Free Republic

On Thursday I shook the hand of the world’s most reviled man. No, not Saddam Hussein but George Bush. The occasion was the St Patrick’s Day reception in the White House. It was a very small affair compared with the days of Bill Clinton. Only about 60-80 people were present and of that number probably less than a quarter were Irish. The fact that Bush turned up at all was a minor miracle. The previous day he had cancelled all engagements to muster support for a further United Nations resolution and it was entirely possible that he might have done...

I SEEM to recall that I may have written somewhere recently that I would never have another bad word said about Bongo. You see, recently I had a bit of a road-to-Damascus experience where I witnessed first hand his extraordinary and rather inspiring generosity. I'm not one for breaking my promises, so I hope that Bongo will regard the following as a bit of friendly advice. As a demonstration of my good faith, I will even call him Bono for the rest of the piece. I think the basic problem is that poor Bono gets carried away. He has so...

PRESIDENT George W Bush will urge the IRA to renounce all forms of paramilitary activity and to support the police in a speech he will give in Washington on Thursday. The American president is also expected to support the British and Irish governments’ push to restore Northern Ireland’s power-sharing administration and to impose sanctions on any party that breaks its commitment to peace. Sinn Fein representatives, including Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty, Gerry Kelly and Martin Ferris, will be in the audience for Bush’s speech. Hugh Orde, the PSNI chief constable, will become the first Northern Ireland police chief...

THOSE sitting either side, or indeed even on the fence, can agree on one thing and that is that the defining moment is approaching on Iraq. As has been the case for the past 12 years the fate of Saddam Hussein rests in his own hands. He has led the world a not so merry dance of defiance. Consequently there has been discord: Splits between the Atlanticists, Old Europe, the unilateralists, the multilateralists, the doves, and the hawks. Instead of concentrating on the differences it might just be useful to look at what can actually be agreed upon. The tyrant...

Senior politicians in the Irish Republic's parliament have launched a stinging attack on Sinn Fein accusing the party of hypocrisy during a debate on neutrality.During a Private Member's Bill to preserve Irish military neutrality, members asked how could Sinn Fein talk about neutrality when it was linked to the IRA which still held Semtex, had purchased tons of arms from the Libyans and collaborated with the Nazis? Sinn Fein, which has four members in the Dail, is strongly in favour of military neutrality for Ireland. But the Progressive Democrat Liz O'Donnell, a former foreign affairs minister, accused the republicans of...

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says Ireland made a significant contribution to the shaping of the agreement reached by the European Union on Iraq. European leaders have warned Iraq that it faced a 'last chance' to disarm peacefully. In a strongly worded declaration last night, EU leaders also affirmed solidarity with the US. "Baghdad should have no illusions. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community," 15 EU leaders said in a joint declaration. Bertie Ahern says Ireland's position is very much in line with the rest of the...

Brendan O'Connor posits that Ireland's mystifying level of anti-Americanism is because they've done us so many favours WELL, folks, we've had our fun. Now it's time to wake up and smell the coffee. And you know what? It's Starbucks coffee and it comes with a slice of Mom's apple pie. The small minority of anti-American so-called "peace protesters" in this country have had their few weeks of running around and imagining it's the Sixties. But the psychedelic dreamland of alleged neutrality is over now. Reality is kicking in and it's time for us to get off the fence. The Pythonesque...

Former First Lady Clinton calls on Ireland's support for military action to disarm Saddam Hussein in 'a war that involves all of us' HILLARY CLINTON has called on Ireland to back the US in a war against Iraq, declaring: "The war against terrorism is a war that involves all of us." The former First Lady, who is tipped as a future US Presidential candidate, urged the Irish government and people to get off the fence and support America's efforts to rid Saddam Hussein of his weapons of mass destruction. She said: "The people of Ireland will, as they have done...

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, said security at Shannon airport will be stepped up following this morning's attack on a US military aircraft. Mary Kelly Charged with causing damage to US plane A 50-year-old woman appeared at Killaloe District Court this afternoon charged with causing damage to the US Navy plane. Mary Kelly, with an address at the Peace Camp at Shannon, was charged with causing damage to a US Navy 737 airplane, belonging to the US government, without lawful excuse. The Court was told that when she was arrested by Gardaí on the airport tarmac at 5am,...

One wonders whether any of the European leaders rushing to hail Ireland's "yes" to Nice has actually read the treaty. Across the Continent, commentators have described the result as a vote in favour of enlargement. Yet Nice barely mentions enlargement. It is true that a small part of the text deals with the number of MEPs and Commissioners which each applicant country would get, but these clauses will in any case have to be rewritten as part of the accession treaties when the new states join. Three previous EU enlargement rounds were agreed without triggering an Irish referendum. The reason...

Ireland has emphatically endorsed the European Union's expansion plan just 16 months after rejecting it, it became clear last night. The scale of the Yes vote will not be known until later today, but returns from seven constituencies which had used electronic voting early this morning showed a massive increase in support for the Treaty of Nice and a significant rise in voter turnout. The margin of victory was more than 70-30 in some constituencies while in Dublin South West, which had recorded the largest No vote in the previous referendum, an 18-point swing saw a comfortable 57 per cent...

The Celtic economic miracle has a wilted look in Irishtown by the River Liffey, where the Irish Glass Bottle Company has laid off hundreds of workers this year. Building projects stand idle as the 1990s boom unwinds and government cuts start to bite. The posters in the windows bark "No 2 Nice: No To A Bosses' Europe". It is Sinn Fein territory. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour, all in favour of the treaty, are too posh these days for the working class. Street after street of poky terrace houses gave Gerry Adams a rock star welcome as he charged...

Ireland goes to the polls on Saturday in the country's second referendum on the Nice Treaty, which paves the way for the European Union to accept new members from central and eastern Europe.Not really. There could be individual treaties of accession. What this treaty does is expand the powers of the EU. - Ivan Ireland voted no to the treaty in an earlier referendum last year, and the government has argued strongly for a yes vote this time. This is what is most outrageous. Ireland voted no in a free and fair referendum. What part of "No" don't these blighters...

As the process of expanding the European Union reaches a critical stage, all eyes are on Dublin and The Hague this week. If Irish voters reject the Nice Treaty for a second time on October 19th, the enlargement timetable could be at risk. The collapse of the Dutch government is likely to complicate matters further CRITICS say it’s a case of the tail wagging the dog. Europe’s small countries certainly have a habit of wrecking carefully prepared plans for European integration. The Danes did it in 1992, when they voted against the Maastricht Treaty. In June last year, it was...

The last opinion poll before tomorrow's Irish referendum on the Nice Treaty showed its supporters widening their lead, but low turnout and anger at having to vote twice on the same question could still lead to a dramatic upset.> Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, implored Ireland's 1.6 million voters yesterday to look beyond self-interest and think of their duty to the less lucky nations hoping to join the European Union. And save his job in the process - Ivan "I say to the Irish people that Saturday is a date with history, not only for us but for Europe...

It is no longer cool, alas, to write articles bashing Brussels. My Nasty days are over. New Toryism is with us, in which scepticism is balanced by a strenuous moderation, a painful, tight-grinned reasonableness. That's fine Boris, you keep your mouth shut - meanwhile the party faithful will be screaming their dissent - Ivan Some of my most joyous hours have been spent in a state of semi-incoherence, composing foam-flecked hymns of hate to the latest Euro-infamy: the ban on the prawn cocktail flavour crisp; the billions spent to export unsmokable Greek tobacco to the Third World; the European Commission's...

The European Union's ambitious plan to take in 10 more member countries is hanging on the verdict of voters from Ballinskellig to Dundalk, as Ireland prepares for its second referendum on the Nice Treaty on enlargement next weekend. The latest opinion poll, published today by the Irish Sunday Independent, gives the Yes campaign a solid majority with 41 per cent in favour and 27 per cent against. The large number of undecided voters - 24 per cent - gives hope, however, to the treaty's opponents and leaves Yes campaigners nervous. Two weeks before the first referendum in June 2001, opinion...

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs has insisted there was "no truth" in reports of a secret deal between himself and Bertie Ahern over the leadership of their Fianna Fail party.For the uninitiated, Fianna Fail is sort of like the Democrats of Ireland. And about as corrupt. - Ivan Brian Cowen denied reports of an agreement that he would take over as leader of the party when the time came for Mr Ahern to gave up the post. Mr Cowen, speaking at a Nice Treaty news conference in Dublin, said he did not believe such rumours were distracting the public from...

BERTIE AHERN is not being investigated by the Flood tribunal about an IR£80,000 bribe, nor is any member of his cabinet. Shades of Clinton, impeachment but with an Irish tinge -Ivan Sources close to the taoiseach acknowledged that allegations published last weekend that a serving cabinet minister took the corrupt payments were directed at Ahern. However, the allegation, reportedly made by Tom Gilmartin, the property developer, is not contained in his affadavit to the inquiry. He is due to testify about planning corruption within weeks. The tribunal is not investigating the allegations that a serving member of the cabinet took...