Search Results for 'Trump'

Election 2020 is in full throttle daily. Fair dues to the radio stations, they are giving it great coverage. Each day we have the different debates, the different manifestos, where the leaders will be, what they will be discussing, and of course there is the ongoing drama of what could be the latest row between the leaders, Leo and Micheál.

While voters in the Republic of Ireland go to the polls on February 8, it may be instructive for us to cast our minds back to December and the general election in Britain, as that contest contained a warning for the Irish Left that it would do well to heed.

The scene of the Sunday morning breakfast table in Biarritz at the beginning of the recent G7 summit was a sobering one for Irish viewers. President Donald Tump and prime minister Boris Johnson, leaders of the two countries that would traditionally be considered our main allies, egging each other on in pursuit of a hard Brexit that would be detrimental to this country.

As I am compiling this weekly column for the Advertiser, people in the US are voting in the mid-term elections for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So by the time my column appears the results will be fully out. I hope that the polls which are forecasting Democratic wins in the House of Representatives are correct, but of course our belief in polls has run low. President Trump has put a huge effort into shoring up the Republican seats in both the Congress and the Senate, and he has campaigned tirelessly for the last 10 days hoping to consolidate the Republican vote. It seems that the US is viewing these mid-term elections as a referendum on President Trump and his handling of the US. So it will be very intriguing to see the results and to see whether the Democrats will come back in charge of the House of Representatives.

Last week Fine Gael held its annual party think-in at the Galway Bay Hotel and, on Thursday morning, I had a sit-down with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to hear his thoughts on a range of local and national issues.

This has been a tremendously interesting week. Before we begin on our usual chat and conversation, there is one item which is outstanding and which we simply should reflect upon, and that is the rescue of the 12-member boys soccer team and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

Irish Special Forces (the Army Ranger Wing) operated in Western-occupied Afghanistan under NATO command, it was revealed last month, thanks to TD Clare Daly’s parliamentary question. The story received no media coverage. The operational purpose of these troops was not revealed. However, like Special Forces the world over, it was not pencils they were sharpening.

Everyone connected with rugby, both players and viewers, should be so glad to have Italy in the competition. Last weekend saw a huge victory for Ireland in all three matches – the main match, the women’s match and the U20s. Big victories all round and well done to everyone concerned.

Well, we all know Christmas is coming, but before that comes about, so much has happened in the past week that it is difficult to know quite where to begin.

Last Friday, as Storm Brian dragged its squalls of wind and rain across the city, I met Ireland’s new French Ambassador, Stepháne Crouzat in the snug environs of the Black Gate Centre on St Francis Street. It was an ‘entente tres cordiale’ as Stephane’s soft-spoken, warm, and personable manner is the very embodiment of diplomacy.