An Phoblacht's famous weekly satirical column. Read on... Free article

BY MICK DERRIG. I realise that I will have to argue for this, but I think it is a worthwhile exercise. As republicans on this island we have been, for generations, concerned with human progress - basically, the democratisation of this island. The 1916 Proclamation is, in its essence, about the establishment of a structure, The Republic, which will allow the Irish people to express their will free of foreign interference. Free article

This new electronic voting system is to be introduced this year, but there are a few questions about it that haven't quite been clarified, says AN DRAOI RUA. Caithfidh mé a admháil nach bhfuil mé go hiomlán ar mo shuaimhneas maidir leis an chóras úr vótála atá le teacht i bhfeidhm ar fud na sé chontae is fiche i mbliana. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil mé i m'aonar ach oiread. Free article

At the end of the day, all politics are local. It's at the local level that your needs are met, or not: that you have enough to eat, somewhere to live and a way to earn a few bob. It's at the local level that your human rights are vindicated, or denied. It's at the local level that people live. But there's another sense in which this is not true at all. Whether you get a job, a house, admission to hospital and so on, is not determined at local level at all. Free article

The latest revelations about former Fianna Fáil Minister Pádraig Flynn and his daughter Beverly underline once again that politics in the 26 Counties is fundamentally corrupt. Evidence before the Mahon tribunal from property developer Tom Gilmartin alleges that not only did Flynn receive a £50,000 cheque from the developer, but that his daughter Beverley, a sitting Fianna Fáil TD, allegedly helped him to stash the money in an illegal offshore account. Free article