Peter Farrelly

The fall of Afghanistan shows Europe can no longer depend on the US & UK to protect our security interests

Peter Farrelly on August 16, 2021, 6:55 pm

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The rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the deafening silence from the White House and UK Government demonstrates one of the most extraordinary blunders of intelligence and analysis in history in regard to the strength of the Taliban. The Taliban’s lightning onslaught is far quicker than those in power can even arrange a meeting to formulate a response. While some may lay the blame on former President Trump who formerly announced the withdrawal of US troops from the region in …

European Super League proposal a stab in the back to the sport we hold so dear

Peter Farrelly on April 19, 2021, 8:56 pm

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It has been bubbling away in the background for months. But finally last night the hammer blow was dealt, a new European Super League was announced with 15 founding clubs. This league has guaranteed automatic qualification for all founding clubs. There will be mechanisms in place for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season. Yes, you read that right, only 5 other teams across the whole of Europe. However, the European Super League …

Irish Political leaders building cautious consensus on a United Ireland

Peter Farrelly on March 24, 2021, 4:09 pm

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It was quite refreshing to see a reasonable debate on a United Ireland on Claire Byrne Live on Monday. There were pivotal moments from the get-go with Mary Lou McDonald and Leo Varadkar seeming to build a cautious consensus together in regard to the Northern Ireland question and how to go about it. It certainly felt from the outside looking in, a true start to the conversation of seeking Irish unity in the South in the modern era. For many …

Why Anti-Lockdown Protests Should Be Banned

Peter Farrelly on March 1, 2021, 3:44 pm

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The unsavoury and despicable scenes during an anti-lockdown protest on Saturday brought shame to our capital. Fuelled by conspiracy theories that are rampant across social media, brought a violent edge to an already misguided protest in the middle of a pandemic. There are genuine frustrations for many people regarding lockdowns but protesting in this current climate, while breaking public health guidelines undermines so much. Anti-lockdown protests should be banned. There is a fine line being played here with the right …

Do not let your loyalty become slavery

Peter Farrelly on February 18, 2021, 1:49 pm

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Seven weeks. That is the number of weeks since Christmas Eve 2020. Remember the day? The UK celebrated the “oven-ready” Brexit deal brokered with the European Union. A deal heralded by the British Government as the perfect Christmas present for all those within the UK. Seven weeks. That is the number of weeks it took for some members of the British Government to start murmuring discontent at their prestigious deal of leaving one union to solidify their own. “Teething issues” …

In a time of unprecedented threat, we need calm heads, and an ability to change our minds.

Peter Farrelly on February 2, 2021, 7:30 am

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I do not think I need to overly emphasise how chaotic of a start to the year 2021 has been. From spiralling Covid-19 cases both sides of the border caused by a strain that came from Britain, the effects of Brexit, vaccinations programmes some of which have been thrown in the dark by pharmaceutical companies promising the world and the sun, any mention of an ‘All-Island Approach’ and not to forget, the heavy daily debates which surround all of the …

The deep failure to re-open Special Schools in Ireland

Peter Farrelly on January 25, 2021, 9:22 am

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Ireland finds itself as the outlier in Europe for all the wrong reasons. We are the only country to have not reopened special education settings in the New Year. One of the harshest lessons the Department of Education learned during the first wave of Covid-19 in Ireland was the failure to reopen Special Education settings. It was damning and heart-breaking reading and hearing the stories of devastation the first wave of the pandemic caused for the parents of kids with …

“Covid-19 does not care about the Battle of the Boyne…”

Peter Farrelly on December 24, 2020, 10:16 am

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These were words ushered by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly in a recent Newstalk interview when asked about an all-island approach being adopted to tackle Covid-19. The irritation in his voice evident. The events over the past week will only strengthen his contempt for the Northern Ireland Executive. His Northern Ireland counterpart, Robin Swann, claimed they were blindsided by Ireland’s ban on travel from Britain and did not see it coming. Quite an extraordinary claim given the heavy media speculation …

Why other countries should draw inspiration from the Irish Government’s early response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Peter Farrelly on December 8, 2020, 7:00 pm

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When an outbreak of a virus such as Covid-19 occurs, where vaccines, drug treatments and high levels of testing do not yet exist, the communication that is delivered in the early days, both accurate and credible, is by the far the strongest medicine in any government’s arsenal. The reality is, in these early days, the capability of the virus is relatively unknown. Given the number of people infected by coronavirus around the world was minimal at the start, the data …

Sinn Féin’s historical revisionism has nowhere to hide

Peter Farrelly on November 28, 2020, 5:21 pm

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Trying to rewrite history is never a good idea. So when Sinn Féin’s official social media account claimed at the weekend that “On this day in 1905 Sinn Féin was founded” and proceeded to say that on that day “we outlined our position”, it naturally raised a few eyebrows within the historian community. The thing is with historians, they are fact-based people, so if you lie about something in history they will ruthlessly expose you for it. The backlash to …

Disregarding the poppy will only hinder Irish unity

Peter Farrelly on November 17, 2020, 4:12 pm

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It seemed the annual poppy debate, like many events in 2020, was cancelled or run with socially distanced measures in place. It was not until Taoiseach Micheál Martin appeared in Enniskillen, laying a wreath on Remembrance Day that the topic resurfaced down in the South. It is not an overly new occurrence of a Taoiseach attending such event. Enda Kenny during his time as Taoiseach, started the tradition and was followed by Leo Varadkar and now Micheál Martin.

The Dignity of Democracy in the Dáil…

Peter Farrelly on November 11, 2020, 9:43 am

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With the US Presidential Race engulfing the news in recent times, it felt like it took the spotlight off the controversy that had been surrounding Leo Varadkar. Two days after facing a 120-minute grilling from opposition parties in the Dáil regarding the sharing of a confidential document to his ‘friend’ Maitiu O’Tuathail, Varadkar once again entered the Dáil to answer Leaders Questions from the opposition. Pearse Doherty, still unsatisfied with the answers the Tánaiste gave on Tuesday, began probing the …