Today: Friday, March 12, 2010


Opinion - Columnist

In-direct provision

Last update: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 10:41 | By: Ronit Lentin

I suppose we knew most of it: that direct provision hostels for asylum seekers – which I see as refugee holding camps – are totally degrading, and that the ‘comfort money’ allowance paid to asylum seekers is insufficient for even the most basic needs. What was less obvious is what the new report by Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) refers to as “the direct provision industry”.

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A Muslim view of the End Times

Last update: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 10:40 | By: Liam Egan

There are a variety of beliefs and doctrines held by religions across the globe, and they all differ with regards to the events preceding the end times. But all agree on one thing – the end is nigh!

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Painting the town red is not my thing

Last update: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 10:39 | By: Ifrah Ahmed

Out of Africa with Ifrah Ahmed I HAVE a wide circle of friends in Ireland, both Irish and African. We do the usual things – watch movies, go for dinner or shopping, just general girls’ stuff.

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Niger coup is a danger

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 10:55 | By: Ukachukwu Okorie

West Africa was thrown into turmoil yet again last week after the military coup in Niger. What has been a normal Thursday afternoon in the capital of Niamey turned sour and frightening for its residents as gunfire raged in the presidential palace, where mutinous soldiers shot their way into the chamber where President Tandja Mamadou and his cabinet were meeting to arrest him.

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Learning English was invaluable

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 10:54 | By: Ifrah Ahmed

Out of Africa with Ifrah Ahmed I CAME TO Ireland without a word of English. Because of the war in Somalia, my native country, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. The war began in 1991, when I was just a baby, and it continues today.

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Dublin needs a mosque for all

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 10:53 | By: Sheikh Shaheed

Sheikh Shaheed @Large The fallout between myself and the leaders of Ireland’s Muslim establishment occurred not in 2006, as many believe, but way back in 2003, when the Muslim Council of Ireland was founded. Then I acted as the financial development officer for the Islamic Foundation of Ireland, and I put them in touch with various financiers to support their extension of the mosque building.

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Afghanistan: what does the future hold?

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 10:52 | By: Mohammed Samaana

It seems Nato’s latest plan to save Afghanistan is more bombing. The current offensive must have been planned months in advance, as the US and its allies sent thousands more troops to the country. This was expected as soon as troops were pulled out of Iraq.

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The trouble with teenage pregnancy

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 10:50 | By: Collins Hekson

Teen Talk with Collins Hekson It’s an undeniable fact: more and more teens are having early and unprotected sex, which we all know leads to teenage pregnancy. It happens so often nowadays, it’s almost as if it’s fashionable!

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Awaking from the American Dream

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 14:32 | By: Tara Fannon

I have to be honest – hearing the words ‘in the current climate’ really irritates me! I know that times aren’t great. In fact they’re pretty bad – everyone knows it. And I know that the Government could be doing a much better job with regard to the economy.

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Identity - the great debate

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 14:31 | By: Ronit Lentin

In recent months, France has been engaged in a debate about its national identity, not surprisingly initiated by the Minister for Immigration Éric Besson. So lively has it grown that it’s even prompted Prime Minister François Fillon to announce a series of measures – mostly symbolic – aimed at improving what is glibly called France’s ‘social cohesion’.

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What’s wrong with polygyny?

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 14:28 | By: Liam Egan

The revelation that an Irish citizen of Lebanese extraction is undertaking a High Court action to seek the validity of his second marriage has brought with it the usual feigned outrage.

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Getting used to my new life in Ireland

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 13:48 | By: Ifrah Ahmed

IT WAS January 2006 when I arrived in Ireland – and it was cold. I had no English, knew nobody, and had no idea what would happen to me.

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Angola, here we come!

Last update: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 20:40 | By: Ukachukwu Okorie

When the Confederation of African Football announced that Angola would still be hosting the continent’s greatest soccer fiesta, I thought that was a very prudent decision. Much pressure had been on the CAF to shift the African Nations Cup to South Africa as an appetiser for the World Cup in the ‘rainbow nation’ next summer. But come January, all roads will lead to the cities of Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela, and Lubango for the 27th African Cup of Nations.

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The post-budget blues

Last update: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 20:39 | By: Ronit Lentin

After weeks of speculation, the Minister for Finance delivered his verdict – cutting expenditure all around him, targeting public sector workers, allowances for children and the unemployed, medical card holders and other recipients of welfare.

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Islam’s principle of friendship

Last update: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 20:38 | © Metro Éireann

Liam Egan explains how Muslims who are cautious about friendship with those of other faiths are really no different from anybody else...

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Yar'Adua: it's do or die

Last update: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 16:40 | By: Ukachukwu Okorie

Until last week, there were rumours milling around concerning the deteriorating health of Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua. Since he took power in 2007, Nigerians have frequently speculated upon their leader’s medical fitness, and this time around, it seems the gossip has substance: Nigeria’s president is bedridden in Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal Hospital in Jedda, and according to a government spokesman, he’s suffering from pericarditis, a heart ailment. But then again, why all the fuss? Isn’t becoming ill a normal human trait, even for our ‘almighty’ leaders?

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A letter from my homeland

Last update: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 13:38 | By: Ukachukwu Okorie

As I took off from Dublin Airport last week, my thoughts were still on the recession ravaging the Irish economy. It was having a direct effect on my own plans: after being made redundant, I have to be careful with my money, so I chose the cheapest (and longest) flight available.

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Who speaks for whom?

Last update: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 09:22 | By: Ronit Lentin

Since the onset of the recession and the demise of the NCCRI, not to mention the budget cuts affecting the Equality Authority (EA) and the Irish Commission on Human Rights, no one has been speaking much about racism. Most Irish people feel they have other priorities as they try to make ends meet, get a bank loan, or secure their pensions.

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