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John Downing Opinion German election starts post-Merkel era with uncertainty for Von der Leyen

By one measure – getting agreement on record EU funding for a Covid-19 recovery – Ursula von der Leyen is a very successful head of the European Commission.

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John Downing Opinion McGrath could do worse than look back on McCreevy case

Michael McGrath – the man in that perilous Covid bonus gap of danger – could do worse than revisit what happened to a predecessor, Charlie McCreevy, in December 1999.

Donnelly plan for free contraceptives for women is in question

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is still battling to ensure funding for free contraceptive distribution to women is made available in the Budget.

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John Downing Opinion Biden’s ‘red card’ to Johnson lifts hopes of a Brexit fix for Northern Ireland

They both wore black anti-Covid masks, dark suits and pink ties, but there the similarity between US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Boris Johnson ended.

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Back to the future as every party focuses on winning silver voters next time out

Something of the legacy of “Óiche na Gaoithe Móire” stays with us when it comes to talking about the old age pension right up to today.

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John Downing Opinion Time to lift the lid on Brigadier Kitson’s ruthless and dirty war in 1970s North

That relentless battler against sectarianism in the North, the late Paddy Devlin, once commented that Frank Kitson “probably did more than any other individual to sour relations between the Catholic community and the security forces”.

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John Downing Opinion After 16 years, ‘Mammy Merkel’ primed to be replaced by a colourful coalition

Ireland did once have a rainbow coalition, but apart from that, party colours do not feature very highly in Irish people’s political perceptions. With our continental neighbours, it is entirely the opposite. The German federal elections, which take place tomorrow week, are a very clear example.

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John Downing Opinion Cabinet secrecy clashes with Dáil responsibility amid moral clamourings

If you’re not utterly confused by now, you don’t understand what is going on.

Simon Harris ‘seriously considering’ complaint to Dáil disciplinary committee over leak claim

HIGHER Education Minister Simon Harris has denied leaking the appointment of Katherine Zappone as a UN envoy from Cabinet and said he is “very seriously” considering a complaint to the Dáil’s disciplinary committee.

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John Downing Opinion MacSharry the icing on the Sinn Féin cake for party that was always going to make hay

Sinn Féin was always bound to collect a dividend from its beaten docket of a confidence vote on the fate of Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

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Marc MacSharry Profile: Long-time rebel whose exit will cause maximum harm to Coalition

Marc MacSharry’s Fianna Fáil exit has been on the cards for some time – the only real question was when.

Simon Coveney’s deletion of texts about Zappone UN job ‘stinks to high heaven’ – Mary Lou McDonald tells Dáil

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney breached the law by deleting texts in relation to the failed appointment of Katherine Zappone as a UN envoy, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has told the Dáil.

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John Downing Opinion Merriongate? There are debts to pay and a new Budget to prepare

Some time after tea tonight, and with little credit to their own political skills, the Government and Simon Coveney will hope to draw a line under the Katherine Zappone story.

John Downing Opinion Some good Brexit news eases fears for the Irish food sector

Boris Johnson’s government will delay checks on EU goods entering the UK until mid-2022, but UK goods going into the EU will be fully checked.

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John Downing Opinion That’s Bass: the intertwined history of a pale ale, politics, boycotts and Brexit

After 50 years of tippling Bass Pale Ale, Bertie Ahern finds it’s no longer on sale in these parts due to Brexit. This is a curious footnote to a long intertwining of the three-times Taoiseach’s favourite tipple with Ireland’s sometimes troubled political history.

Labour TD Bacik apologises for attending controversial Merrion-gate dinner party

New Labour TD, Ivana Bacik, has apologised for attending a controversial dinner party in the Merrion Hotel hosted by former Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone.

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Varadkar’s tax plans to win back votes risk new Fianna Fáil row

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s move to win back middle class voters with pledges on welfare, tax and pensions, also risks further stoking the anger of Fianna Fáil backbenchers.

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John Downing Opinion Coalition leaders will welcome the return to ‘normal politics’ – and the same old disputes

Positives are scarce on Mondays – but let’s try some good news for the embattled Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

High-speed lines on agenda as Greens set out vision for future of rail services

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan will use his party’s think-in today to outline his vision for the future of rail services across the island of Ireland – including the possibility of passengers travelling from Cork to Donegal by high-speed rail.

Government officials reject new claims that tourism bodies warned Zappone’s party was against rules

Government officials from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have rejected renewed suggestions that both the Department of Tourism and the tourism authority, Fáilte Ireland, had warned that a party hosted by Katherine Zappone was not allowed under Covid-19 guidelines.

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Seven ages of Bertie: from popular hero to political zero and now towards being the ‘public wise one’

With apologies to William Shakespeare, and a tip of the hat to his As You Like It, herewith Bertie Ahern’s political life in seven ages as he celebrates his 70th birthday tomorrow.

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Bertie Ahern at 70: ‘Fianna Fáil is in a very bad state. We are not the well-organised, clear-thinking party we were’

More than a decade after he was forced to quit the party he led for 14 years and served since boyhood, Bertie Ahern insists he still keeps in close contact with most Fianna Fáil TDs and senators. As we spoke ahead of his 70th birthday tomorrow, he admitted frankly to personal distress at the party’s current position.

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John Downing Opinion Michel Barnier puts Gallic cat among EU’s pigeons as he bids to be next French president

For several years now, the patrician figure and distinctive voice of Michel Barnier have been better known in Ireland than in his native France. That is rapidly changing as the man who was Mr Brexit for four years is now bidding to be the next French president.

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John Downing Opinion As Jeffrey Donaldson issues threat over power sharing, DUP leader takes care not to shut door on Brexit deal

NO SURPRISE that the Democratic Unionist Party leader chose the day the EU’s key Brexit person was in town to issue his latest big threat: collapsing power sharing if the North’s special trade status is not changed in a big way.

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John Downing Opinion There could be Fianna Fáil positives in Zappone fiasco

Micheál Martin will today reflect that he has attended happier Fianna Fáil gatherings as he arrives in Cavan for two days of party discussions.

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John Downing Opinion Sum of small problems in Zappone row has added up to a whole heap of trouble for coalition trio

I was packing my bucket and spade when this one first landed at the tail end of July.

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John Downing Opinion Wheels of EU justice turn slowly, robbing many of a whole lifetime of working rights

One very raw day back in February 1999, I went to Kitty O’Shea’s Bar in Brussels to interview Longford-born Henry Rodgers about a three-year-old labour dispute he and other university teachers were locked in with the Italian authorities.

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Leo Varadkar holds talks with unlikely techno dancer Michael Gove in London after ‘Mighty Hoopla-gate’

SEEKING respite from the ‘Mighty Hoopla-gate’ backlash, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar met an even more unlikely party reveller, UK cabinet minister Michael Gove, in London for trade talks today.

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John Downing Opinion Donncha Ó Dúlaing – the ‘grandfather of RTÉ radio’ and voice of many generations

He was long ago affectionately dubbed the “grandfather of RTÉ radio” and, throughout a 51-year broadcasting career, his distinctive lilting north Cork voice was a calling card instantly recognised by generations of listeners.

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John Downing Opinion Party ‘think-ins’ are back as simmering Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rows threaten to boil over

For many people September is about contracting evening light, dread at returning to school, or perhaps more happily, fluking an All Ireland ticket or even taking a spin to Listowel for the races.