A proposal to make “the 12th” an all-Ireland holiday has not been not met with a warm reception. A former government minister described the popular response as “a mixture of diatribe and incredulity.”
Kevin Hargaden
Kevin Hargaden is a theologian with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of Theological Ethics in a Neoliberal Age, published by Wipf and Stock.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The Royal Family and their Irish neighbors: How Ireland will be represented at Charles III’s coronation
Sidestepping reservations individual party members must have about being associated with the pomp and ceremony of a very anti-republican spectacle, Sinn Féin hopes to demonstrate diplomatic gravitas and a mature capacity to lead all Ireland.
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
An open letter to America about gun violence, from a very concerned Irishman
I was a teenager at the time of the Columbine High School shooting. No one could mistake suburban Dublin for anyone’s utopia, but even then my friends and I could recognize that we might as well live in a different galaxy.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Recap: Joe Biden goes to Ireland for serious diplomacy—and a family reunion
Mr. Biden’s visit is not just a symbolic endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement. The future of the accords has been thrown into doubt by the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union via its Brexit vote.
Posted inArts & Culture, Dispatches
‘The Quiet Girl’ at the Oscars shows the Irish language’s surprising resurgence
Film-making in Ireland has been in the shadow of other cultural successes in literature and music. That may all be about to change. At this year’s Academy Awards, there are three movies with strong Irish connections up for Oscar consideration.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Is Ireland’s civil war finally over?
The peaceful sharing of power by Irish political parties that once went to war may be understood as a triumph of the common good.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Catholics now outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland. Is Irish unification on the horizon?
Just below those top-line figures on religious affiliation, significant changes in national identity also become clear—29 percent of the Northern Irish population now see themselves exclusively as Irish. This is just three points behind the 32 percent who consider themselves British.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
Irish Republicans praising the queen was once unthinkable. Elizabeth II changed that.
The tributes and gestures from the leaders of Irish political parties long established in the European mainstream came as no surprise. What came as something of a shock—especially to some of their supporters—were statements issued by the leaders of Sinn Féin, the party most associated with the Irish Republican Army.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Turf is one of the worst polluting fossil fuels. The Irish turf-burning industry could learn something from Pope Francis
Destroying bogland is the Irish equivalent of burning the Amazon.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
After Russian ships menaced off its shores, Ireland wonders if it should beef up its military spending
Few expected that the waters off Ireland’s southwestern coast would become a potential front in a confrontation with the Russian Federation. But that is exactly what happened at the end of January.