Rory Fitzgerald

There is a stark generation gap in Europe. There is an older generation, reared in the aftermath of the Second World War, who regard the EU as a bulwark against some future European conflict. The EU, they believe, is the guarantor of peace and prosperity in Europe. Then, there are...

The light of democracy is being extinguished across the continent in which it was born. An unaccountable European elite is ignoring the basic principles of democracy and betraying the founding vision of the EU.

This week, Angela Merkel set out her chilling vision of the EU...

Today, the 26th of January, is Australia Day. It's currently summer down there, which gives you some idea just how weird the place is. The also have mammals that lay eggs, and various other animals that look like they were dreamed up during a bad acid trip. Most importantly though,...

It's starting to look like all those crazy 2012 prophecies might not be so wide of the mark after all. Even as the world is transfixed by the slow-motion implosion of the eurozone, reports are emerging that Israel might strike Iran's nuclear facilities early in the New Year. The unpredictable...

Baroness Ashton, the EU's Foreign Minister recently said: "You know the European Union has, at its heart, democracy, the rule of law, human rights -- these are our values and we believe these must be respected by the Egyptian authorities."

However, for all her fine words about democracy, Ms Ashton...

China has spent much of its history behind walls of its own design. Historically, it was always an advanced nation: equal, and often superior, to the European nations in many respects.

Yet by the mid-nineteenth century it had fallen far behind the West economically and technologically. One incident, a mere...

Demography is destiny. This axiom is underlined by HSBC's "World in 2050″ survey.

The bank's detailed analysis is based on the theoretical work of Harvard professor Robert Barro. It analyzes everything from fertility rates to education levels and the rule of law, and predicts that the world's economic output...

Like a B-29 pilot gazing down at the smoking ruins of Hiroshima, Bertie Ahern, with grim satisfaction, says "my work here is done," and heads for home.

Bertie has had a major impact on this small island, but his war is over. On his flight back to the safety of...

Ireland's state-owned "bad bank" NAMA has announced an unconventional plan to recover assets from real estate developer's wives using a team of crack gigolos.

At a hastily arranged press conference this evening NAMA chairman Mr Frank Daly said, "We have hired over one hundred mostly Italian guys to seduce these...

The European Court of Human Rights' ruling on Ireland's abortion laws prompted a flurry of misleading headlines and inaccurate reporting this morning. The Irish Times' headline said: "Irish abortion laws breach human rights, court rules," RTE led with "Human rights violated by abortion ban" and even CNN chimed in with...

"Burn the bondholders!" has been the blood-curdling cry from the Irish man in the street ever since the devastating scale of Ireland's bank bailout became clear. Now it's time to get out the matches.

In October, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that junior bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank would be...

The EU Commission has called the Irish government's Four Year Plan a "cornerstone" of the bailout package currently under discussion between Ireland, Europe and the IMF.

Market insiders have called the plan "staggeringly austere" and the proof of their scepticism lies in the fact that bond yields widened further still...

Last night Irish left-wing politician Pat Rabbitte went ballistic with a government minister live on air. On the day the IMF arrived in Dublin, Rabbitte seemed to psychically channel the Irish nation's anger and directed it very effectively at Irish government minister Pat Carey. Online reactions suggests a lot of...

The mood here in Dublin is one of disbelief. Only 24 months ago Ireland was ranked as one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Now we are bust.

Amid the panic, radical ideas are being seriously mooted by serious thinkers: Former bank chief Mike Soden and writer Frederick Forsyth...

Ireland's Prime Minister this morning announced, to a hushed parliament, that he was declaring war on the Cayman Islands.

Mr. Cowen said, "We have spent the past three years struggling with austerity measures and initiatives to re-invigorate our economy. Nothing has worked."

"Meanwhile we have an under-utilised military which could...

Breakfast time, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.

Michelle: Hey B, do you want bacon or eggs for breakfast?

Barack: I reject the false choice between bacon and eggs. I dream of a world where every American, no matter what their religion or ethnicity can have both...

In a startling and unprovoked attack on Paul the Psychic Octopus, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the octopus a symbol of Western decadence and accused him of spreading "western propaganda and superstition."

Paul was mentioned by Mr. Ahmadinejad on a number of occasions during a speech...

They say that God has a sense of humor. Some might be surprised, or even amused, by the idea that Sinéad O'Connor is now a powerful voice for renewal in the scandal-hit Catholic Church.

Although she is often imagined to be hostile to Catholicism, she in fact holds a...

In the face of threats that he would be turned in to calamari, Paul the Psychic Octopus bravely, and accurately, predicted Germany's defeat by Spain yesterday. The German-based psychic octopus has now achieved a 100% accurate prediction rate for the World Cup 2010.

An unexpected media phenomenon of the World...

At first glance, the Irish and Jewish peoples seem radically different. But scratch the surface and they begin to look like twins separated at birth. The stories of these two wandering tribes share many extraordinary parallels.

The Irish writer Brendan Behan once remarked, "Others have a nationality. The Irish and...