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Ominous Portents For The Baltic States?
Last week I had a quick look at the purchase by Latvia of surplus armoured vehicles from Britain as part of the Baltic nation’s commitments to its NATO membership. The … Continue reading →
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Right2Water Demonstration, Saturday 11th October 2014
Last week I touched upon the new Troika-imposed water-tax that it is being rolled out across the country by the Fine Oibre coalition, despite considerable public opposition and criticism. This article...
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No Human Rights, No Belfast Agreement, No Peace Process
The Lallands Peat Worrier has written a lengthy post excoriating the Conservative Party in Britain following prime minister David Cameron’s suggestion that a future Tory administration in London might...
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The United Languages Of Europe
Contrast and compare these stories from Scotland on the Scottish (Gaelic) language. First up, from the Courier: “Ambitious plans to promote Gaelic in Dundee have been significantly scaled back. Council...
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Irish-Speakers Are Second-Class Europeans
In May of 2014 the Sinn Féin member and Irish rights campaigner Liadh Ní Riada was elected to the European Parliament with the promise to seek full legal equality for Irish-speaking citizens of …...
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The Politics Of Brutal Bruton
John “Brutal” Bruton Former Fine Gael leader and arch Euro-federalist John Bruton is generally regarded as the most economically right-wing Taoiseach Ireland has had in living memory. His term of...
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United Parties In Catalonia, EU Citizenship In Scotland
An Chatalóin (Catalonia) Despite the financial scandal erupting around its former leader and his family the ruling Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) party has joined with other nationalist...
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Second Spoken Languages Of Contemporary Europe
Map showing the second most spoken languages in Europe by nation state, revealing historic regions of invasion, colonisation and modern immigration, 2014 (Íomhá: Adapted from MoveHub original linked...
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Aylan Kurdi And The Heavy Hand Of History
“Refugees welcomed by: Saudi: 0, Kuwait: 0, Qatar: 0, Emirates: 0, Bahrain: 0” (Íomhá: Hassan Baber) It some ways it is a terrible comment upon the calibre of our political leaders that the harrowing...
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Sinn Féin And Right2Water
What is the real attitude of Sinn Féin to the imposition of water charges in Ireland? Are they wholly opposed to them or are they, to borrow a phrase from elsewhere, sneaking regarders? Certainly the...
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Global Corruption Index For 2012 – Ireland Falls Six Places
Global Corruption Index 2012 – Ireland falls six places to number 25 (Image: The Guardian) Back in February of this year I discussed the media independence rating for Ireland from Reporters Without...
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Ireland – Poster Child Of The Stockholm Syndrome
Patty Hearst in front of the insignia of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Andrew S. Loveland has an interesting post over on The Frumious Bandersnatch examining the famous (if exceptional)...
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Austerity – Basque Fight Versus Irish Flight
Bilbao, Basque Nationalist Demonstration 2012 There is an interesting if understandably angry article by author James Petras at the Dissident Voice comparing the different reactions in Ireland and the...
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Monsters From The Id
The Holocaust. Let us never forget those who died – or those who took their lives. (Íomhá: Liepaja, Latvia, December 1941) A sobering and very personal reminder from Bock the Robber of the beast that...
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Ireland’s Export-Based Economy – Emigration, Emigration, Emigration
Eurostat figure for unemployment rates in EU states for June 2013 (Íomhá: Middle Class Political Economist) From Middle Class Political Economist: “July 31 saw the latest release of European Union...
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France Says No – Again!
Kemper, Breizh (Quimper, Brittany), 2012 Once again the political establishment in France has shown its opposition to any recognition of the cultural rights of the historic nations that currently lie...
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Whose Europe Is It Anyway?
Ireland and the European Union – a matter of differing perceptions When political and media leaders in Germany complain about the suspicion and apprehension their country is now greeted with in many...
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Eurocracy – The ECB’s Billion Euro Palace
The European Union’s overclass – all snouts to the trough From Der Spiegel: “Rain was falling on Frankfurt’s Ostend neighborhood as financial managers and local officials drove past dark corner bars,...
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An Island Nation Once Called Ireland
European net migration in 2012. Ireland has the highest level of migration followed by several other recessionary nations Following on from my post here on the government plans to demolish uninhabited...
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No Irish-Speakers
No Irish Need Apply Following the news yesterday that several hundred jobs are to be lost as three companies reduce or cease their operations in Ireland (one of which will have a major impact in the...
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Let Them Eat Cake!
Austerity – A Survival Guide Given the dominance of Ireland’s news media by an incestuous group of like-minded individuals espousing a right-wing, moral-free ideology is anyone really surprised by...
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The Scots, Second-Class Europeans?
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission and Eurocrat fumble-mouth in chief The Scottish blogger Wee Ginger Dug has done some fantastic journalistic work recently analysing and...
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EU? Screw You!
Ireland And The European Union Another day, another confirmation that the Irish-speaking population of this island nation are not only second-class citizens of Ireland but they are second-class...
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The Crimea-Of-The-West
Meanwhile in the “Crimea-of-the-West” militants from the British separatist minority in the north-east of Ireland have staged another of their weekly demonstrations at the so-called Twaddle Twaddell...
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Europe’s Democratic Tide
Quick post to highlight a couple of interesting articles touching upon Scotland’s independence campaign, the first from Conn Hallinan at Foreign Policy In Focus examining the rise of national...
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Fine Oibre Government Faces Electoral Shock And Awe?
Uisce Éireann (Irish Water), EU direct-taxation by other means? So local residents at Togher in Cork and Raheny in Dublin are refusing to allow domestic water meters to be installed in their estates by...
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Political Shenanigans
Lovely jubbly… Enda Kenny, Taoiseach na hÉireann, on the importance of water conservation and the dilemma faced by tens of thousands of people in Ireland who can’t afford to pay the new Euro-Tax Mark...
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The Irish Parliament? Some Chance!
The English and Irish versions of the Irish Parliament’s website. The Irish language website is smaller, more restricted and filled with links that don’t work or lead to blank pages. A 2014 screengrab...
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ASF – The European And Local Elections
Local and European election posters in Dublin Several readers of An Sionnach Fionn have asked me how I intend to vote in the upcoming European and local elections. Though some people might object to...
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Republican Left Leads The Poll In Catalonia
People hold placards to form a giant Catalan separatist flag, or “Estelada”, in front of Sant Feliu townhall, near Barcelona, in February (Íomhá: Reuters) With all the focus on the success of Sinn Féin...
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Speaking In Code
Declan Lynch, the one-time enfant terrible of Irish journalism now turned middle-aged establishment terrier, has taken to the pages of the Irish Independent newspaper to bewail the challenge offered by...
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The European Union, A Political Pyramid Scheme
Corruption, patronage, nepotism, inefficiency and irresponsibility are terms which have become synonymous with the internal bureaucratic workings of the European Union. From top to bottom, high-flying...
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The Banking Inquiry Whitewash, Covering Up For The Party Tigers
With the death of Ireland’s so-called “Celtic Tiger” economy in 2008-2010 the country entered a period of severe recession, made worse by the erratic, panic-driven policies of the then Fianna Fáil –...
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