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Gene Kerrigan Opinion But what else did Des O’Malley say?

If you want to understand Des O’Malley, read his revered speech — the one with the “I stand by the Republic” soundbite.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Bitter and angry Fianna Fáil are now a laughing stock

When someone is in the kind of trouble Fianna Fáil is in, the decent thing to do is to offer a kind word, an encouraging gesture. But, no — we owe that party nothing.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion ​​​​​On the trail of the long black coat

It has been a long time since I sat in Cork Circuit Court, where Ian Bailey was suing eight newspapers. I remember glancing across the room, thinking how odd it was that we were all sitting so calm, so civilised, with Bailey — a man who committed a terrible murder — right in the midst of us.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion I’m tired of it. Not Covid-19 – a grim fact of life – but the political performances that accompany each wave

Here we go again — into the fourth wave. Frankly, I’m tired of it.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Sister, any chance of a bit of oul land for d’oul hospital? 

The major parties — Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael — have historically been meek and ineffectual in dealing with both the Catholic Church and An Garda Síochána. And now, in planning a new National Maternity Hospital, the government parties have become farcically entangled with the church.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Ranks of the rich back to putting on the poor mouth

Do you remember what it felt like, in the spring of 2020, during that initial lockdown as the first wave of Covid rushed towards us?

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Varadkar’s politics of fear and insults

You will not be at all surprised to hear that last week, Mr Varadkar became angry with Sinn Féin. Mr V spends more time getting angry with Sinn Féin than the rest of us spend on eating, drinking and worrying about global pandemics.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Welcome to the Jim and James bit-players show

There’s Jim and there’s James. They’re both barristers. And they’re both involved in the current by-election in Dublin Bay South. They are minor figures on the political landscape, no better or worse than dozens of their like. Currently, they’re being crudely packaged and sold to us as major players, with crucial roles to play in political life.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Fake shock and anger on housing

The governing politicians had a problem last week — they had to look like they were angry, and they had to act like they were angry, but they had to ensure that nothing much changed. Well done, lads.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion The penny is finally dropping for the Profits before People alliance

There was a time when the Irish had no problem with building stuff. We were so good at it that we sent generations of our offspring to help the British and the Americans build their cities. Now we have a crisis — we haven’t enough dwellings for our people to lay down their heads in at the end of the day.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Data harvesting: Is it worse when Sinn Féin do it?

What is Sinn Féin up to with its computerised voter database? I think I know, and I don’t like it. Perhaps this frank quote from an activist will help:

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Lads, it’s time you got the message – the Fianna Fáil party is over

This is embarrassing. For the past 10 years, the Irish people have been sending the same message to Fianna Fáil. And the party keeps pretending not to hear what the voters are saying.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion RTÉ reporting has had a revamp – would you like some panache with that crisis?

We need to talk about RTÉ news and current affairs. There’s something odd going on out there. And, no, this is not one of those complaints about how everyone in RTÉ is an overpaid Leo Varadkar fan.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Beware the fourth wave - aka the Fine Gael variant

Micheál Martin says we're in the "final stretch" of this pandemic. I don't know if that's true (neither does he), but it might well be. Certainly, the next couple of weeks are dangerous, with a possible fourth wave about to hit.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion A quiet phone call is all it takes in this great little nation

These days, they're coming in threes, the revelations about how things work in this great little nation.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Leaky Leo pulls a sneaky, but who cares?

Does anyone remember when Fine Gael was the "law-and-order party"? In those days, the party's ard fheis was awash with scowling people who emerged from the womb demanding tougher laws, longer sentences and the imposition of martial law on Dublin's northside.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion The colour of greed is pure shamrock green

We'll call him George, though he has never gone by that name. He had troubles long before he ever became a client of J&E Davy Stockbrokers.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Dead Horse guy has nothing on Davy mob

Early last week, I was pretty angry about the photo of that eejit sitting on the dead horse. Horsey people kept saying what matters is how Gordon Elliott's behaviour gives the racing business a bad name. That is not what matters.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion We can't start dancing on thin ice now

Things are on edge, right now. And there's trouble ahead: two separate but related kinds of trouble.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Propaganda? No thanks. We're exhausted

Three things will decide how this goes, and right now two of them are in rag order.

Gene Kerrigan Opinion Image merchants don't cut it in a pandemic

Are you totally confident that the Martin/Varadkar Government knows how to deal with the pandemic crisis?

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Moaning Mick full of dangerous hot air

In our hour of trouble, must we still put up with the insipid buffoonery of Michael O'Leary, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Whinge?

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Lockdown hokey-pokey needs a shake-up

The EU behaved stupidly on Friday. The vaccine distribution is a mess. Political leadership on both parts of this island and farther afield has been weak.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion No room for game-playing in context of Covid

The Government got a slagging for dropping its three-day school opening plan for Leaving Cert students.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Dangerous missteps on the Walk of Doom

Taoiseach Micheál Martin did the Walk of Doom again last week. That's the little drama they stage these days when he wants to impress us with the calm authority he brings to the task of fighting Covid.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Nphet is fallible, but it's the best tool we have

Suddenly, everything has changed. We'd become used to assuming that if the majority of us remained careful we might thwart the virus.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion No bailing Martin out of FF's denial of reality

Some people were a little confused by the behaviour last week of the Taoiseach Micheál Martin. And no one seemed more confused than Mr Martin himself.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Taken to the cleaners by the People Who Matter

It's raining money. All some people have to do is stand still and watch the waves of money approach.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion No magic involved, just money and science

There are people writing tabloid headlines telling us the "magic jab" is coming to save us from Covid-19 and restore normality.

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Gene Kerrigan Opinion The truth, the Woulfe truth, and nothing but

The truth is in the transcript of what was said in the Dáil on Thursday - and what was not said.