Ireland
Doubting the new Ireland
The more traditions have been deconstructed, the more people have experienced a sense of loss
The grim reality of a citizens’ assembly
A seemingly democratic initiative was nothing of the sort
The new Irish hate speech law will do more harm than good
New legislation endangers liberty and will not address political division
A wealth of Irish architecture
Editorial errors do not spoil a fine work of Irish architectural history
The lonely end of a political failure
Leo Varadkar rode to power on a wave of optimism and is disappearing in a puff of disaffection
Why did Irish women vote No?
Tired of seeing women and mothers erased in law and policy, Ireland’s women sent a resounding message
Old Ireland stirs
The defeat handed to Dublin’s progressive establishment was a reminder of an older Ireland
Irish politicians have lost touch with the people
The failed “modernisation” of the Constitution may not be a one-off failure for Irish liberals
A mum’s place is in the Irish constitution
Ireland’s constitution is rare in protecting mothers, so why change this?
Kilkenny’s golden age
A fascinating exploration of Irish history could have been better and more comprehensively illustrated
Venice’s tortuous tourist tax
How much public money has been wasted on a scheme which will be quietly retired?
The curious case of the “Gaylor” affair
Whatever the framing, the sexuality is the story
Scary cute
CUTE, a new exhibition at Somerset House is a deliciously unsettling stroll down the uncanny valley
The BBC should remember what it’s for
A public broadcaster should exist for truthful journalism, not fashionable pieties
Elgar’s excellence
Elgar: Symphonies (Halle/Oehms)
What became of Tchaikovsky?
Tchaikovsky: 5th symphony etc (ICA Classics)
Dial S for screen time
These middle-class tweens being forbidden phones have had iPads since they were six
Free speech freeze-up
Reactions in Britain to the attempted suppression of NatCon suggest a bleak future for freedom of speech and thought
Why did behavioural scientists crave mask mandates?
The COVID pandemic exposed the nastiness of nudging
How to lose an empire
The rise and fall of the Sassoon family, whose yearning for social acceptance brought titles at the cost of success
The building that inspired Orwell
Was there an appetite at the time for monumental buildings, equivalent to those in Moscow?
