Ireland’s new prime minister is mocked before he starts
Leo Varadkar sounds insensitive about housing costs
The modern Irish state was born 100 years ago this month, yet only two political movements have ever ruled it. To outsiders, there is not much difference between them. Born out of the struggle for independence from Britain, both Fianna Fail (Soldiers of Destiny) and Fine Gael (Tribe of the Gaels) have evolved into right-of-centre, pragmatic, pro-European parties. Their mutual antipathy derives from a short but vicious civil war between factions of the Irish Republican Army a century ago.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The job-share taoiseachs ”
Europe December 17th 2022
- Despite power cuts and blockades, Ukraine’s economy is coping
- The war has worsened Ukraine’s demographic woes
- Germany’s capital struggles to clean up its act
- Ireland’s new prime minister is mocked before he starts
- France needs better slow trains, not just fast ones
- A corruption scandal leaves the EU reeling
From the December 17th 2022 edition
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