Ireland’s liberal centre conceals something darker
Who will represent the country’s fragmented edges?
ByIreland
Intermezzo’s God complex
Religion has made Sally Rooney boring.
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Sally Rooney: “We’re trapped in a cultural moment”
The author of Intermezzo talks to Fintan O’Toole about living with patriarchy, writing good sex, and the post-religious world.
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The parallels between riots in the UK and Ireland are alarming
Since last November’s violence in Dublin, the country’s temperature has changed entirely.
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Edna O’Brien was the last great Irish iconoclast
Great Irish literature is defined by dissent. So why do so many writers uphold the status quo?
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Ireland can’t blame its anti-immigrant problem on Rishi Sunak
The sudden arrival of European-style populism in Irish politics is the result of 13 years of government complacency.
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Ireland’s threat to send back migrants is helpful for Rishi Sunak
The Prime Minister can argue that the Rwanda plan is having a deterrent effect.
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Ireland’s progressive centre cannot hold
As Leo Varadkar steps down as Taoiseach, voters are turning away from the Republic’s mainstream liberal consensus.
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Anna Burns’s Milkman and the politics of hatred
Her Belfast-set novel upended my understanding of the Catholic Church and its history of prejudice.
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Anti-migrant protests are tearing Ireland apart
As hostility towards foreigners rises, the feted land of a thousand welcomes has slowly become an unhappy isle.
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Maggie Smith steals the show in The Miracle Club
The 88-year-old actress is a delight in this Irish film – conveying so much humour, and contempt.
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The Policy Ask with Michael Houlihan: “The skills gap is very real, very big and threatens to hold the economy back”
The CEO of the employment charity Generation UK&I on social mobility, empathy and why we need an “aggressive” fossil fuel…
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Ireland booms while Brexit Britain whimpers next door
While Joe Biden visits Ireland, Brexiteers said their closest EU neighbour would be “doomed” – now it’s set to be…
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The real reason Joe Biden is accused of being anti-British
It is easier for some to see the US president’s visit as a snub to the UK than accept it…
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Will Joe Biden’s Northern Ireland visit achieve anything?
The president is looking to reaffirm US influence on the island.
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From the NS archive: Ulster’s heart-stopping moment
3 April 1998: Peace talks are reaching a conclusion, but can nationalist and unionist leaders persuade their supporters to accept…
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From the NS archive: Still on the edge of terror
22 May 1998: Irish republicans have at last accepted partition. That is the true meaning of the Good Friday agreement.…
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Colum Eastwood: “We’re on the road to a united Ireland – and that’s going to be unstoppable”
The leader of Northern Ireland’s nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party on Brexit, power-sharing and updating the Good Friday Agreement.
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The Mark Fisher generation
In 2009 Capitalist Realism sought to upend the status quo. As political paralysis returns, its message is as urgent as…
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Mary Lou McDonald: behind the respectable face of Sinn Féin
A new biography charts the rapid political rise – and moral compromises – of Sinn Féin’s leader.
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