European Integration and Popular Sentiment
Around the time of Jean Claude Junker’s nomination by the European Parliament to serve as President of the Commission, it could frequently be heard that Junker’s brand of euro-federalism was a sort of “relic”. Few believe any longer in the viability of the integrationist project, it was said, and Junker’s appointment served merely to demonstrate...
Media on Gaza: information or speculation?
Media is a powerful tool of information. A look at our screens or a glance through the newspapers can not only provide information on different current events, but can also convey the suffering and plight of individuals across the globe. In recent times, the imagery of Palestinian suffering helped bolster Palestinian solidarity protests worldwide, with...
Stagnation in Northern Ireland requires new interventions
It seems as if inter-ethnic, territorial and sectarian tensions have become a global epidemic in recent times. Israeli-Palestinian relations are on a knife-edge, the conflicts in Nigeria and Central African Republic have not been resolved, and there is a feeling that Ukraine is still very much an ongoing affair. And then there is Northern Ireland. While violence...
Modern European social democracy in crisis
The central question for established centre-left political parties in Western Europe is whether there remains a viable future for traditional social democracy, among whose features we might number support for the mixed economy and the institution of large cash transfers with the aim of redistributing wealth and easing poverty. Recent developments within the aegis of...
Ugly Carnival for the Beautiful Game
The World Cup has arrived. The colour, the pride, the expectation of great things from 22 men on a pitch: it is why we call it the beautiful game! Yet this World Cup, the most expensive in history, has been marred by controversy. Brazil 2014 is not an isolated case. Sport events are no longer merely...
PR-STV and electoral reform in the Republic of Ireland
The character of high politics in the Republic of Ireland has, as a consequence of the cluster of crises and controversies around the first decade of this century, come under a degree of impeachment. Central to the claims of its accusers is the notion that Irish legislators are not sufficiently national in their outlook, preferring...
