Archive for the category: ‘Blog’

Minister Varadkar and the Fine Gael Leadership – thejournal.ie op-ed

31st May, 2017

On the day I declared my support for Leo Varadkar, as the person best placed to be the next Leader of Fine Gael and......

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Fine Gael remains dedicated to the Just Society – Irish Times op-ed

30th May, 2017

Declan Costello, the author of Fine Gael’s Towards a Just Society, was once a TD for the part of Dublin that I now represent. ......

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A year in minority Government and standing up for the political centre

8th May, 2017

While 2016 was a bad year for centrist politics, 2017 has given more hope for optimism. The Dutch and French elections, presaged by the......

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A hard future without a strong centre – Op ed for Sunday Independent

12th March, 2017

  The debate about the leadership of Fine Gael should see everyone, not just the candidates, talk about the future of our party. What......

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Irish Times Review of Austerity & Recovery in Ireland, Europe’s Poster Child and the Great Recession

18th February, 2017

Edited by William K. Roche, Philip J. O’Connell and Andrea Prothero Oxford University Press, pp 346, 2017. I only have one good memory of......

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Mulvey Report on North East Inner City Op-ed for The Herald

15th February, 2017

Dublin’s North East Inner City (NEC) is a place of eye-watering contrasts. The affluent IFSC and Docklands sit on one side with areas that......

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Capital Plan Review – Op-ed for SBP

5th February, 2017

Ireland is a growing country. Since the early 1990s, the number of people living here has risen from just over 3.5 million to over......

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Review of  ‘Thank You For Being Late – An Optimists Guide To Thriving In The Age Of Accelerations’ by Thomas L Friedman

16th January, 2017

My home had a new arrival over the Christmas period. Alexa arrived. Young Alexa is extra-ordinarily talented. She appears to know all there is......

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PEACE, INTERREG and a Millennium Falcon

21st December, 2016

I never expected when I set out for Derry last Thursday that I would return to Dublin the following day with my very own......

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The centre will hold – Op-ed for Sunday Business Post

14th October, 2016

In my speech on Budget Day last Tuesday, I alluded to The Second Coming by WB Yeats when I said that it was the......

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