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Kathy Sheridan

Kathy Sheridan

The Irish Times

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Not-quite-Independents are emerging as the new political force

In case you imagined that we have only a handful of political parties, well, the news is we have 29. Yep, 29. All legally registered with the...

24.04.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Politics attracts some idiots and narcissists - but most are still driven by a desire to do good

When a Vietnamese property tycoon was sentenced to death last week for one of the biggest corruption cases in history, Paddy Cosgrave – currently...

17.04.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Whose needs would a Progressive Democrats 2.0 serve?

The growing demand for a proper right-wing party or “return to traditional values”, like whiplash, is hard to pin down. “Enough is enough”...

10.04.2024 7

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

I split my house with my daughter, without government help. Stop shaming ‘empty nesters’

It’s Easter, a time when our thoughts inevitably turn to Connolly and Pearse and the current state of the kip they died for. They would be amazed...

03.04.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

If politicians like Varadkar and Ardern are burnt out, it’s a sign of the corrosive nature of politics

There was no mystery in the Opposition’s barking response to Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation last week. He had opened up an appalling vista where...

27.03.2024 40

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Where were the Men for Mothers brigade when there was cleaning and caring to be done?

This is your regular reminder that functioning human brains are capable of accommodating several ideas at the same time. Yes, the referendums were...

13.03.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Spare me the so-called ‘true patriots’ who preach about freedom

There are always those who preach about “freedom”, but only their own. This week three years ago, at the height of Covid, some of them paraded...

06.03.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Catherine Martin mistook a gotcha moment for a meaningful political move

Nothing better illustrates the futility of chasing policy by Twitter/Telegram than the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A Snapshot polls. Check out the moving bar...

28.02.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

‘Male, pale and stale’ might be a trite old cliche, but there’s a reason why it has stuck in politics

Maria Walsh was responding to a journalist’s question when she took a swipe at Fianna Fáil’s three confirmed European candidates as “male, pale...

21.02.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Trump’s flaming chainsaw circus act is back. And so is the media gravy train

Way back in 2016 TV network chiefs knew the destruction they were wreaking with their 24/7 razzle-dazzle Trump coverage. “It may not be good for...

14.02.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Michelle O’Neill looks to the future, while Joe Brolly seems stuck in the past

Michelle O’Neill’s walk into history via Stormont’s imposing staircase presented an image of ownership and intent, expressed outwardly with a...

07.02.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

We can thank Brexit for one thing: it’s a lesson in how to spot opportunists, liars and zealots

Coming up to eight years since the Brexit referendum, four to the day since Brexit proper was celebrated with Big Ben bongs and a countdown clock...

31.01.2024 8

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Has the world forgotten what it means to elect a fascist?

Big questions are being asked about democracy. Around two billion people – about half the world’s adult population – will have a chance to vote...

24.01.2024 20

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Why are Americans worried about Joe Biden’s age and not Trump’s?

Chances of an 82-year-old Joe Biden making it through a second term? They veer from commentator Niall O’Dowd’s super-optimistic assessment in a...

17.01.2024 30

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Demonisation of single, migrant men has bounced from far-right into the mainstream

“It’s the man in your bed, not the man under your bed you should be worried about,” the former State pathologist Marie Cassidy said when asked...

10.01.2024 20

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

This year let’s banish ‘following your gut’, ‘centrist dads’ and entertaining politics

You will find no new year resolutions here. Make plans and God laughs. But 2024 will be an election year in many places including Ireland so, in some...

03.01.2024 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

From Gaza to Afghanistan to the Criminal Courts of Justice, this was a bleak year for women

Two years on, we still do not know why Jozef Puska opted to turn the advantages he had been given in life to the destruction of a beautiful, joyful...

27.12.2023 8

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Scorching irony of a politician declaring ‘the inn is full’ at Christmas

“The inn is full,” said Cllr Noel Thomas, after the arsonists’ handiwork on a refugee shelter in Rosscahill while carefully not defending it....

20.12.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Anger is everywhere. We need more imaginative forms of justice

A young woman who cycles to work in Dublin describes the daily challenge when the cycleway turns left at a bridge but she has to keep straight ahead...

13.12.2023 30

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

A world preoccupied by a burning Palestine suits Putin’s purpose

It is impossible to sit in company without the suffering, defenceless children of Gaza fading in and out of the conversation. A relentless news cycle...

06.12.2023 7

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

When Elon Musk says Conor McGregor should run for office, reality has overtaken parody

There are no limits to human misunderstanding, wrote the historian and diplomat Harold Nicolson. “The line of comprehension runs strict and narrow...

29.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Women’s bodies have always been a battlefield in war

For anyone who has risked a glimpse at social media, the images are indelible. The twisted body of a 23-year-old Israeli-German, Shani Louk, paraded...

22.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Suella Braverman lived down to everything that was expected of her

Observing the grim parade of female Tory politicians, one is reminded of the truism that we will only have equality when there are as many mediocre...

15.11.2023 20

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Tired of hearing about Elon Musk? You’re part of the problem

Mention Elon Musk or his Twitter (X) platform in company and at least half the listeners will adopt a talk-to-the-hand posture. At a recent gathering,...

01.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

For the love of God, don’t make me defend Paddy Cosgrave

Eleven days in Paddy Cosgrave’s Twitter/X life reveal something beyond the fact that the former Web Summit CEO’s comment that “war crimes are...

25.10.2023 5

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Stop making excuses for why children don’t walk to school any more

The air of lassitude around school traffic planning is remarkable. Stand outside a primary school gate at drop-off or collection times and watch the...

18.10.2023 30

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Butchery and raw terror in Israel has remade the face of the Middle East

One of the tragedies of the Israel/Palestine conflict is that up to this horrific weekend, it could have defined the term compassion fatigue. A friend...

11.10.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

The fall of crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried: A modern morality tale

Two fraud trials start in New York this week and of course Donald Trump’s is grabbing the front pages. But the case against Sam Bankman-Fried,...

04.10.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Kathy Sheridan: Several of Leinster House’s more vocal actors should be shuffling their consciences

How did we get here? How did we reach a point where an “angry” mob can control the movements of elected politicians in and out of our parliament?...

27.09.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Toxic culture of 2000s gave us Russell Brand but 2020s produced Andrew Tate

“That’s just who he is, that’s what he does. That’s just Russell,” said Alice, who was a 16-year-old schoolgirl when Russell Brand had her...

20.09.2023 10

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

Toxic culture of 2000s gave us Russell Brand but 2020s produced Andrew Tate

“That’s just who he is, that’s what he does. That’s just Russell,” said Alice, who was a 16-year-old schoolgirl when Russell Brand had her...

20.09.2023 6

The Irish Times

Kathy Sheridan

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