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Keywords: Irish Politics

  • RELIGION

    Human rights and Christian lawyers

    • Frank Brennan
    • 18 July 2011
    5 Comments

    When I appeared on Q&A with Christopher Hitchens, a young man asked whether we can 'ever hope to live in a truly secular society' while the religious continue to 'affect political discourse and decision making' on euthanasia, same-sex unions and abortion. Hitchens was simpaticao. I was dumbstruck.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The religious beliefs of Australia's prime ministers

    • John Warhurst
    • 11 November 2010
    12 Comments

    Nine prime ministers have been observant Christians. Two have been conventional Christians. Ten have been nominal Christians. Five have been articulate atheists or agnostics. One was a nominal atheist or agnostic.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Kristina Keneally's rational Catholic conscience

    • Tony Smith
    • 15 October 2010
    39 Comments

    Traditionally, Catholic-Labor links have been so strong that wits described the Church as 'the Labor Party at prayer'. NSW Labor Premier Kristina Keneally represents a growingly assertive Catholicism which might be described as progressive, rational and independent.

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  • EUREKA STREET/ READER'S FEAST AWARD

    Teaching children to read the Aboriginal world

    • Nigel Pearn
    • 18 August 2010
    3 Comments

    The book was banned after parents complained about its anti-authoritarian attitude: 'Wanja [the dog] loved to chase the [police] van ... to bark at the van ... to bite at the wheel. The police van would drive away.' Like Jewish humour, Aboriginal humour is a response to a history of oppression.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The trial and sentencing of Comrade Duch

    • Tony Kevin
    • 28 July 2010
    2 Comments

    The former head of the Khmer Rouge's main interrogation centre has just been sentenced to 30 years prison. There are important lessons internationally. If a state becomes evil, its orders must be resisted.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    In Thailand, the land of snarls

    • Simon Roughneen
    • 24 May 2010

    Standing amid the burnt-out ruins of southeast Asia's second biggest shopping mall, it becomes clear the Land of Smiles has become a land of snarls. The uncompromising quashing of the anti-government redshirt rally by the Thai army may have sown the seeds for more conflict later on.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    UK kingmaker Clegg wise to wait

    • Peter Scally
    • 11 May 2010
    5 Comments

    Gordon Brown's dignified resignation underlines the fact that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's options in choosing a coalition partner remain open. He is wise not to rush a decision to finalise a deal. After the election that everybody lost, a coalition that works could make winners of the British people.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Tasmanian Greens and the terror of coalitions

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 23 March 2010
    6 Comments

    The Greens are arguably the true winners of Saturday's inconclusive Tasmanian state election. The Rudd Government should be worried. An arrangement with the Greens may be unavoidable should Labor wish to retain power.

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  • RELIGION

    Schooling for a more cohesive society

    • Frank Brennan
    • 19 March 2010
    4 Comments

    The challenges and opportunities are to fund equitably all networks in education and to ensure that robust morale and community engagement are hallmarks of all parts of the network, including state schools and emerging schools such as Muslim schools.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Legacy of a whingeing bogan

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 17 February 2010
    14 Comments

    It's official: Pauline Hanson the whingeing bogan will soon become a whingeing Pom. She may not remain in Australia in body, but her spirit will stay with us for decades. Our politics, media and public discourse have been infected by Hansonite thinking.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Irish radical Jesuit's life down under

    • Val Noone
    • 04 September 2009
    7 Comments

    At the height of Willam Hackett's republican involvements, the Jesuit provincial offered him a choice of silence or appointment to Australia. Through a combination of personal memoir and public history, Brenda Niall unravels the riddles of Hackett's life.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Shariah's threat to beer in Malaysia

    • Simon Roughneen
    • 01 September 2009
    1 Comment

    Shariah law in Malaysia has seen Muslims banned from attending a Black Eyed Peas RnB concert, and a woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer in public. All's not what it seems in this slickly-marketed, 'moderate Islamic' tourist magnet.

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