Séighin Ó Ceallaigh

It's that time of the year again, when we see who Dublin beat in the All-Ireland final, or is the Dubs reign over? Over the top hype on both media and social media, portray the Dubs as an unstoppable force, but what many people seem to forget is that Dublin have had a pretty bad season so far. Cast your mind back to February and March of this year, it might not be the first thought that comes to mind, but Dublin finished 4th in Division 1, only finishing ahead of Galway on points difference. The mighty Dublin lost to Monaghan, Kerry, and Tyrone during the seven match league, and didn't have any astounding victories over the campaign. We move on then to Leinster, where Dublin breezed through the opposition, though in fairness Leinster is without a doubt the weakest province for football with the exception of the Super Blues. They then had a decent run at the Super 8s, easing past Cork and Roscommon, though struggling to achieve an eventual win over Tyrone. Then there was the...

Residents of the Irish Direst Provision system have once again been a topic of discussion in the media and social media following yet another case of substandard treatment within the DP system. Unfortunately like previous complaints and protests by residents, there doesn't seem to be any will to address the current issues facing DP in Ireland. Continuous cases of poor standards of living have led to many liberals calling for its abolition, without any solution as to how Ireland would deal with refugees and migrants, and determining one from the other. Much of the problem with DP at the moment is the many years it takes for this determination to be made, along with the lengthy appeals process which follows many denials of residency. Much of the time this is not down to a lack of work by the Irish institutions, but rather gaining access to information from the country which the refugee has fled, or in some cases the country which the person has resided in prior to Ireland, then mak...

With Leaving Cert and CAO results out, now the scramble is underway for tens of thousands of students to find somewhere to live for the upcoming semester. While the majority of the students seeking accommodation will be new entrants, an ever larger amount of those seeking accommodation are in the later years of their Undergrad, and even some Masters and PhD students. The housing crisis has severely affected third level students, and it could be this particular sector that is the key to resolving the housing crisis. In the early 2010s most students in Limerick lived within close proximity of their third level institute, that is of course if they were renting accommodation and not living at home for the duration of their education. Many students had lived either on campus or in nearby private housing estates which have been transformed into de facto student villages by private landlords. But this is proving to be more and more costly for students, with on campus accommodation at the Un...

Much of the world has been shocked with the news that the Amazon is on fire for some time now, with many speculating that it may not have been  natural wildfires, but rather the result of fascism. The theory that the newly elected Jair Bolsonaro had orchestrated the fires does make many stop to think that this is a possibility. The fascist President of Brazil, who was elected after the detention of political opponents, has been hostile towards the so-called "Earth's Lungs" and its indigenous tribes. This along with the timing of the fires sparks major concerns for the future of the planet, with the burning of oxygen producing forests no-doubt bringing us closer to the point of no return. But whether or not you believe the theory that Bolsonaro started the fire, it's pretty evident to all that he's quite lackluster in dealing with the problem. So much so that the Mercosur deal between Brazil and the EU may now be under threat. You know that it's a serious s...

Many people have been questioning Donald Trump's intelligence recently, after he announced his intention to buy Greenland for the USA using taxpayer's money. While he has certainly given us reasons to question his intelligence in the past, either he or his advisors had put together a clever strategy to buy the Danish territory. Greenland is a rather isolated island, with a small population concentrated on the coasts of the southern part of the island. To the naked eye it doesn't appear to have any significant value to anyone, but neither did Alaska. The value of Greenland doesn't lie in its rugged landscape or minor economy, but in untapped resources and global domination. Ever the businessman, Donald Trump sees an opportunity in making a lot of money from Greenland, and it seems to be correct. As the ice begins to thaw around the Arctic it is exposing new lands that have probably never been seen by the human eye, and have never been explored for resources. It also ...

At present people can qualify for Council housing if they are unemployed or under the income limit, which varies according to area and family size, but could allowing people of all incomes onto the Council housing list contribute to fixing the current housing crisis in Ireland? This would certainly lead to an explosion on the local housing lists, but it could lead to the creation of s sustainable public housing system over the medium to long term. Under the current system it could take over a century before the cost of building a Council house is recuperated by the local authority. This is on the assumption that a €300,000 house is let to an unemployed family paying €40 p/w rent to the local authority, and doesn't include the large sums spent by the local authority on decorating, maintaining, and upgrading the house over the course of 100 years. What this means is that whenever a local authority builds a house, it will not see a return on it until a century later, if at all. Unde...

Despite being a front runner for the majority of the Democratic nomination process, Joe Biden is beginning to bring himself back into the fold of the many, many candidates hoping to contest the 2020 US Presidential election for the Democrats. While previous accusations of him being too 'hands on' with women and even allegations of groping, haven't hindered him in his bid to become president, the latest episode of racism, and the current string of public mess ups could cost him his lead. In a recent speech Biden said that " Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids", and despite trying to make his racist comment, politically correct, the door to his racism that was unlocked by candidate Kamala Harris, has now been pushed open by Biden himself. Ms Harris caught him out on a live tv debate when he claimed to have always worked for the black community, however she pointed out that his voting record would say otherwise. Biden tried to dodge the ...

If you're heading to the pub this weekend, then you may have an important choice to make, do you want to join a rebellion? Across Ireland, and indeed across many parts of the world, a beer revolution is taking place in the form of Craft Beer. Local breweries are popping up across the map, and are offering beer drinkers the chance to support business in their own areas. For many years the choice was between national or international beers, such as choosing between Guinness and Budweiser, but now many pubs have a choice between beers brewed by local entrepreneurs or big corporations. Local breweries produce small quantities of beer that are described as craft made, with special attention given to each batch, and the best part is that the profits go to local people, rather than to investors scattered around the globe. The idea of supporting local has many positives; it's more environmentally friendly as the beer is transported a very short distance, is supports local jobs, and...

This weekend will see Nate Diaz taking on Anthony Pettis, with rumours going around that the winner of this fight will take on former Champ-Champ, Conor McGregor. But don't get your hopes up just yet, if you pay enough attention to the promotion of fights in the UFC, it seems that almost every headline fight in the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions, is rumoured to offer a fight with The Notorious to the victor. The UFC, which is a company not a sport, is trying its best to hype up some unhypable fights, with no disrespect do those involved, but most people other than actual fans of combat sports couldn't care less about Diaz vs Pettis. McGregor is the only thing that will sell this fight, even though the prospect of him fighting the winner of the bout is slim to none, and the fabrication of this subsequent fight is nothing more than a marketing tool used by the UFC. Many will have to accept the fact that we probably won't see McGregor fight competit...

Today we saw many students get their desired results, and others left contemplating their future. The career choices and education choices of those who sat this year's exam, all depended on today's results. It's huge pressure to place on students, some as young as 16, and though the curriculum as moved away from the 100% exam model, it's not enough to resolve the problem. The exams themselves aren't exactly the issue, they are pretty fair, and phased examination is now more reflective on how third level education operates. But it's the transition from second level to third level that's the problem. The points system does not give people a fair chance at achieving their desired third level course. It's a very capitalist system, completely based on supply and demand. For example, if a course has 100 places and 300 people apply for it, then it's the top 100 grades that get into the course. So in 2018 a course may have been 400 points, but this year ...

The Irish Beef Industry has been going through turbulent times recently, most notably because of the proposed Mercosur deal and the prices farmers receive for their cattle. We haven't even reached Brexit yet, and are still weeks out from the latest withdrawal deadline, and beef farmers are at their wits end. But how has it got to this and can farmers cope if there is a no-deal Brexit? Farmers' incomes are under threat, not just because of the reasons outlined above, but also because of the threat to grants which keep small and medium farms in business. The recent EU elections have seen the status quo remain in the European Parliament, with parties of the right keeping their large dominance of the union. There has been some debate surrounding the EU's agricultural plan over the course of the previous five year parliament, particularly regarding the EU's farm subsidy. Now that the elections are over, the EU government could proceed with plans which could see a standard ...

As some of you may be aware, the race for the nomination from the Democrats to take on current US President Donald Trump is underway, despite it being over a year away from the actual election and months away from being decided. The process to select a person to stand for the Democrats in the 2020 election will begin next April, but the candidates are already in election mode and the TV debates have began, with no punches being pulled even at this early stage. While I'm sure that I will be doing more political analyses over the course of the campaign and indeed the 2020 election, let's have a look at who could be squaring up against Donald Trump next year. This is not an open election, it's an internal selection process within the Democrats, and therefore the TV debates only count for so much. What it will come down to will be the choice of the members of the party, and that may not be the best result for the hopes of the party regaining the White House. In 2016 Hilla...

I am by no means saying that the standard of football has been anything short of brilliant this year, but rather that the formatting of the All Ireland Football Championship is below par. But while we have seen good games in the Super 8s, it simply doesn't work and should revert back to old format, while the GAA go back to the drawing board, or not. This weekend saw a few rather meaningless games to some degree, and although the players put on a show as always, the excitement simply wasn't there. There was only one match out of the four played this weekend that drew my interest, Mayo vs Donegal. This was the only match that actually meant anything, and it wasn't even on RTÉ. While I would have enjoyed watching it, and did eventually on The Sunday Game, I certainly wasn't going to abandon the kids and go to the pub to watch it, but that's a debate for another day. The other games saw a Kerry team, who were almost guaranteed victory and progression to the semi-fin...

This weekend saw yet another mass shooting in the USA, this time in El Paso, Texas, with twenty civilians being murdered and over two dozen injured. It's become the norm to hear the news of a mass shooting occurring in the US, though we tend to only hear about a certain few that have gained enough publicity to make it onto Irish airwaves. Still every couple of weeks we see reports on the evening news or on social media and I'm sure many of us are fed up of the faux outrage and sympathy shown by politicians at this stage. While politicians dish out thoughts and prayers like they're going out of fashion, no political party in the US seems willing to tackle the issue of gun control. While it may be obvious that many republicans, including the current President of the USA, are anti-gun control, many democrats including former President Obama talked the talk about gun control, but by no means walked the walk. Under Obama's administration there was a slight tweaking of gu...

Taoiseach Leo Varadker has marched in this year's Belfast Pride parade, which had the theme 'Rights Now'. This is a clear demand from Belfast's LGBT community for equal marriage rights in the six counties. While a tweet from Varadker has caused many arguments online, it shouldn't detract from the positive message that may have been hidden behind a poorly worded tweet. The Taoiseach's tweet reads " Biggest march in Northern Ireland is not orange or green, it’s rainbow coloured. This is NI at its best. Best of Britishness and Irishness."   The underlying message of cross-community support for LGBT rights is certainly  a positive, but the fact is that so-called 'Britishness' in the north, in the form of the DUP, has blocked the rights of the LGBT community to this very day. Many leading Unionist politicians, especially MP Sammy Wilson, have said extremely hateful and hurtful things about LGBT people which I'm not going to repeat. The Oran...

It has been revealed that when the current TV Licence contract expires, Fine Gael aims to introduce a new tax on media devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. This is an even more unfair form of taxation than the current TV licence, which basically taxes you for having the ability to watch RTÉ, whether you watch it or not. While many make the argument that the TV licence is merely supplementing the enormous wages of many within the state broadcaster, the tax also goes towards producing Irish programmes and films. Without the revenue generated from the licence fee many of these would never make it to either the big or small screens. Placing another tax on devices such as laptops and phones will be a much more unfair practice as technology allows for a tax to be placed on those who use the state broadcasters online service, RTÉ Player. The fact the Fine Gael didn't look at methods of generating state-media revenue through a membership service, shows that this is merely anot...

Ever since the Confidence and Supply deal between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael began in 2016, there has been constant media speculation regarding the next General Election. I imagine there are few people that would have thought that the deal would still be in place over three years later, but is the deal finally coming to an end this year? While the official line is that there will be an election in early 2020, there is speculation that we could see an election called as early as next month. Politicians are gearing up for an election at some point in the near future with most local papers carrying several political ads, and it's hard to scroll through Facebook without seeing a post from an election candidate, though it is not in itself an election indicator. The Confidence and Supply deal was extended to ensure that a government is in place when Britain is due to exit the EU on 31st October, but this may no longer be a concern. The rise of the Green Party in May's local electi...