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    • Getting it right on integration

      Use of a common language is the most potent tool in facilitating integration within any society. But the Department of Education has struggled to provide adequate facilities, or even school places, for primary school children who do not speak English as a first language. And the provision of adult English language courses for their parents and other immigrant workers has been woefully inadequate. These administrative failings are a recipe for future disaster. p

    • Banning alcohol ads

      The time for prevarication is past. The Government has received a plethora of reports in recent years concerning the social damage being caused by alcohol abuse among young people. But little has been done, apart from banning cut-price drink promotions and modernising the law on the sale of alcohol to under-aged and intoxicated customers. Now, a report from the European Commission confirms that voluntary advertising codes and self-regulation by the drinks industry are not working. p
    Opinion

    • An anomaly that skews the ratio of TDs to voters

      Inside politics: TDs are on tenterhooks waiting for the announcement of the new constituency boundaries later this month. However, there has been little or no comment from any quarter about the constitutional provision that obliges the Constituency Commission to come up with a skewed provision of Dáil seats in proportion to eligible voters, writes Stephen Collins . p

    • Thriving all-island economy is to mutual benefit of us all

      Should Ireland North and South be marketed as a single entity for inward investment, as suggested this week by a prominent Northern Ireland businessman? Two experts in their fields - former IDA chief Padraic White and academic economist Michael Smyth - broadly agree in their reactions p

    • Both economies should be alignedto make them mutually supportive

      Northern Ireland has featured on the front page of this newspaper thousands of times over the past 30 years and mostly in the context of arguments and developments about the so-called constitutional position, writes Michael Smyth p

    • EU must combine national and European politics

      World view: European Union leaders meet in less than two weeks for a summit at which they hope to complete negotiation of the reform treaty intended to make the EU more capable of handling the many problems it faces. This replaces the previous constitutional treaty following its rejection by French and Dutch voters two years ago, writes Paul Gillespie . p

    • Intrepid shoppers ignore New York's charms

      The season of intrepid shopping is almost upon us. The very thought puts the heart crossways in many people, while others have heart palpitations of another variety at that very same thought; sheer, almost orgasmic excitement, writes Ailish Connelly   p

    • Concept of a head of state still seen as valuable

      Every country has a head of state. Until 1918, only two of Europe's score of states (or several score if the German empire's 25 states of that period are counted separately) were not monarchies - France and Switzerland, writes Garret FitzGerald p

    • Need for strong Oireachtas committees greater than ever

      It is regrettable that the Oireachtas has not yet got around to establishing its committees system. The Oireachtas Commission has recently assigned additional resources to education and public relations activity designed to raise the profile of and improve understanding about the work of both the Dáil and Seanad. This effort is undermined, however, by the manner in which the houses themselves order some of their affairs, writes Noel Whelan p

    • This Week They Said

      The last Minister (for Justice) was given to provoking the public and Garda. When frustrated that he could not catch criminals, he expressed the intention to get his hands on the Opposition. We now have a Minister who has a far more soothing approach and will go forward on the basis that he feels our pain and will pour treacle on all these issues. p
    An Irishmans DiaryBack to Top

    • An Irishman's Diary

      Fifty years ago, on October 10th, 1957, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Finance Minister for the newly independent nation of Ghana, entered a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Dover, Delaware, and ordered a glass of orange juice. As he was handed the drink, wrapped to take away, the waitress explained that he could not have a seat in the restaurant because "coloured people are not allowed to eat in here", writes Kevin Stevens p
    Martyn Turner's CartoonBack to Top

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