The taming of Sinn Fein
Having espoused Marxism and nationalisations, Sinn Féin is now just a vaguely left-of-centre social democratic party. If Bertie Ahern needs to 'discover' a policy convergence between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin after the next election, he will have little difficulty
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A stab in the dark
The Grown-Ups may be flawed,
but its flashes of brilliance and tight performances hint at a welcome new direction for the Abbey.
By Colin Murphy
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Cornerboy radio in modern Ireland
A few years ago, when the Irish Times was still asking me to review the odd book for its books page, I was taken aback to find myself described, at the end of a review, as "a journalist and critic".
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Jewell of the North
Manchester United are playing not for glory, but to avoid humiliation against newly-promoted Wigan in the Carling Cup final. Ken Early contrasts the fortunes of two very different teams
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Playgirl of the Western World
Winner of Best Supporting Actress at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards for her performance in Titus Andronicus, critically acclaimed for her role in Breakfast on Pluto, Ruth Negga is one of the new stars of Irish stage and screen. By Donald Mahoney
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No Taming Pauline
It's 20 years since she started acting, and more than ten since the start of Father Ted. But with lead roles in a new Shakespeare production, a film in the Dublin film festival and a comedy series by Jennifer Saunders, there's no taming Pauline McLynn.
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Over stepping the limit
This, surely, was an image too far for any self-respecting newspaper. For a man who is seen as an honoured leader by millions of people to be depicted in this crass way pushes out the boundaries, not merely of press freedom, but of taste, decency and sound editorial judgment.
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'Bomb the bad guys
Using NATO's 1999 intervention in Kosovo to justify invasions like those in Iraq is rewriting history to legitimise Western countries' involvement. The NATO attack was utterly unnecessary and did not lead to the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic,
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A matter of taste
Enda Kenny being stingy with the crabs on The Restaurant; bizarre behaviour both upstairs and downstairs in Hotel Babylon and surreal Japanese anime on The South Bank Show are all on the menu for
Dermot Bolger this week
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Keeping in time
Mark Francis' participation in the much-debated Saatchi Sensation exhibition means that he will forever be associated with a new generation of 'shocking' young British artists, but his new show at Dublin's Kerlin Gallery shows that there is much more to this Newtownards-born artist.
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Pass it On
When you spend your weeks reading new novels it gets hard to even look at books that are dog-eared or even thumbed once. Book Notes made an exception this week as news of Avian Flu in Nigeria and dying swans in Europe made the world feel a little bit smaller and deadly disease just a little closer.
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The Tiger bites
Those proud to live and work within the grasp of the Celtic Tiger; those who think their success is based on talent and innovation, and has nothing to do with dumb luck and happenstance prepare to see the ugly truth. Seán Harnett's debut novel, Aisling Ltd, shows us all how we really are.
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Fighting Irish
Poet Nick Laird's first novel is a comic tale of an Ulsterman's escapades in a sharply-observed London,
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Arctic castaways
Steve Heighton has drawn on the Polaris Expedition to create a novel of big ideas and beautiful language,
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Collateral damage
Jay McInerney's latest offering fails to fully utilise the horrors of 9/11 to inject some much needed bite into the novel's real subject.
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Charlie McCreevy's time has come
Charlie McCreevy, your time has come. Your place in history awaits you. Fate has decreed this. Being sacked by Bertie Ahern wasn't the end of your political relevance. It was only the beginning and catapulted you onto a far bigger stage to boot.
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