The reality that Britain will not join the euro means Ireland can no longer share a path with it but must adjust to a Europe dominated by German rules. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images World View: The case for a new type of social partnership

A comparison with three Nordic countries indicates that an intellectual failure to think originally was behind the Irish system’s lack of resilience after the crisis of 2009

Right2Water is a massive campaign, the biggest single issue mobilisation of citizens in the state’s history. It has brought 600,000 citizens out in peaceful protest on 7 days now since October 2014. , CAROLINE QUINN/AFP/Getty Images Brendan Ogle: Irish water must now be abolished within 100 days
  • Brendan Ogle
  • March 11, 2016

The vast bulk of the TDs just elected pledged to abolish Irish Water – and so they should

Stormont Parliament buildings: The problem goes beyond everyone knowing everyone else, or of our ‘elites’ being more of a brass ring than a golden circle. File photograph: Paul Faith/PA Newton Emerson: Northern Ireland stinks of people not quite breaking the law
  • Newton Emerson
  • March 11, 2016

Project Eagle scandal shines spotlight on the nexus between business and politics

“The issue of whether Enda Kenny’s continued leadership of Fine Gael assists or hinders the prospects of the two parties being in government is a relevant personnel question.” Photograph: Reuters Noel Whelan: FG may have to bite bullet on Micheál Martin

If negotiations are to succeed then Fine Gael can not rule out Mícheál Martin becoming Taoiseach first

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster. File photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire Eamonn McCann: Arlene Foster wraps the orange flag around herself

Fear of Sinn Féin leads the DUP to suppress issues that would split other parties

Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman: a legal colossus
  • March 10, 2016

Public life is poorer for the passing of the Supreme Court judge, historian and intellectual

Migrants and refugees from Pakistan arrive at Lesvos, Greece. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 600,000 arrived on just one Greek island – Lesvos. Why? Because it is less than four miles from the Turkish coast. Photograph: Panagiotis Balaskas/EPA Richard Pine: Refugee crisis is Greek tragedy and EU’s shame
  • Richard Pine
  • March 10, 2016

There has been a breakdown of European ethics in favour of bourgeois security

The president has the discretion to refuse to dissolve the Dáil where the taoiseach has ceased to retain the support of a majority. File photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times Opinion: Michael D Higgins could play role in government stalemate
  • Conor O'Mahony
  • March 10, 2016

Influence of President limited to getting parties to try harder by refusing to dissolve Dáil

Suffragist Margaret Sandhurst was the first woman to be given the Freedom of the City, in 1889, three years before her death. Una Mullally: Why are there only five free women of Dublin?

Nothing stopping the city awarding 70 women the Freedom of the City to achieve gender parity

Depiction of Hercules and the multi-headed dog that guarded the underworld: US fund Cerberus snapped up property debts worth €18.75 billion over the last two years, including two big deals that it did with Nama Time to wrestle mysterious Cerberus out into the light

The US fund avoids giving details of its activities and seems unwilling to pay meaningful tax

Caring industry: Exploitation of these moslty young women is the rational response of anyone who cannot access affordable well regulated child care; which is pretty much everybody with children. Photograph: Getty Equating au pairs with employees is ludicrous

Workplace watchdog’s ruling will be honoured more in the breach than the observance

A rat feasts on sewage: Almost a million people are served by 121 water treatment plants officially classified as “at risk”. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth Water charges help us respect a scarce resource
  • James Nix
  • March 9, 2016

Smart measures can help households and improve Ireland’s water supply problems

Josepha Madigan who was elected in the Stillorgan ward , with her husband Finbarr Hayes and their sons Luke (8) and Daniel (10). Photograph: Dave Meehans Opinion: A woman’s place is in the Oireachtas
  • Orla O'Connor
  • March 8, 2016

Now that we have one in five female TDs, it’s time to change the culture of the old boys club

As regards the question of making major appointments, when Mr Reynolds, as caretaker, in 1994, filled two casual vacancies in the Seanad and appointed an Irish consul in Pakistan.Photograph: Matt Kavanagh David Gwynn Morgan: What exactly is a caretaker taoiseach?
  • David Gwynn Morgan
  • March 8, 2016

There is very little solid ground, from political practice or legal authority to help answer the question

It would not be as dramatic as another Rising, but it would make those words on the tattered green flag - Irish Republic - more than a broken dream. Fintan O’Toole: A five point programme to create a real Irish republic

Can the business of forming a government actually be infused with reminders of what we wanted an independent government for?

“That Patrick Pearse had been totally captured by that pre-Christian myth of redemptive violence is clear.” Photograph courtesy of the National Archives of Ireland Rite&Reason: Time for bishops to speak out about 1916 violence
  • Sean O'Conaill
  • March 8, 2016

Ireland has paid a high price for their hesitation to separate Jesus and Patrick Pearse

Old hand Joe Costello managed to steel himself for the press. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Una Mullally: Losing youth vote is part of Labour’s midlife crisis

Labour must ask why the leaders of tomorrow aren’t gravitating towards them

Alan Dukes: In 1989, polls showed him as the most respected party leader. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Opinion: TDs should vote for taoiseach under proportional representation
  • Peter White
  • March 7, 2016

The Dáil reflects the popular vote. The election of government does not

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images Lack of migration plan could be German chancellor’s downfall

Merkel under pressure to secure agreement with EU colleagues on measures

‘I had always assumed only Fine Gael politicians bought their suits in Brown Thomas.’ Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons Diarmaid Ferriter: Wealth tax policies of the 1970s show TDs a way forward

‘Richie Ryan had no time for well-heeled whingers who formerly owned posh department stores’

Lucinda Creighton: her defeat was largely due to Fine Gael tribalism. Photograph: Eric Luke Breda O’Brien: What wisdom can we glean from the election?

‘Social issues’ do count. All politics is local. People don’t want recovery for the few.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has indicated he would move to curb media freedom if elected. Photograph: Jeff Kowalsky/EPA World View: Donald Trump poses serious threat to press and free speech

Republican frontrunner has made it clear he will curb media freedom if elected

Labour leader Joan Burton at the count at Phibblestown community centre, Dublin. ‘We stand on the brink of a potentially exciting economic and social programme for a new government. However, the talk is not of this, but of party political advantage.’ Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Cliff Taylor: A new government has golden opportunity to tackle problems

Current economic factors offer a chance to repair some damage. But we must act now

Fianna Fáil’s envirnoment spokesman, Barry Cowen. Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times Stephen Collins: Fianna Fáil’s approach to Irish Water will be a test of its maturity

‘Barry Cowen’s bullishness on Irish Water was compounded by Simon Coveney’s politically inept raising of the white flag’

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin: his call for Dáil to think about political reform ahead of any sorting out of who gets what isn’t entirely selfess, but that doesn’t make it a bad idea. Photograph: Alan Betson Tim Bale: National interest may be best served by FF in opposition
  • Tim Bale
  • March 5, 2016

Election result creates once-in-a-generation opportunity for political reform

John Horgan: ‘It will take enormous stamina, youthful energy, and the ability to create or re-create a specifically Labour vision for the future of Ireland.’ Photograph: Aidan Crawley John Horgan: Labour could be the winner in the end
  • John Horgan
  • March 4, 2016

All Labour party leaders have long rejected the nostrum that the poor will have to wait

Noel Whelan: The day the election was called was pregnant with damaging scenes and sounds for the Government campaign. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons/The Irish Times Noel Whelan: Eight points at which it went wrong for the coalition

It is now clear that Fine Gael’s campaign was fixed on a disastrous course

Government Buildings in Dublin. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters Joe O’Toole: Election results reflect disaffection
  • Joe O'Toole
  • March 4, 2016

Independents surged as voters decided to elect people who understood their concerns

The Borgen palace in Copenhagen. “We could do worse than look beyond the fictional television series and seriously explore what the real Borgen offers us by way of a model.” David Begg: A new politics is now a possibility
  • David Begg
  • March 3, 2016

The electorate rejected auction politics and demanded credible narrative of Ireland’s future

Pink sneakers: Fort Worth state senator Wendy Davis tried to talk out the bill restricitng abortion in Texas. She filibustered on her feet for 11 hours and 15 minutes, wearing pink sneakers which became a symbol of women’s struggle. Eamonn McCann: Supreme court to rule on states’ thwarting of US abortion rights

In four states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi and Missouri, there is only one provider left

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. While technically the union can trundle on and is not obliged to respond to the vagaries of general elections, the anti-establishment vote is, in part, an expression of frustration at EU as well as national elites. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Suzanne Lynch: Europe is looking at Ireland and does not like what it sees

Ireland has become the latest bailout country to reject the incumbent government in a search for a political alternative

Denis O’Brien arriving to give evidence in the Moriarty Tribunal in 2001. File photograph: Bryan O’Brien Anne Harris: Shadow of Siteserv and Moriarty tribunal hung over Fine Gael
  • Anne Harris
  • March 2, 2016

Coalition completely ignored fact people need to talk about Denis O’Brien

Renua failed to elect one any candidates, including Lucinda Creighton, viewed as one of the most recognisable and vocal TDs against abortion. Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times Una Mullally: Election result is not a victory for anti-abortion lobby

Candidates who specifically positioned themselves as against choice failed miserably

’We are going to Borgen the bejaysus out of you bunch of Scandi-loving ingrates’ Photograph: Mike Kolloffel MAG TV John McManus: The electorate has failed Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael

If social democracy is what it takes to preserve the civil war fabric of our political system then so be it

The Ta and Nil Gates used for manual voting in the Dail Chamber at Leinster Housetaken Alan Dukes: A chance for the Dáil to reassert its authority

What is needed now is a framework programme of political action that commands the support of a majority in the Dáil.

Fintan O’Toole: Six reasons to take pride in #GE16

We are not racist, stupid, greedy, lacking in moral direction, guilt ridden or chicken

If neither Enda nor Micheál can cobble together an arrangement with other parties and Independents, they will have to consider talking to each other. Photograph: Aidan Crawley Drapier: It won’t be easy for Fianna Fáil to refuse to govern
  • Drapier
  • March 1, 2016

If Micheál Martin says no to Enda Kenny, he will have to work up a credible explanation

Living in a secular society does not silence the religious, nor does it prevent them from engaging in political activity. Picture: Martin Luther King Jr Rite & Reason: Separation of Church and State benefits all
  • Nick Park
  • March 1, 2016

Religions and ideologies are at their best as part of a secular pluralist society

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA Wire The winner of Election 2016 is social democracy

What we voted for is a profound shift of priorities, towards decent services, a fair use of public resources and a reversal of the drift towards inequality

$imagePolicy.altAttribute Coalition of Right may be price of Left’s myopic stunts

Opportunism of Left over past five years ensured it was unable to make gains it could have

Everywhere that Fianna Fáil won seats there was talk of constituency work, the repeated mantra that forgets that a general election is a national one. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA Wire This is what change looks like, whatever this is

The electorate clicked its heels and didn’t just end up in a tornado but created one

In fact minority government is quite common in Ireland and some have been stable and reforming, such as the Lemass government from 1961-65. Opinion: A minority government could be the best outcome
  • February 27, 2016

The government is forced to be more open to argument, evidence and debate, and parliament resumes the role it was intended for

Progressive Democrats leader Dessie O’Malley and Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey: the circumstances were much more toxic in 1989, when the likely government-making option settled on the Fianna Fáil-PD negotiations. 1989 a road map for Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil deal
  • Stephen O'Byrnes
  • February 27, 2016

Stephen O’Byrnes: Opposition to a deal with Fine Gael likely to be far less than Haughey faced

Most of our partners in the European Union succumbed to strong men of the right or the dictatorship of the proletariat at some stage over the past century. Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images. Stephen Collins: A day to celebrate Irish democracy

Without good people stepping forward for election our democracy would wither and die

There is no chemistry between Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, which means a full coalition between the parties would face huge hurdles. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA Wire. Cliff Taylor: The numbers to watch as count drama plays out

Coming days will be a poker game with nobody willing to show their cards

Donogh O’Malley: “I believe that it is essential for a government from time to time to propound bold new policies which both catch the imagination of the people and respond to some widespread if not clearly formulated demand on their part”. Photograph: Eddie Kelly/The Irish Times. Diarmaid Ferriter: Some rare cases of Irish political backbone

Our politicians could benefit from reading some documents at the National Archives

Cork University Maternity Hospital: important research has been carried out at the hospital with mothers who decided to continue their pregnancies. Image: Google Streetview Breda O’Brien: ‘Fatal foetal abnormality’ is a hurtful and damaging term

Mothers who continue their pregnancy are rarely lauded as brave – at best, they are patronised

The recent negotiations between the UK and the EU were highly centralised, with little or no specific Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish input. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/Getty Images. World View: Brexit would rapidly put Irish unification on the agenda

It is helpful to read the UK referendum on leaving the EU through a Scottish lens

During the first RTÉ debate of the campaign, 69,000 tweets were sent, turning #LeadersDebate into the number two trending topic on Twitter worldwide. Photograph: Alan Place/FusionShooters Mark Little: Twitter shaped and widened Irish election debate
  • Mark Little
  • February 26, 2016

As conventional election debate relegates conversations, social media amplifies them

Political campaign posters on the streets of Dublin. / AFP / LEON NEALLEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images Noel Whelan: Coalition with Fine Gael looks like best option for Fianna Fáil

The party as likely to perform as well in the next election coming out of government as they are from opposition

Oscar statuettes are seen as workers make preparations for the 88th Annual Academy Awards. Photograph: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images Annie Doona: Once in a lifetime opportunity to build on Oscars success
  • Annie Doona
  • February 26, 2016

Next government must re-evaluate priority it affords arts and film sector in Programme for Government for the next five years

Taoiseach Martin backed by Minister Ross? An unlikely result. However stranger things have happened in Irish politics. Photograph: Cyril Byrne / THE IRISH TIMES Paul Sammon: Shane Ross has stolen Fianna Fáil’s clothes and PJ Mara’s tactics
  • Paul Sammon
  • February 25, 2016

All the parties have a doppelganger – for FF it’s the Independent Alliance’s rural, local hopefuls

Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness walks with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and party colleagues Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill outside Stormont. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton Eamonn McCann: Public pressure forces Sinn Féin U-turn on Stormont expenses

Unionist and Nationalist MLAs had stood shoulder-to-shoulder until engulfed in public disapproval

The Fennelly Commission was unable to find a note or record of any kind of a four hour meeting at which the Taoiseach instructed the then Secretary General of the Department of Justice to deliver a message to the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan(above) in his home Nuala Haughey: Political accountability needs written records of decisions
  • Nuala Haughey
  • February 25, 2016

Election manifestos are strewn with commitments to increase transparency and accountability.

An Irishman's Diary

Enda Kenny and David Cameron visiting the grave of Irish MP Willie Redmond in Heuvelland in Belgium in 2013. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA An Irishman’s Diary about the grave of Willie Redmond

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Una Mullally: Why are there only five free women of Dublin?

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Equating au pairs with employees is ludicrous

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Irish Times View from 1989: How pointless another election would be

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Unanswered questions around Nama and Project Eagle deal

Findings of Northern Ireland Finance Committee suggest a minimalist approach to public accountability by those involved in sale

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