by RuthDE | Mar 18, 2025 | 2025, Daily Telegraph, Journalism, March
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin is proving himself to be a grown-up leader in his dealings with Trump Published: 13 March 2025 The thinking Irish must be thanking their deity they now have a grown-up Taoiseach. I cannot imagine what President Trump might have done to...
by RuthDE | Feb 6, 2025 | 2025, Belfast News Letter, February, Journalism
Last week, Fine Gael’s Charlie Flanagan — whose distinguished career included being Irish minister for justice — pinpointed the terrible flaw in the Omagh Bombing Inquiry. Published: 7 February 2025 Although taoiseach Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, and...
by RuthDE | Dec 3, 2024 | 2024, Daily Telegraph, December, Journalism
The party’s cultish image and missteps on immigration allowed the incumbent coalition to remain in control Published: 3 December 2024 The horrifying toll exacted by the Irish election process was shockingly visible over the last stretch in the heavily-lined face of 37...
by RuthDE | Jul 15, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, July
Post-election, I’m one of the cheerful unionists. There may not be many of us, but there should certainly be more than usual. Published: 11 July 2024 It helps that the shine has so come off Sinn Fein since the local and EU elections that only the very gullible are...
by RuthDE | Jun 14, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, June
I’m writing this in Dublin, where I’ve been ecstatically celebrating the local and EU election results. Sinn Fein, which good people feared would gain power in the Republic and threaten the fragile peace in Northern Ireland, has been losing support for some months...
by RuthDE | May 1, 2024 | 2024, Daily Telegraph, Journalism, May
On one level, the migrant row is a mutually-helpful farce. But has something changed in UK-Irish ties? Published: 1 May 2024 Surveying the row over immigration policy in Ireland and the UK, I’m reminded of the Sham Fight, an annual event in Northern Ireland, in the...
by RuthDE | Apr 9, 2024 | 2024, April, Belfast News Letter, Journalism
The about-to-be taoiseach Simon Harris rarely wears any beliefs on his sleeve other than that he’s the best man for any job that’s going. Published: 9 April 2024 But I’m not here to disparage Mr Harris. We’ve been plagued on our island with the twisted idealism that...
by RuthDE | Mar 26, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, March
Even though I’ve written quite a few murder mysteries, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. Published: 26 March 2024 So I was not tempted to indulge in wild speculation at any stage of the hysteria around the disappearance from public view of the woman I call Princess...
