Opinion Elaine Byrne: Varadkar is like Goldilocks who finds reform of the Seanad too big or too little There will never, ever be any solution to the issue of changes of the Upper House that will be deemed to be just right for the Taoiseach
Opinion Elaine Byrne: How the dramatic transformation of Irish rugby’s fortunes was no accidentThe IRFU has hit on a winning formula – the more money it makes, the more it invests in the game, the more professionalised it becomes and the better it becomes at winning
Analysis Elaine Byrne: Biden should have the courage to not run again, despite his excellent recordBy any objective measure, Joe Biden has been a very effective president – but most Americans, on both sides of the aisle, see his age as a liability
Politics Elaine Byrne: Fine Gael urgently needs new blood as old stalwarts leave officeThe party is in danger of losing viability as a political force at the next election, as many TDs who have served for decades are retiring
Comment Elaine Byrne: From Pee Flynn to Big Phil and now Tubridy, we Irish don’t tolerate hubrisThe ex-RTÉ presenter was almost out of the woods and en route to a return to the airwaves, but he just couldn’t take his medicine and shut up
Comment Elaine Byrne: Drugs are everywhere in society so we must decide if they are a criminal or a health problem People from all walks of life in Ireland use recreational narcotics and the state spends a disproportionate amount of resources dealing with the issue in the courts
Comment Elaine Byrne: Politicians beware, tinkering with the electoral system is likely to backfireDarragh O’Brien’s suggestion that by-elections should be replaced by a European substiture list model may make sense – but history shows that voters may not agree
Opinion Elaine Byrne: Inaction over National Party gold bar farce highlights Sipo’s ineptitudeIncident reveals staggering lack of curiosity by Standards Commission about internal financing of a party that has never submitted annual accounts
Opinion Elaine Byrne: Sinéad wanted us to listen to things that were easier to ignoreMany people dismissed the singer as crazy – but underneath it all she just wanted to make things better
Comment Elaine Byrne: Gaelscoil Moshíológ case shows unrealistic expectations of voluntary school boardsIs the voluntary nature of school governance arrangements still sustainable?
Comment Elaine Byrne: European elections will force our politicians to pick a side on issue of neutralityOur traditional defence policy may well prove to be a crucial – and delicate – issue for parties and independents alike in next year’s European Parliament ballot
RTÉ Payments Scandal Elaine Byrne: RTÉ showed up but many organisations thumb their noses at Oireachtas committeesIt was a good week for politicians as they put the national broadcaster in the spotlight but many companies and state bodies refuse to attend when invited for questioning
Opinion Elaine Byrne: The state has a duty to be prudent about spending money on court casesThe launch of the Attorney General’s State Litigation Principles is welcome, but it is unclear how they will work in practice
Comment Elaine Byrne: How ‘new’ Sinn Féin is ditching its old ways – and preparing for governmentThe party is disengaging from entrenched positions to make itself more palatable to both the middle classes and potential coalition partners
Analysis Elaine Byrne: Fine Gael, in trying to ride two horses at once, stands alienated from its baseInstead of regressing inward to its core base, Fine Gael should be following the smart money and owning biodiversity by rebranding it as a progressive policy
Legal Elaine Byrne: Making public inquiries more efficient is at the state’s fingertips if it would just listenJudge Cregan’s final report on the Siteserv affair contains perfectly sensible solutions to reform interminable public inquiries that have been said before and it’s time the government actually heeded these recommendations
Politics Elaine Byrne: Fine Gael in danger of becoming the cuckoo in the nest with budget kitesThe other government parties have thrown their hands up at what is viewed as an early play by junior ministers to take credit for popular measures in the upcoming budget
Artificial Intelligence Elaine Byrne: The rapid spread of AI means the truth now has many faces Artificial intelligence has the power to distort democracy and impact our lives in ways we cannot imagine yet
Citizens' Assembly Elaine Byrne: Citizens Assembly will hopefully hear some long-awaited honesty about drug useEven though the use of illegal drugs in Ireland is prevalent in every community in Ireland, there is still a stifling stigma around the issue so the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use should serve to legitimise the debate around decriminalisation
Politics Elaine Byrne: DUP’s stand against Irish on shaky ground now King Charles has embraced itThe newly anointed British head of state, and revered monarch to the unionist party, included the language in his coronation and lauded it as part of a ‘rich heritage’ which needs to be preserved
