Anyone trying to make sense of Ireland’s crisis, and looking for an alternative to the right-wing consensus shared by the three major parties and virtually the entire print media, is most likely to find their starting-point in the writings of Fintan O’Toole. O’Toole’s columns in the Irish Times, his regular appearance on radio and TV, [...]

Just when you think the British Conservatives could do no more to endear themselves to us, we learn that David Cameron’s government is considering a proposal to scrap the May public holiday, replacing it with a long weekend in October that will be dubbed ‘Trafalgar Day’ or ‘UK Day’.

Paul Ginsborg is Professor of Contemporary European History, University of Florence and a frequent public commentator on politics and life in Italy. His books include A History of Contemporary Italy, Society and Politics 1943 - 1988 , Italy and Its Discontents: Family, Civil Society and the State , 1980-2000, and the bestselling biography Berlusconi: Television, [...]

Patrick Cockburn is the Baghdad correspondent of the Independent and the author of The Occupation:  War, resistance and daily life in Iraq and Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival and the struggle for Iraq. He spoke to Daniel Finn of Irish Left Review about the latest developments in Iraq.
How do you interpret the latest election [...]

Gilbert Achcar lived in Lebanon for many years. He is now Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. He is the author of many books analysing politics and society in the Middle East from a Left perspective, including The Clash of Barbarisms, Eastern Cauldron, The 33-Day War and Perilous Power [...]