Month: October 2018

Houses as Cars and the State of Dublin Planning

If you want to sell a car in the European Union, your offering has to meet quite a lot of very specific standards. For example, Commission Regulation 1008/2010, a six-thousand-word epic: “… concerning type-approval requirements for windscreen wiper and washer...

/ 31/10/2018

Blasphemy is Gone, Now Let’s Put Free Speech in Our Constitution

Although the repeal of blasphemy has passed, it is important to make the case why this is actually a good thing for the Right in Ireland. Instead of another blow to old ways and tradition, the Right should be looking...

/ 30/10/2018

Brazil’s Bolsonaro is Not a Threat to Democracy, He is a Threat to the Left’s Fake Democracy

“Power is like a violin, you take it with the left and you play it with the right.” This phrase  defines the decades old mix of socialist populism and crony capitalism behind Brazil's brand of democracy that is about to...

/ 28/10/2018

Love Éire, Keep Blasphemy, Vote No – But Not For Why You Think

Ireland is changing. Ireland is changing from what used to be a nation of small, rural communities into something akin to a satellite nation of the United States and the greater anglosphere, with all the trinkets and trappings of American...

/ 24/10/2018

Why Jordan Peterson is Wrong

With Professor Peterson’s recent return to Dublin, we’re given an opportunity to re-examine some of the ideas he put forth during his last visit. The Peterson/Harris debate on the 14th of July cost me roughly €70. Not a small sum...

/ 23/10/2018

Why Didn’t the Irish Rebel? Explaining Post-Crash Inertia

The question of how the Irish elite avoided being overthrown, if not publicly hanged, in the aftermath of the Great Recession must surreptitiously linger in the minds of those in the corridors of power to this day. Despite the recent...

/ 22/10/2018

Freedom of Speech is Not Just a Human Right – it’s a Human Necessity

For most of history saying something that contradicted those in power was a crime, in many cases punishable by death. Gradually people realised, we’re not truly free unless we can speak our mind, decide the words we use, and criticise...

/ 21/10/2018

Faith Goldy’s Campaign for Toronto Mayor – An Exercise in Media Power

Faith Goldy, a Canadian political commentator formerly with Rebel Media, is a contender in the election for Mayor of Toronto, to be held this Monday. She’s running an above-board and professional campaign, her message seems fairly solid, and her campaign’s...

/ 20/10/2018

Simon’s Game Plan is Beyond Cynical: Make it Stop!

Simon Harris looks and acts like a man with a plan. It is not a nice plan. In fact, it is a deeply cynical plan. But the signs are that Harris’s plan is working, at least for now, and at...

/ 19/10/2018

Language, Spin and Irish Politics

“It seems that our public life is now to be dominated by spin and that plain speaking is elided in favour of meaningless public relations speak.” - Mr. Justice Peter Charleton In his latest report on the Disclosures Tribunal, Mr....

/ 17/10/2018