All posts by Ciaran Brennan

Tavistock’s Irish Legacy

A longstanding bolthole for the Republic’s gender reassignment service, the closure of the specialist Tavistock clinic owing to the findings of an independent review is sure to have an impact on the treatment of Irish children at home. Coming under...

/ 02/08/2022

Will Asylum Crisis Bring Tent Cities to Ireland?

With a fresh standoff between asylum seekers at Harry’s Hotel in Kinnegad over the state’s wish to transport the current occupants to tented accommodation in Clare to make way for Ukranians, the asylum crisis looks set to continue its downward...

/ 28/07/2022

Brazilian Asylum Seeker Forces Extension Precedent in Supreme Court

While eyes have been justifiably fixed on the spiralling disaster that is Irish asylum policy, a ruling Monday at the Supreme Court bodes badly for any future hope of reforming the already busted system. Dealing with the (non) plight of...

/ 21/07/2022

Young Catholics Object to Irish Synod Findings

The ongoing Irish Synod is presenting itself as an opening for liberal lobbies within and without the Church to gain traction for long-envisioned ecclesiastical and catechetical reforms. The Irish wing of a worldwide consultation of the faithful, as well as...

/ 15/07/2022

Hate Speech in Ireland: The Road Ahead

Kicked into the legislative long grass by Charlie Flanagan, rumblings by the Department of Justice this week indicate an intention to finally cut the Gordian knote on viable hate speech legislation this autumn. Specifically mentioned within the Programme for Government...

/ 13/07/2022

Agent Viktor: Does the Irish Visa System Provide an Open Door for Foreign Espionage?

The rumbling of a Russian sleeper spy by Dutch security forces presents some salient questions for the country in light of our infamously lax language school sector. Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov operating under the moniker ‘Viktor Muller Ferreira’ posed as a...

/ 09/07/2022

Kinnegad: Media Attempts to Hush Asylum Disaster in Westmeath

It's been a week of putting out fires for the nation's media-NGO complex grappling with the slow rolling disaster of the new Kinnegad asylum centre and resultant community fallout. In classic departmental form, residents of the 2,700 strong Westmeath town...

/ 08/07/2022

Will Irish Students Lose Out Amid Asylum Surge in September?

Food for thought: The decision yet again to postpone Leaving Cert results this year could possibly mask a government attempt to buy time as the ongoing asylum surge looks set to muscle Irish students from the accommodation market. Ostensibly driven...

/ 04/07/2022

St. Teresa’s: What Led to a Dublin Church Flying the LGBT Flag

Last year The Burkean covered the flying of and the subsequent controversy around the raising of a LGBT flag to mark the month of Pride at a Ballyfermot church. Contravening stipulations allowing only the tricolour and Vatican flag to be...

/ 27/06/2022

Carol Nolan Breaks Dáil Taboo on Immigration

The self regulated omerta on mass migration was broken in the Dáil today with criticisms aired by Independent TD Carol Nolan on unsustainable levels of asylum related inward migration into the state. Finding fault with the government’s failure to provide...

/ 22/06/2022