Léargas

  Self-Determination and Democratic Rights For decades now I have argued that self-determination is one of the big issues of our time. In 2005 I wrote:  “In my view the   big international struggle of our time is to assert democratic control by people over the decisions which affect their lives. This does not mean retreating behind existing borders and refusing contact with the outside world, but it does mean reasserting the primacy of democracy and working together in order to pursue this objective.” The world we live in is dominated  by national struggles. The right of people in different parts of the globe to self-determination; to be able to determine their own future, shape their own societies, pass their own laws, agree their own foreign policy, democratically and in the absence of outside interference. In the decades from the end of the Second World War to the beginning of the 21 st  century countless millions died in these wars as former colonial po...

  Public Media Ireland Last week a report entitled, ‘Public Media Ireland: a New PSM (Public Service Media) Organisation for a New Country’ was published in Belfast. The report – a joint project by Dublin City University and Ulster University – recommends the setting up of a new public service media organisation, Public Media Ireland, if citizens  ote yes in the referendum for constitutional change. Susan McKay, the Press Ombudsman, chaired the event. The four authors of the report, Dawn Wheatley, Roddy Flynn, Stephen Baker and Phil Ramsey, shared their vision of a Public Service Media, PSM, in a new Ireland. The report recommends a single island public media structure and the values and ethos underpinning it. It does so on the basis that the debate on a new Ireland is underway. The authors are offering their report as a contribution to this debate.  The Report asserts that it is possible to harness all the media that is currently available across Ireland and to shape the...

  Mercosur is a bad deal. The European Commission has backed a free trade agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The European Parliament is set to decide on the future of the Mercosur Agreement. It has taken twenty-five years to get to this point. The European Commission has decided to support this proposition and the smart money says the Parliament will follow suit. But perhaps not. It’s not over until it’s over. There will be a legal challenge to the deal, including Sinn Féin’s MEPs, and a vote in the European Parliament. Sinn Féin is also bringing forward a Dáil motion calling on the government to support the legal action and mandating all MEPs to vote against the deal.  If the Mercosur deal goes through the EU will be flooded with 99000 tonnes of beef and 180000 tonnes of chicken, which are frequently produced using toxic chemicals banned here for decades. The agreement also runs contrary to EU and Irish climate legislation and will accelerate defores...