North’s planning and environmental protection as bad as Republic’s by Anton McCabe Environmental issues have been low in the North’s political agenda. They have, however, had political repercussions. First Minister Peter Robinson was perceived as close to developers in his East Belfast constituency. The main reason for his losing one of the safest seats in
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We don’t just have uninhabited estates, we have a largely uninhabited country by Terrence McDonough Recently several auctions around the country have been forestalled by hostility from  locals.  For example the auction of a farm in County Meath failed in the teeth of local opposition.  The auction, instituted by a bank in payment of arrears,
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Prosecute a banker (A DIY guide for Village readers) By Gary Fitzgerald Since the beginning of the banking crisis in September 2008, the government’s strategy has been to protect the banks at all costs.  With the IMF/EU deal announced recently, it is now clear that the government intends that the taxpayer will pay for bank
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Interview by Paul Dillon Michael D Higgins, veteran polymath TD for Galway West,  was born in Limerick in 1941. His father, a lifelong republican, had been sentenced to death by the Free State for blowing up Mallow Bridge, but reprieved, the Cork Examiner having called for his execution.  His father left his family and the
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United Left Alliance Michael Smith interviews Joe Higgins about a new electoral force on the left I meet Joe Higgins over tea and a brownie, on a grim afternoon in December in Dublin City Centre.  He doesn’t want to talk about his background – people are sick of it – he wants to talk about 
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A journey through the complexity of former Yugoslavia By Frank Shouldice Agnostic Yugoslavs suddenly became Catholic Croatians, Orthodox Serbs or Bosnian Moslems. These differences were masterfully exploited by political leaders clinging to nationalist agendas – most especially by Milosevic in Serbia and Franco Tudjman in Croatia. The train that flits through the backwaters of northern
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As Village went to print, the main governing party had 13% support and its grumpy leader satisfied only 14% of voters.  The country looks likely
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In the heady days of 2005 with the economy roaring along and homeowners basking in the glow of ever-rising house prices, one institution went against the current and sounded a note of caution. In its Medium Term Review No. 10, regarded as a landmark publication, the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) warned that “there are considerable dangers in the current situation: in particular the very high level of dependence on the building industry”. Nor were the risks purely domestic. “Global economic imbalances that, if anything, are growing in magnitude” also threatened.

Despite Angela Kerins’ claims, targets have not been achieved. Michael Smith Public-sector cutbacks and unprecedented levels of unemployment are reversing hard-won gains on the path to equality for whole swathes of society.  In July 2009, the Equality Authority launched its Annual Report 2009. It is telling that Angela Kerins, chairperson of the Authority, chose to
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What did you think of Brian Cowen’s infamous radio interview?
I thought that he was asked questions about five or six of the fundamental issues that are now facing the country, and he failed to answer them with any clarity. My analysis of the present situation is that even though there are real economic problems, there is an underpinning problem which is to do with confidence, and unless the political leadership is decisive and makes decisions, that will continue. Whether he was drinking at night or not is immaterial to me.

Sligo County Council and the National Roads Authority have ruined Yeats’ grave. by Michael Smith Irish poets, earn your trade, Sing whatever is well made, Scorn the sort now growing up All out of shape from toe to top, Their unremembering hearts and heads Base-born products of base beds. Sing the peasantry, and then Hard-riding
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Ireland too needs whistleblowers—they might have averted our economic detonation. by Dara McHugh At the time of writing, WikiLeaks is preparing to release another cache of classified US military field reports, this time related to the Iraqi war. The previous leak gave an unprecedented look into the conduct of the Afghan war, dispelling the positive
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An overwhelming success story of private sector dynamism in recycling is set to be undone by an oversized incinerator at Poolbeg – at massive cost to Dublin’s businesses James Nix Minimising costs is something we expect local councils to do – especially in difficult times. But it’s an imperative that seemingly doesn’t apply to waste
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The differences between David Cameron and Nick Clegg Michael Smith No-one has ever contemplated the relative poshnesses of Ireland’s  Enda Kenny and Brian Cowen.  Both are classless (and  only incidentally unclassy).  Britain is different.  In a society where people wear their class on their shirts or forearms (sleeved or tattooed), they are obsessed with it.
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Only the allegiance to the personal over the political kept us – relatively – sane. Frank Callanan One of the least-considered characteristics of Irish politics is that which has most defined it: the ascendancy of Fianna Fáil. This asserted itself between 1932 and 1973, broken only twice, gave way to a pattern of alternance (rotation)
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The EU uses ‘soft power” aggressively  – sometimes to the disadvantage of poor ‘partner countries’ such as those in Africa, the Carribean and the Pacific area Justin Frewen Drawn up in 1997, only a few years after the end of the Cold War, the European Commission’s report, Agenda 2000, manifests the EU’s intention to play
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Interview Miriam Cotton I recently spoke to David McWilliams in his Volvo Estate in a church car-park in Dalkey. In case that sounds intriguing, the purpose of our meeting was to conduct an interview – on recording equipment that does not cope with background noise in public spaces like the coffee-shop we had just left.
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Interview Niall Crowley  Illustration Peter Hanan Baking sunlight, little dinghies bobbing on sparkling blue water, people in short sleeves taking a leisurely look at the shops. Dun Laoghaire is like another world in the surprise heat wave. The function rooms of the Royal Marine Hotel are tall and cool. The bar looks out over a
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Sinn Féin is now, by a short head, the North’s largest party with 25.5% of the vote. The reduction in its total vote from 174,530 to 171,942 since the 2005 General election can be attributed to its withdrawing from South Belfast, where it had taken 2,882 five years ago. Since then, the Sinn Féin leadership
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Ireland should abandon the Euro which was established for political not economic reasons and so has not worked Anthony Coughlan The political purpose of establishing the Eurozone was to reconcile France to German reunification following the USSR’s collapse. This political agenda used economic means that most economists who were not EU-ideologues regarded as quite unsuitable
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