Author: Michael Green

Michael Green is Manager of The Information about Ireland Site
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Increase in Support for Fianna Fail as Government Parties Suffer

Michael Green

A recent opinion poll of Irish voters has shown a further increase in support for Fianna Fail. The party that has been blamed for the current economic downturn was pummeled in the last General Election but is now beginning to show signs of recovery. Perhaps part of the reason for Fianna Fail’s rebound is the failure of Fine Gael to introduce a ‘new kind of politics’ as they promised. At the last General Election Enda Kenny’s party asked Fianna Fail supporters to ‘lend us your vote’ while they got the country back on track. Many voters did and it seems … Continue reading Increase in Support for Fianna Fail as Government Parties Suffer

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Big Increase in Smoking Among Irish Women

Michael Green

There has been a big increase in the number of Irish women who smoke cigarettes. One in three Irish women now smoke regularly with lung cancer now overtaking breast cancer as the main cause of cancer death among women in Ireland. Tobacco companies have been blamed for targeting women, depicting their products as glamorous and buying high-profile endorsements in television programs such as ‘Sex in the City’, among others. The desire of younger women especially to curb their weight has also led to an increase in smoking since the use of cigarettes curbs appetite. Perhaps most depressing is the statistic … Continue reading Big Increase in Smoking Among Irish Women

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Flag Protests Continue in Ulster

Michael Green

The demonstrations by Ulster Unionists over the Union Jack Flag controversy have continued with no end in sight. The protests were sparked by the recent decision by Belfast City Council to restrict the number of days that the British Union Jack flag would be flown above Belfast City Hall from 365 days to 17. Increasingly violent protests have been taking place with Belfast business owners despairing at the loss of revenue and warning of possible job losses. Unionist protesters are even planning to demonstrate outside the Irish parliament building (Dail Eireann) in an event that is certain to be met with … Continue reading Flag Protests Continue in Ulster

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Irish Property Market May Rebound

Michael Green

The part that the collapse in the Irish property market played in destroying the Irish economy has been well documented. The 2007 height of the market now seems like an eternity ago with prices falling by as much as 47% according to the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO). The market collapsed, the banks collapsed, the economy collapsed. The EU, IMF and ECB provided loans to Ireland to keep the country running on condition that part of these loans was used to pay back bondholders in Europe, many of whom were based in Germany and France. The punitive rate of interest … Continue reading Irish Property Market May Rebound

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Memories of an Irish Christmas by Marie O’Byrne

Michael Green

‘Hurry today love, there’s a lot that needs to get done. We have to catch the early bus into Bray to pick up the turkey!’ My mother spoke fast and very excitedly as she handed me the empty milk pail. It was early in the morning on Christmas Eve. I put on my wool coat and hat, grabbed the milk pail and ran out the door. I was about twelve years old. Running across the fields to the Massey Farm, I could see the small footprints I made in the frosty morning grass, and I could feel the hard ground … Continue reading Memories of an Irish Christmas by Marie O’Byrne

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Trouble Continues in Ulster Over Flag Restrictions

Michael Green

The decision by Belfast City Council to restrict the number of days that the British Union Jack flag can be flown above Belfast City Hall from 365 days to 17 has been greeted with an escalating amount of violent protest in Belfast and beyond. At least 27 police officers have so far been injured in the violence that has followed several protests by loyalists who oppose the decision. Bricks and petrol bombs have been thrown at security forces, cars burned and death threats made to Councillors. Despite appeals by the North’s First Minister Peter Robinson,himself a loyalist, for the violence … Continue reading Trouble Continues in Ulster Over Flag Restrictions

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Osborne, Lavery and Leech – A Trio Of Irish Painters

Michael Green

Walter Osborne was born in 1859. He painted mainly in the French Brittany region of Quimperle but moved to England in 1884. His paintings of rural scenes that dominated his early years gradually gave way to an ‘impressionistic’ interpretation of those subjects that he had great empathy for, namely women, small children and old people. His superb images of young girls at play are still cherished by the National Gallery of Ireland: The Dolls School, The House Builders. John Lavery was born in Belfast but was educated in Glasgow, London and Paris. He originally worked as an apprentice photographer but … Continue reading Osborne, Lavery and Leech – A Trio Of Irish Painters