Ian O’Doherty is an Irish journalist.
While most Cold War cultural battlegrounds have long been paved over or turned into a theme park, Cuba has retained a place in the hearts and minds of the West’s luxury leftists. Beautiful weather, sandy beaches, famous cigars and, of course, a long-standing enmity with the US have all ensured the country remains perhaps the
Some readers may remember a particularly infamous episode of The Simpsons which saw the town of Springfield descend into anarchy during their annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. As the crowds thronged Main Street, a drunken brawl erupted, prompting a shocked TV newsreader to declare: “What you are seeing is a total disregard for the things
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The reaction in Ireland to the UK Supreme Court’s decision on the meaning of ‘woman’ in the Equality Act has been revealing. The ruling, which found that women are defined by their biological sex and not a gender recognition certificate, has been watched carefully in Ireland, where trans people have been able to apply to change
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In their seemingly relentless drive to spend other people’s money on initiatives they don’t want and didn’t ask for, the latest genius project from the Irish government is all about climate change. Of course it is. This is a government, after all, which has been accused of wanting to cull Ireland’s cows in an effort
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The Irish government has spent a lot of time trying to reassure voters that they have little to fear from any economic realignment with America. Now it is openly acknowledging the uncomfortable truth: that more than any other EU member state, Ireland is in a remarkably precarious position following Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs. Internal
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As the war of words between Donald Trump and the EU continues to escalate, European countries have become increasingly concerned about their military reliance on the United States. As a result, the need to increase defence spending has become a major issue. Germany has abandoned its ‘debt lock’ as it seeks to raise more funds
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Howard Lutnick, former CEO of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and now Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration, has quickly attained the status of pantomime villain in Ireland. Last year, Lutnick criticised Ireland’s tax arrangements, saying ‘It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense.’ He increased his pressure
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The Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin will have felt some relief after his visit to the White House last week. While Trump criticised Ireland for poaching American pharmaceutical companies, the general consensus was that Martin had walked away pretty unscathed. In fact, the mood was so optimistic following the encounter that Tanaiste Simon Harris, also in
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The Taoiseach Micheal Martin’s White House encounter with Donald Trump was controversial even before it was announced. Before any invitation had been extended, Sinn Fein said they were going to boycott the event in a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine and Gaza and as a sign of their commitment ‘to humanity’. The
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As restrictions continue to mount for Brits travelling to Europe post-Brexit, perhaps the least surprising news was that last year saw a record number of UK citizens applying for Irish citizenship. According to a Home Office report, shared with the Financial Times, 2024 saw a 15 per cent increase in citizenship applications, as 23,456 Brits
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Would Donald Trump invite Irish politicians to the White House for the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit this year? It’s a question that has been asked many times in Ireland in the past few weeks. It’s a tradition which began in 1952 but in the decades since it has grown in stature to become the
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Is Ireland a powder keg of racist, anti-immigrant sentiment, ready to explode at any moment? That was certainly the dominant narrative after a night of rioting in Dublin city centre in November 2023 that left a trail of destruction along O’Connell Street. On that occasion, politicians and elements of the Irish media were quick to
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Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When Donald Trump made his rather provocative claim that the US would expel all Palestinians from Gaza and turn the region into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’, international condemnation came thick and fast – matched only by the confusion of world leaders. Did the President of the United
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Roy Keane, one of Ireland’s most famous sons, famously tried to live by the motto, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. As Ireland still struggles to cope with the aftermath of Storm Eowyn, it has become abundantly clear that the Irish government failed to pay heed to Keane’s sage advice. Storm Eowyn (named by the UK
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Before the US election in November, there was unanimity among the Irish political classes that Kamala Harris would comfortably win. This support for Harris was matched by a casual disdain for Donald Trump. Before becoming Taoiseach, Simon Harris had dismissed Trump as nothing but ‘an awful gowl’, which essentially means someone is a moron. Ahead of
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As Ireland’s octogenarian President, Michael D Higgins, enters the last few months of his final term in office, a man who was always outspoken in his views seems to have dropped any presidential filter. Higgins spent much of last year on what seemed like a one-man mission against Israel, making a series of wild and frequently incorrect statements about the Jewish
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It will be an uncertain year for Ireland. The Irish economy has for a long time been artificially propped up by the billons it accrues in tax revenues from American tech companies based in the country. Many dread Donald Trump’s return, fearing he will force these firms to move back to the US. Those fears
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‘Tis the season of goodwill to all men. Except for the Irish and Israelis, that is, who have seen their already frosty relationship plunged into positively freezing temperatures this weekend with Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin. Sunday’s announcement was unusually stark in diplomatic terms, but it reflects the growing resentment and, at
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When Conor McGregor stood in the dock for his civil rape trial last week, the controversial MMA fighter was receiving the kind of global media attention he had always craved. Just not for the reasons he would have wanted. In court, the 12-person jury found him liable for the rape and sexual assault of Nikita
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It’s Green bin day! That was the general refrain of many Irish political wags as the country continues to tally the count from Friday’s election. The first indicators from the exit polls were that the Green party who had been minority, but deeply unpopular, members of the governing coalition had just been hammered by the
