I’ve put together a portfolio featuring a selection of my articles from the Sunday Independent, The Irish Times, The Sunday Times, The Spectator and The Independent (UK edition) on Contently. It can be viewed by clicking here.
Category Archives: Blog posts
Give me your tired, your poor…
Give the banks your tired, your poor, your unemployed masses yearning to be debt and mortgage-free, The wretched toxic debts of Europe’s austerity-ridden shores, Send the hopeless citizens and taxpayers, who have lost their democracies to the streets, I lift my lamp beside the doors of the EU, the IMF … Continue reading
Offsetting my ‘08 and ‘09 carbon footprints
Having not offset my carbon emissions in the past few years. I’ve offset 260 tonnes of CO2 by protecting an acre of rainforest through Cool Earth and also helped to protect 1,000 trees through the Sky Rainforest Project. My carbon footprint last year included a small number of flights to the UK and Ireland, … Continue reading
Imagining a better education
It’s unlikely that many secondary school students will read an article in today’s Observer on the importance of critical, creative, imaginative and analytical thinking. If they did, they might demand a better education from their teachers rather than reluctantly being spoonfed what their teachers hope will come up in the … Continue reading
Does consumerism impact our inventiveness?
BBC Panorama reporter John Ware’s programme The Death of Respect was particularly thought-provoking earlier this week in how he scrutinised the rise of individualism over the idea of personal responsibility and obligations to one’s community and wider society. Many of the issues he raised are as relevant to Ireland as they … Continue reading
An observation on The Ryan Report
ONE of the outcomes of the Ryan report here in Ireland was that the media reported on the frankly obscene wealth of many of the religious orders here and around the world. I see no reason why any of them should be allowed to hold onto their wealth, which runs into … Continue reading
Irish Green Business News: Part Two
As I previously alluded to here, I will be writing monthly roundups of green business news in both the Irish Times Innovation business magazine and monthly business magazine Business Plus. In Innovation, the topics covered will occasionally have an international slant, tending to look at developments and innovation in this area. In … Continue reading
Welcome
I am a freelance journalist who currently writes news, features and interviews for the business pages of Ireland’s Sunday Independent. I also contribute a monthly roundup of green business news for an Economics page in the Irish Times Innovation business magazine and a similar section, with an Irish focus, in Business Plus magazine. … Continue reading
Irish Green Business News: Part One
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve begun to make some interesting contacts here in Ireland who are involved in various startups, businesses and organisations in the green business sector There seems to be a bit of a niche in writing about this subject, in particular in looking at the innovations, the business … Continue reading
Offsetting My 2007 Carbon Footprint
It’s unlikely that I’m the first carbon neutral journalist, but you never know. While Ireland is waking up to its poor record on environmental matters and carbon emissions, I’ve developed a sense of eco-guilt over the past few years. According to UN figures, Ireland’s per capital emissions were about 17 tonnes … Continue reading