Welcome to IT Sunday, our weekly digest of the best writing and reporting from The Irish Times for our subscribers.
Naturally, the unrelenting war in Ukraine continues to dominate the headlines and is the topic under consideration in the work of a number of our most prominent writers.
Fintan O’Toole says Putin’s war has revived the spectre of famine across the world. Famine came to 1840s Ireland and 1930s Ukraine, and now it threatens the wider world, he notes.
From Berlin, Derek Scally writes that an exposed, wounded Germany is experiencing a political and economic earthquake. He says Angela Merkel’s legacy is unravelling as Germany now reckons with its gas dependence on Russia and response to the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, on another important topic, David McWilliams’s view is that the State has completely lost control of the housing market, with the solution to the housing crisis being either to cut the population through mass emigration or to build more homes.
Colm Keena has been focusing on the Kinahans. He reports that leaked documents expose the workings of a global empire. His article offers an unprecedented insight into the inner workings of the Kinahan family in the United Arab Emirates.
And this article, by Colm Keena and Maggie Michael, says the Kinahan gang will not be protected from US pressure on the UAE. It explains that oil-rich Abu Dhabi depends on the US for security and will not want to attract its disfavour.
On a completely different subject, Joanne Hunt has advice on how to stop being a people-pleaser. It’s about retraining yourself, she says, because neglecting our own needs to do things for others has been shown to affect our wellbeing.
Meanwhile, the former Central Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan explains his view that tax hikes for higher earners may be the best response to inflation here. More borrowing might not be the wisest way to meet a potentially short-term problem, he suggests.
In our Books section, Niall Ó Dochartaigh writes that Terence Dooley presents a nuanced history of what began as reprisals against crown forces. His review of Burning the Big House: The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution examines the mixed motives for the IRA arson campaign.
And in her Ask Roe column, Roe McDermott has some advice for a young woman whose boyfriend refuses to help around the house but insists he will step up to the plate once they are married.
As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com—and don’t forget you can check out more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.
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