Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

This weekend, Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan reports on the whirlwind first 16 days of the Trump presidency. The last week alone has seen a dizzying blizzard of stories coming out of the White House. Last weekend, Donald Trump announced that the US would impose punitive 25 per cent tariffs on its two closest neighbours and allies, Canada and Mexico.

Jan 12, 2025 | irishtimes.com | Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

This week Mark Zuckerberg of Meta announced sweeping changes to the rules governing what can or cannot be posted on the company’s platforms – Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta, he announced, will no longer pay teams of fact-checkers to identify misleading information. It will also relax its regulations on the levels of abuse – personal or political – that are permitted.

Dec 8, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

While Ireland’s political parties took the business of forming a new government at a leisurely pace, dramatic moves in Europe, the Middle East and Asia this week have shaken up the kaleidoscope of world events. The consequences could be far-reaching for all of us, not least because they are playing out against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s preparations to bring institutional disruption, if not chaos, to Washington.

Nov 24, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

As we head into the last four days of this general election campaign, the pace and intensity of the competition for votes has noticeably increased. But there still remains a sense that the central theme of the campaign has not yet emerged. (It is of course possible that no such theme exists.)Voters’ concerns are well known, as they have been for some time. Cost of living, which has driven incumbents from power in elections across the world this year, is chief among them.

Nov 17, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

The first full week of the general election campaign flew by in a blizzard of manifestos, promises and policy announcements. At times it was difficult to discern an overall narrative, although one recurring theme was the sniping between the two main parties of the current Government. Despite having co-existed relatively amicably for the last 4½ years, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil showed considerable enthusiasm for the fight, which, if anything, escalated as the week wore on.