hit home as support crumbles for May'

Theresa May would not have found herself on the menu had she heeded the advice of Mrs Beeton to "first catch the rabbit" before presuming to present the bill of fare.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Comment

Tony Blair: 'Deal is Brexit in name only - it's the worst of both worlds'

I begin by praising the prime minister. She has striven hard from good intention, with a poor hand; a party divided, disputatious and dogmatic in equal degrees, which then gave her a circle impossible to square: a frictionless border in Ireland, exit of the UK from the European single market and customs union - and...

Feet-first: MPs lined up to denounce the deal without having clapped eyes on it. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Letters

Letters to the Editor: 'Typical of Brexiteers to attack deal without first finding out the detail'

Unbelievable scenes erupted in Westminster on Tuesday evening with MP after MP lining up to speak with the BBC, denouncing the draft text between the EU and the UK as rendering the UK to a state of "vassalage".

Remembrance: ‘The Haunting Soldier’ – depicting a weary World War I soldier – stands six metres high in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. It commemorates the centenary of the ending of the war. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA

Comment

Focussing too much on the past can keep old grievances alive - and reignite dormant conflicts

'Get over it.' 'Move on.' 'Look to the future.'

Gun crime: Tributes to victims of the recent shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Photo: Reuters

Comment

Megan McArdle: 'We've created 'Generation Paranoia' by teaching young everything is a threat'

In an 1827 essay titled 'On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth', English author William Hazlitt noted that "no young man believes he shall ever die . . . to be young is to be as one of the immortal gods". That glorious fearlessness is the...

Reports of bad behaviour - particularly by parents of young people involved in sports - are becoming increasingly common. (Stock image)

Comment

Kathy Donaghy: 'Why pushy parents on sidelines should be shown red card'

Football matches being abandoned, players being struck and fears that games will descend into mass brawls. We're not talking about soccer hooligans on the rampage. We're talking about what's happening on the sidelines of the Dublin and District Schoolboys League (DDSL).

Most Read
Most Shared

The Daily Digest

Don't Miss

Creative mind: Stan Lee – who devised the original Marvel Universe – was invited to leave his mark on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2011. Photo: AFP/Getty

Michael Kelly: 'Who wants a job based solely on gender? The glass ceiling has to end but talent must be the deciding factor'

Thomas Harris: 'If he plays a clever game for early election, Corbyn could soon have the keys to No10'

Rachel Dugan: 'John Lewis ad a cracker - if you're Elton'

Kevin Doyle: 'Brexit 'the new climate change' - the solution is obvious, but too difficult'

David Chance: 'A hard exit now looks the most likely outcome - and it'll deliver a cruel sucker punch to these sectors of Irish economy'

Editorial: 'Wrecking ball has hit home as support crumbles for May'

Tony Blair: 'Deal is Brexit in name only - it's the worst of both worlds'

Letters to the Editor: 'Typical of Brexiteers to attack deal without first finding out the detail'

Focussing too much on the past can keep old grievances alive - and reignite dormant conflicts

Megan McArdle: 'We've created 'Generation Paranoia' by teaching young everything is a threat'

Kathy Donaghy: 'Why pushy parents on sidelines should be shown red card'

Kevin Doyle: 'Brexit 'the new climate change' - the solution is obvious, but too... Comment

David Chance: 'A hard exit now looks the most likely outcome - and it'll deliver a cruel... Comment

Michael Kelly: 'Who wants a job based solely on gender? The glass ceiling has to end but... Comment

Tony Blair: 'Deal is Brexit in name only - it's the worst of both worlds' Comment

Thomas Harris: 'If he plays a clever game for early election, Corbyn could soon have the... Comment

WATCH: Sainsbury's 2018 Christmas ad sees eight-year-old 'star' give tear-jerking... Entertainment Video

Ewan MacKenna: 'The most important rugby match this weekend... International Rugby

Residents win battle to block Healy-Rae pub plan Courts

Irish shares suffer a hammering after Brexit bedlam engulfs May Brexit

Unpaid farm worker lived in a steel container with no toilet or running water, court hears Courts

The Daily Digest

Don't Miss

Story ends for Marvel creator Stan Lee

Kevin Doyle: 'No 'rabbit in the hat' but this buck stops with Leo'

John Downing: 'Micheál Martin has shown some steel – but he still risks missing the big prize'

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin 1950-2018: Musical giant with a devotion for finding new talent to inspire

Katie Byrne: 'Welcome to the modern office, where talking is out of bounds'

Ian O'Doherty: 'Immigrant 'caravan' heading for the States puts our own illegals under US microscope'

David E. Wade: 'Will midterm elections embolden or undermine President Trump?'

Brendan O'Connor: 'Why does everyone hate me for being calm?'

Exclusive U2 feared they were finished: the inside story of the night Bono lost his voice

'A victor, not a victim' - Karen Leach on how her childhood was shattered by her abusive swim coach

Editor's Choice

Thomas Harris: 'If he plays a clever game for early election, Corbyn could...

Comment

Tony Blair: 'Deal is Brexit in name only - it's the worst of both worlds'

Sirena Bergman: 'Between Melania and May, days of bacon butties on front page are over'

Leslie Ann Horgan: 'Does it really require guts for gorgeous actresses like Margot Robbie to play ugly?'

Malcolm Byrne: 'Amid challenging times, European elections deserve more of our attention'

Paul Melia: 'Debate must be driven by facts - and not fears'

Kevin Doyle: 'Ministers held their breath as UK went into deal meltdown'

John Downing: 'London still key battleground - unless someone in EU has issue'

Bairbre Power: 'How do you work three TV remote controls? Video the cable guy!'

Sinead Ryan: 'Hype on tech still can't stop cows belching'

Fr Vincent Twomey: 'Doctors of conscience must exercise civil disobedience if told to carry out abortions'

Columnists

John Downing: 'Theresa May now faces biggest test yet in getting 'her deal' pushed through'

Dan O'Brien: 'Why Ireland and world is a far less secure place with Trump in power'

John Masterson: It is time for us to talk... face-to-face please

Ian O'Doherty: Apu controversy is another sign of the comedy-police

Eoghan Harris: 'Angela Merkel will be sorely missed by the European Union'

Gene Kerrigan: 'It's time to fight this hideous development'

Ruth Dudley Edwards: 'Mary Lou gets in trouble with Sinn Fein's back-room boys'

Ian O'Doherty: 'Vegan hate mob are latest to play the victim card'

Ian O'Doherty: 'The poppy - a symbol of fascism or just respect for the fallen?'

Mary Kenny: More men from Rathnew volunteered for WWI than from anywhere else

Letters

Letters to the Editor: 'Typical of Brexiteers to attack deal without first finding out the detail'

Letters to the Editor: 'In remembrance of our young men whose treatment was truly shameful'

Letters to the Editor: 'The dead of the Great War should be enough to inspire peace on our island'

Letters to the Editor: 'Europe needs to stand strong as US isolationism threatens our security'

Letters to the Editor: 'A miracle of Catholic faith in 1916 - and why truth cannot be changed'

Letters to the Editor: I too refused to wear a poppy as it’s been hijacked for a political agenda

Letters to the Editor: 'Labour needs to ask for forgiveness for the pain it pushed on to its voters'

Letters to the Editor: 'There is another world out there in our country, and it’s one that I salute'

Letters to the Editor: 'Repeating the mistakes of 2008'

Casey was the real winner in an election that was biased by media and disrespected by parties

Editorial

Editorial: 'Wrecking ball has hit home as support crumbles for May'

Editorial: 'All sides need to be on board to lift Brexit curse'

Editorial: 'We need positive action to smash the glass ceiling'

Editorial: 'Signs that hope and history can sometimes rhyme'

Editorial: 'Giving ground on backstop is a flawed, backward step'

Editorial: 'Paddy likes to know what the story is, Mr Varadkar'

Editorial: 'Suffering is more acute when leaders fail to listen'

Editorial: 'A challenge for high-tech Ireland'

Playing political games over Broadband a reckless tactic

Embracing innovation is key to solve the housing crisis