When Ursula von der Leyen announced Canada as the EU’s first “associate member” before a cheering European Parliament, there was just one problem: no such status exists under the treaties, and even Canada rushed to deny wanting anything of the sort. Eoin Ó Murchú examines how this embarrassing episode exposes a deeper contempt for democracy in Brussels, from the unratified CETA agreement to the treaty rules that quietly forbid the kind of state-led economy Ireland actually needs.

A new Sky series called “The Wargame” gathers real politicians and military leaders to simulate a Russian attack on Britain, and John Molloy argues it is far more than harmless drama. He examines how such programming manufactures foreign enemies while masking the real threats of domestic austerity, the slaughter in Gaza, and the steady erosion of Irish neutrality.

Scríobhann Eoin Ó Murchú ar son Unity:

Ag comhdháil Chumann na gCoimisinéirí Teanga i nGaillimh, léirigh Pól Deeds agus Séamas Ó Concheanainn imní faoin dul chun cinn atá á dhéanamh maidir le seirbhísí Stáit a sholáthar trí Ghaeilge, thuaidh agus theas.

Dúirt sé go bhfuil teip i ndán do phlean an rialtais feabhas a chur ar sheirbhísí poiblí i nGaeilge, gan cur chuige ceart ionraic.

When Israeli intelligence officers anonymously testified to a deliberate policy of mass killing in a documentary that earned a record 24.5-minute ovation at Venice, its filmmakers were branded traitors and threatened with losing their citizenship. This article by Dianne Kirby examines whether Britain’s recent sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements mark a genuine political turning point or merely a hollow gesture designed to protect Israel from itself.

Meet Daniel Thomas, the fee-paying school graduate turned “Danny Tommo” who traded a kidnapping conviction for religious rebranding and now leads all black clad anti-migrant demonstrations across Britain. This article traces his connections to Belfast figures with convictions ranging from bank robbery to sectarian murder, and asks whether these self styled Christian patriots are simply the Blackshirts of the 1930s in modern dress.

Once a fringe media talking point, “net zero hysteria” has become the rallying cry of Reform and the Conservatives, who wield selective statistics to argue that Britain need not bother cutting emissions while heatwaves scorch England and glaciers collapse in Nepal. This piece by Mike Morrissey takes apart the numbers behind the anti net zero argument, from the UK’s outsized historical emissions to the global renewables boom that sceptics conveniently ignore.

When President Trump used a visit to Ireland to muse that a united Ireland is “going to happen eventually” and “may as well happen now,” his remarks drew antagonism from the DUP and sharp rebukes from those who see them as a distraction from war and genocide abroad. This article by Lynda Walker asks a harder question: how do we build an independent Ireland for the working class?

The Irish language once appeared on Orange Lodge banners and was preached by Presbyterian ministers, yet today it is being framed as one of the most divisive issues in the debate over a United Ireland. Eoin Ó Murchú examines why both Unionist parties and the Southern Establishment have turned against our language, and what recognition it should be granted if reunification comes to pass.

Every year we are told that 9/11 “changed the world,” but the phrase conveniently omits what came after: the Iraq war, Afghanistan, and a War on Terror that has claimed millions of lives. Raymond O’Connell challenges Fintan O’Toole’s take on the anniversary and asks why atrocities such as the nine year bombing campaign that dropped 270 million bombs on Laos never enter the conversation.

When Andy Burnham declared a border poll “off the table,” he set off a fierce dispute over what the Belfast Agreement actually requires and who has the right to demand a referendum. This piece examines the competing claims of Michelle O’Neill, Malachy O’Doherty and others, and asks whether a future Farage government could change the calculation entirely.