The Dublin Review of Books is an on-line journal that publishes short and long-form contributions on literature, history, arts, society, politics and culture. It is well worth checking out and not just because access is free. The articles are generally of a high standard. An exception was a piece that…

In the run up to Christmas, Paddy Power was offering odds of 1/5 against Sinn Féin winning more seats than any other party at the next Irish general election. That implies a probability of 84% that Sinn Féin will have the largest representation in the next Dáil. …

I have written many times of our affection for Port Bourgenay on the Vendée coast where our unbroken sequence of 20 successive holidays was ended only by a global pandemic in 2020, happily to be restored the following year. …

As threatened during my last piece on the subject a few weeks ago, I am returning to Ireland’s system of proportional representation for elections to Dáil Éireann (parliament). First a reminder that the system is characterised by two features: multi-seat constituencies now ranging from 3–5 seats and a transferable vote…

The Economist of 29 October included a profile of Gary Gensler, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the piece, Mr. Gensler is not only well qualified in finance and regulation, he “even” understands crypto. In 2018, Mr. Gensler taught a class on blockchains at the…

Politics 101 for non-Irish readers: the Irish electoral system of proportional representation or PR is characterised by multi-seat constituencies in which voters exercise a single transferable vote. It has been in use since the foundation of the State. On 28 August 1958, the political correspondent of The Irish Independent reported…

Striding briskly to your office one morning you pass the local park. Through the railings, you see a child struggling in the pond. Her arms flailing, her head has already disappeared below the water once. There is nobody else in sight. She is unknown to you. You are wearing your…

A few weeks ago, The Guardian’s Long Read podcast was a piece first published in the newspaper in April 1921. Under the title, The Clockwork Universe: Is free will an illusion?[i], Oliver Burkeman teased out the question posed by this sub-headline: A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that…

Sinn Féin has consistently led political opinion polls in Ireland from the middle of 2021. Since then, its support has grown gradually rather than dramatically from the low 30s to the mid 30s giving it a lead of 10–15% over all other parties. Of course, as the cliché puts it…