If in Dowd

We’re approaching the US Presidential Election and a maelstrom of vitriol. In the red corner, a proto facist and the first President to adopt a  govern-by-tweet  approach. In the blue corner, a seasoned operative but one who is gaffe-prone and uncharismatic. This is in the midst of an impending economic recession, low oil prices which have decimated the Texas shale industry, pent-up anger and frustration from the COVID lockdown and a culture war which has emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement and the racist killing of George Floyd. 2016 was a year which changed the course of history. Trump was elected, the UK voted in favour of Brexit and as the Presidential race began in France, the vitriolic, anti-immigrant National Front stormed ahead. Cambridge Analytica mined the data of thousands of people, playing into the psychological vulnerabilities of unsure voters. We realised the fragility of democracy as it is played out via social media. Facebook is no ...

T enacious,  R esolute,  U nder-estimated, M essianic, P ersuader It has been a surprise. Yes, I was shocked when I woke up on Wednesday morning. My dad who had been following the polls quite closely - mostly through Nate Silver's podcast - had been under the impression that Clinton would win. He was wrong. Likewise, I was sceptical about Trump's prevalence in the media and believed that all the hype and attention wouldn't necessarily correlate with the share of votes he would receive. I was wrong. In the year of Brexit, little is beyond the bounds of possibility. The anti-establishment mentality that I touched on in a previous post following the British referendum has become ever more widespread. A lot of the things Trump had said were music to the ears of those living in the so-called 'rust belt'. He'd bring life back into their towns, which have been economic vacuums for many years. There aren't just economic and social chasms between the citie...

"YOU support murdering children?"   It was a simple exchange. We were talking about faith in the modern world, and I foolishly dropped the 'A Word'. Hinting my feelings in relation to this controversial topic, I was immediately stopped in my tracks. My words had led to a judgement being made about my character and my personality. This headline from Waterford Whispers News summarises what has happened to the debate in Ireland: It's ironic, because since the debate has come into general public consideration in Ireland, it has almost become more of a taboo. A highly emotionally-charged debate, both sides will shoot the other down with provocative statements. People are afraid to open their mouths about it in case they are ridiculed for their views. This is exacerbated by the far-left and far-right musings on social media, suggesting that there is little or no middle-ground in this debate. Whatever side of the tracks you are on, or whether you have made ...

Cherrywood is a suburb in Dublin 18 - wait: do we even use those postcodes anymore? Nevermind. It's an area that sprung up in the late 90s/early 00s centered around a business park which is home to Dell and a number of other large corporations. There is currently a vast swathe of green land next to the office park all reared and ready for development. In fact, the media have reported this as the creation of a new Dublin suburb. Sounds great, eh? Roughly the location of the proposed suburb. And I stress the word 'roughly'! Here's the site outlining the plans:  http://www.cherrywooddublin.com/ Some of the lines from the site are quite poetic, to say the least: "This will be modern urban living at its best, a positive synergy of work, rest and play, " "Cherrywood will redefine quality of life in Dublin, integrating homes and shops, work and transport, schools and parks in a positive, sustainable society like nowhere else in the capital....

In an apparent moment of wisdom recently, somebody muttered to me: "There are two things you should never do in life: take heroin, or vote for Sinn Fein." Sinn Fein TDs: Pearse Doherty, Gerry Adams, Mary-Lou McDonald, Martin McGuinness. Source: theJournal.ie I thought this was interesting, and behind this stark statement I have heard many people discreetly share the same viewpoint in the run up to the general election. And I wanted to find out exactly why... My granny has always been had a keen interest in politics, but has never had a soft spot for Sinn Fein. Many a time I have been treated to her using an array of colourful adjectives to describe the party's leader, Gerry Adams. I was always intrigued by this. Yes, my granny is a big Fine Gael supporter, but she doesn't seem to have the same level of hatred for Fine Fail or Labour that she begrudges Sinn Fein... Eager to get to the bottom of this intrinsic loathing of Sinn Fein, I asked...