Author Jude Collins

The south of Ireland’s health system

The south of Ireland spends a lot of money on health, – approximately €22 billion in 2021, or 10% of the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite all this investment, the health system is accurately diagnosed as being poor. One of the main reasons for  poor performance is the underfunding of primary care. This has […]

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Kissing – by Donal Kennedy

An American Democrat, Lyndon Johnson, never demanded that all his fellow-citizens grovel in his adoration.    His test of loyalty for his partisan Texas supporters was that they kiss his posterior in the window of the Neiman Marcus Department Store in Dallas and swear that it smelt of roses.   The (Protestant) Archbishop of Canterbury […]

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Is the Crown a con?

The English monarchy is often seen as a symbol of national identity and pride. However, there are growing criticisms about the cost of maintaining the monarchy, which is primarily funded by taxpayers. The monarchy is estimated to cost the UK government around £345m each year, and while some argue that this cost is worth it […]

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Republicans and distraction

  The attendance of Michelle O’Neill and Alex Maskey at the coronation of King Charles III has upset some republicans. They see it as a sell-out by Sinn Féin of all that republicanism is about. Some republicans have said they’ll never vote for Sinn Féin again because of it. For them and doubtless others, presence […]

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Concerning times for freedom of speech – by Carl Duffy

  Dáil Éireann has recently passed a bill that seeks to penalise ‘hate speech.’ On the surface this might seem appealing. After all, hate is ugly and there is no shortage of it, so perhaps there should be measures in place to curb this. However, this should not be a question of whether ‘hate speech’ […]

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 Changes – by Michael Lagan

  The day that’s in it had me thinking about just how much we have changed as a people in this country.  By “country” I’m speaking generally as those people living on the island of Ireland and just how far we’ve come rather than just how far we still have to go.   From waging an […]

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