THE Labour Party has made the first positive and considered move in the interests of the abused from the industrial schools. This is a month after the publication of the Ryan report but in the light of what the party is offering, there is no harm done in the waiting. Read More...

The Dail debate on the Ryan Report, like the Ryan Report itself, has many flaws and many shortcomings. As far as the Dail is concerned, the problems begin within Government, in the drafting of the motion, and they start at the very top, in the speech with which Brian Cowen opened proceedings on Thursday. Read More...

The process initiated by the Government, in the wake of the Ryan report, is back-to-front and deeply flawed in its thinking and planning. It is as though Brian Cowen and his ministers are setting out on this new voyage in a sieve; the water is already coming in and the whole vessel will inevitably sink without bringing anything worthwhile to the victims of abuse, unless emergency action is taken.
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In April, Francis Jacobs of the European Office in Dublin took me to task over an article about the European Parliament, to which we will be electing members tomorrow.

He made several points, the first being that "the European Parliament jointly decides on a majority of EU legislation and on most of the EU's annual budget, and has the absolute right to amend or even reject both". He went on to say that the parliament sets the EU legislative agenda, and "has far more power on secondary legislation than almost all national parliaments". Read More...