The academic philosopher Julian Baggini claims the ‘fundamental basis of reasoning about matters of fact is empirical – based on observation and experience’. Simply put, observing the evidence for yourself. Once we undertook a decision to travel to the States, we undertook a historical road trip, observing, the great pillars […]

The Israel invasion of Gaza has caused a huge reaction worldwide. Yet despite the tens of thousands of civilian deaths, it has been allowed to run for five months unabated. Over the next two issues, I want to explore the history and politics of this conflict, to bring a deeper […]

The opening line in Charles Dickens’ much-loved novel, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is the often quoted one – ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. Has it ever been any other way? The narrative of the book spanned the run-up to the French Revolution, […]

On November 23, 2023, Dublin bordered on the brink of anarchy. The riots fuelled by far-right propagandists and lit by criminal opportunists, racists and anarchists engulfed Dublin for a few scary hours. Scary, not by virtue of scale or duration, but because something like this, was happening in Ireland. Three […]

Jordan had been on my radar for years, as a place I was keen on exploring. It’s a country teeming with history and biblical landmarks. It has borders on the Red Sea, an ocean teeming with a kaleidoscope of colourful life, and the Dead Sea where nothing can live because […]

The great Chinese philosopher Confucius in his teachings wrote, ‘He who seeks revenge, digs two graves’. With Confucius’ advice being issued over two and a half millennia ago, one would think humanity would have learned how to interact and live side by side. The abhorrent killing of innocent Israeli citizens […]