In 1975, the victorious Viet Minh entered Saigon, the capital of the South, following a 30 year struggle against a range of international forces. For the first time, since its occupation by France in the late 19th century, Viet Nam was independent and no longer subject to the dictates of foreign powers.
However, while the lengthy [...]

Okay, let’s keep in mind my caution about the current polls… but the most recent one this weekend from the Sunday Business Post was - despite showing no variation from the previous one, bar a 1% increase for Sinn Féin and a 1% decrease for the Independents, pretty telling in its own way.
Firstly the fact [...]

John Barry is Associate Director of the Institute for a Sustainable World and Reader in Politics both at Queen’s University Belfast.  He was educated at University College Dublin and the University of Glasgow.  From 2003-2009 he was co-chair of the Green Party in Northern Ireland and was a key figure in the creation of an [...]

A European country that scapegoats a Semitic people, persecutes defenders of human rights by stripping them of employment, and denies freedom of speech to Jews: surely a description of Germany during the Third Reich?
Yes, but unfortunately also a description of Germany at the outset of the 21st century.
In the wake of German Chancellor Merkel’s craven speech [...]

In the aftermath of an earthquake that devastated the slum-cities of Haiti, there has been a strong influx of foreign money and troops, apparently to help rebuild the poverty-stricken country. However, we should note that many of the countries that have been to the fore in expressing their altruistic intentions are those which are most [...]

There’s another angle on the George Lee saga that is as interesting to media watchers as any consideration of whether he was ‘frozen out’ of Fine Gael or a victim of his own ego.  Let’s put aside too whether Enda Kenny wasted a brilliant talent or had simply expected Lee to take a little time to settle into politics [...]

Strikes and more strikes confront the social-democratic PASOK Government in Greece
Public sector workers, supported by many Trade Unionists from the private sector responded massively yesterday, Wednesday February 10th, to their Union call for a 24-hour strike in Athens. At the same time, leaders of the two Greek left wing organisations Syriza and the Greek Communist [...]

With due apologies to Søren Kierkegaard, it is with ‘Fear and Trembling’ that I put fingers to keyboard to contribute to the burgeoning media orgy, commonly known as the “George Lee Phenomenon”.
Since the ‘earth-shattering’ news that George Lee has decided to withdraw his support from Fine Gael and quit the Dáil, the media have had [...]

So George Lee has resigned.  No doubt this will fill newspaper columns and blog posts with analysis of what this means for Fine Gael, Enda Kenny (will he be pushed?, the Government and, of course, George.  So far the one question that has not been answered - and not raised much either - is:  what [...]