If the British Labour Party is worried about Reform UK winning a majority at the next general election, they should prevent that by introducing proportional representation. It's true that PR wasn't in their manifesto, but they can make it legitimate by winning majority support in a referendum. It's also true that they might lose the referendum, but I think there is a majority for PR, when you add together left-wingers worried about Reform UK, Tories worried about the electoral obliteration of their party, and people who have a settled preference for PR.

Under “international law”, is there any difference between the abduction of Nicolas Maduro and the killing of Osama bin Laden?

Using a Compulsory Purchase Order for a greenway would be outrageous, but RTÉ News recently published an article¹ on the possibility of land being taken in this way. [1]:

RTE.ie

Greenway plans will make land unviable, farmers warn

Farmers have gathered outside Leinster House to highlight concerns around compulsory purchase orders (CPOS) for the development of greenways.

In an article¹ that is supposedly news, not opinion, RTÉ News writes: “President Donald Trump and Republicans have been trying to intensify pressure on Democrats by increasing the pain felt by average Americans from the government shutdown” What appalling bias. [1]:

RTE.ie

10% of flights cut at 40 US airports over govt shutdown

US officials have said the scheduled capacity for flights would be cut by 10% from tomorrow in 40 busy air traffic areas of the country, with an on...

A recent long article¹ from RTÉ News says: “the current government shutdown may tip sentiment against them [the Republicans] as northern Virginia is home to the greatest concentration of federal government employees, who are either furloughed, fired or working without pay” This is a good example of why RTÉ is not to be trusted on American news. The shutdown is the Democrats' fault, because they have repeatedly voted against a Continuing Resolution. [1]:

RTE.ie

Millions of Americans to go back to the polls - sort of

It is election time in the US with four electoral contests that have national significance. RTÉ's Washington Correspondent Sean Whelan looks ahead...

A recent story¹ from BBC News begins as follows: “France's mass rape victim, Gisèle Pelicot, is returning to court on Monday to face one of her attackers, the only man who is appealing against last year's trial verdict” The BBC should not describe him as an ‘attacker’ until there is a final verdict. [1]:

Gisèle Pelicot faces one of her rapists in court again

Gisèle Pelicot's dominant stance was seen as a moment in France's MeToo movement but the enthusiasm appears to be wilting.

RTÉ News has a story¹ today about an “Irish choreographer” who is “severing ties” with Sadler’s Wells Theatre because of its links with Israel. What I find interesting is the indirectness of the relationship between the theatre and Israel: • “Sadler’s Wells cites Barclays as its principal corporate partner and the current chair of Sadler’s Wells Board of Trustees is also the chairman of Barclays plc”, which... • provides financial services to arms manufacturers, which... • sell arms to the IDF. [1]:

RTE.ie

Irish choreographer cuts ties with theatre over Gaza

An Irish contemporary dance company and an acclaimed Irish choreographer are severing ties with one of the world's most prestigious dance theatres ...

John Spencer provides a good critique¹ of the recent “Legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”², from the United Nations' Human Rights Council. [1]:

The U.N. Genocide Report Against Israel Is an Assault on Critical Thinking

The United Nations Human Rights Council’s latest report on Gaza, which concludes Israel is committing a genocide, is a case study in how internat...

[2]: Available from https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with a white person painting his face black or brown to look like a person of another race. What matters is what he does in his disguise.

Councils should coordinate with each other to nominate a presidential candidate. It's no use if two councils nominate Candidate A and two other councils nominate Candidate B. #IrishPresidentialElection

The Irish Times quotes¹ “a spokeswoman for the Houses of the Oireachtas” as saying: “As the first female speaker of Dáil Éireann, the Ceann Comhairle was proud that Dáil Éireann could finally be represented at and available to contribute to the Summit of Women Speakers. It should also be noted that in its final declaration the women speakers voiced their solidarity with all women and girls living in conflict zones and raised concerns about the disproportionate risks they face during wars.” ”disproportionate risks they face”! [1]:

The Irish Times

Verona Murphy attends Swiss conference alongside sanctioned Russian politician

Ukraine says Valentina Matviyenko’s attendance at summit of women speakers ‘disgraceful and should never have happened’

Today the home page of the Daily Telegraph¹ had this headline on a piece from an opinion columnist: “Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t realise his midlife post-divorce body is repellent to most women” I doubt they would write such a headline about any woman. [1]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Back in March, William Reville wrote in the Irish Times as follows: “Very few think women who have grown accustomed to having one or no children will ever return to a higher birth rate. But, I believe this mindset could be changed by making changes to ensure the division of labour necessary to care for and raise children from birth onwards is divided strictly evenly between fathers and mothers.” He doesn't say whether he has legislation in mind, but if legislation were enacted to try to achieve this equal division of labour: 1. Enforcement would probably be highly intrusive. 2. Some men, not wishing to engage in child-rearing, would opt out of fathering children. The net effect might be a further decrease in birth rates.

In the trial for the murder of Aaron Keating in 2023, the judge has passed a disgracefully lenient sentence. Here are some details from RTÉ News¹: ”A teenager who stabbed a man to death [...] has been jailed for 13 years. [...] The now-19 year-old was one month short of his 18th birthday when he murdered Mr Keating on 13 June 2023 at Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15. [...] CCTV footage showed an altercation between Mr Keating and the defendant which prompted the youth to run to a nearby stairwell where he had stashed a knife for self-protection. He returned within 90 seconds of the first altercation and pursued Mr Keating across the road despite one of his friends telling him to stop. The defendant attempted to stab Mr Keating but missed before he "made another lunge", the judge said, causing the fatal wound to the abdomen. [...] The defendant fled the scene, disposed of the knife and made no attempt to assist the dying man, the judge said.” [1]:

RTE.ie

Teenager who stabbed man jailed for 13 years for murder

A teenager who stabbed a man to death in front of shoppers and children using a knife he had bought for self-protection has been jailed for 13 years.

While I have no truck with “Pride”, I'm disappointed that the authorities in Hungary took the illiberal step of banning¹ the Pride parade in Budapest (though it went ahead anyway). Remarks on this controversy by the Foreign Minister² and Viktor Orbán³ are unpersuasive to me. [1]:

RTE.ie

Thousands march in banned Budapest Pride parade

Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Hungary's capital as a banned LGBTQ+ rights rally swelled into a mass demonstration against th...

[2]:

FM: Leave Hungarians alone and let us live as we want

FM: Leave Hungarians alone and let us live as we want

The foreign minister said Hungary

[3]: Last 2 paragraphs of

PM Orbán: They call it Pride, we call it shame and prejudice

PM Orbán: They call it Pride, we call it shame and prejudice

Prime Minister Orbán used his recent interview with TV2’s Tények to draw a sharp contrast between Hungary’s position and the prevailing agend...

From an article¹ by Rupert Lowe MP, published today: “Farage has tried to distance himself from these complaints, unsuccessfully. The man is a coward and a viper. He cannot be trusted with the full apparatus of the British state at his fingertips.” I'm surprised the Telegraph allowed him to refer to Farage as a ‘viper’. [1]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/14/an-alternative-to-rotten-reform-is-coming-soon/

Here's an interesting passage from an article¹ published today in the Daily Telegraph: [start of quote] Reform UK has declared war on net zero developments in the countryside. Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, said the party will use its new control of ten councils to use “every lever” available to block renewable projects. The Telegraph can reveal that Mr Tice will write to potential developers in Lincolnshire projects following Reform’s historic local election victories on Friday. He said: “I’m now going to write again to them, saying now that we’ve won these elections, you need to be under no illusion. This is war. We will wage war against you people and your terrible ideas. “If you think that you’re going to do this in the county of Lincolnshire, you are going to regret it. You’re going to waste your money. “It’s going to be very painful financially, so you might as well take your money and your daft ideas elsewhere.” The MP for Boston and Skegness added: “Whether it’s planning blockages, whether it’s judicial reviews, whether it’s lawsuits, whether it’s health and safety notices, we will use every available legal measure to an extreme way in order to frustrate these people.” [end of quote] [1]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/03/reform-councils-begin-war-net-zero-development-countryside/

Commentary Magazine has published a long, feminist-tinged, but interesting article¹ about the many Israeli failures that enabled Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023. 1. “The Untold Story of How Israel Failed on October 7” by Johnathan Foreman.

Commentary Magazine

The Untold Story of How Israel Failed on October 7

The Hebrew word mechdal has no precise equivalent in English. It signifies a great catastrophe for which human beings are responsible by inaction, ...

RTÉ News reports¹ that “Spain cancelled a contract to buy bullets from an Israeli company”. Initially: “the ministry said it had abandoned its attempt to cancel the deal after state legal services advised against it "due to the advanced stage of the processing of the contract" and because it would have had to pay without receiving the bullets.” But then the government decided to break the contract by means of a legal trick. Some people talk much about the ”rule of law”, but I expect them to be silent about this incident. [1]:

RTE.ie

Spain scraps contested Israeli arms deal after uproar

Spain cancelled a contract to buy bullets from an Israeli company following pressure from the Socialist-led government's far-left coalition partner...

RTÉ News informs¹ us that a zoo in County Cork “has announced the birth of a François' langur monkey [...] The baby's gender has yet to be determined”. Since when do animals have a “gender” (as opposed to a sex)? [1]:

RTE.ie

Fota Wildlife Park welcomes birth of endangered monkey

Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork has announced the birth of a François' langur monkey, a species classified as endangered by the International Union ...