In @POLITICOEurope I highlight the sorry story of Ireland as Europe’s ultimate freeloader on security and defense🙁Spending 0.2 per cent of GDP, Britain covering its air defense, no undersea capabilities and 1 navy ship on patrol due to staff shortages.. politico.eu/article/irelan…

🌐Balancing #Technology, #Sovereignty and Political Realities 🌐 📢 Newly-appointed EU Commission Vice-President @HennaVirkkunen is joining us at #EIF24 for an exclusive & thought-provoking interview with @EoinDrea 🗓️Register below: 👉 martenscentre.eu/event/eif-24/ #FocusFuture

As somebody who is taxed more heavily than most I say, can anybody tell our two main political parties: we don’t need tax cuts. We need more investment in public services and critical infrastructure.

If Trump wins the election on Tuesday, there is absolutely no room for moral superiority in Europe. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe has covered itself in shame, choosing to do business with Russia over doing everything in its power to help Ukraine and confront Putin. Shame.

Absolutely spot on @BerryCathal "#Israel is saying if #Ireland doesn't respect its own airspace, why should they?". When times get tough, enforcement becomes the safest currency for #peace & #security, not domestic or international legislation, unfortunately.

Italy ran a deficit of 6.1% through Q2 '24. This is after a period of strong growth, when every effort should have been made to reduce the deficit and cut the huge debt overhang. Italy has lost its fear of markets. The ECB is to blame via its past actions to cap Italy's yield...

The art of the possible. LUAS to Finglas was excluded from the draft of Project Ireland. I fought for it to be included and for planning to commence ASAP. Some told media I was “a decade premature” - thejournal.ie/finglas-luas-p…. Turns out I wasn’t. Great news for Finglas.

Big news: Minister @cathmartingreen confirms that a regular season NFL game is “under active consideration” at an event in Dublin earlier today. @NFLIreland

💶 The #Euro’s Weak Heart Threatens its Survival. In this blog, @EoinDrea analyses the #Eurozone's structural weaknesses and the urgent reforms needed to ensure its stability 🔍 touching on issues in #France, #Italy and #Germany. 👉 martenscentre.eu/blog/the-euros… #FocusFuture

La multipolarité dans les relations internationales, que certains célèbrent, ce n’est que la loi de la jungle, le triomphe du plus fort. Les Européens regretteront la retraite du garde-chasse américain, si brutal, si partial et si maladroit qu’il ait été.

Academia isn’t about fame, or money, or approval. It’s about downloading as many pdfs as you can before you die

Terwijl de Nederlandse universiteiten terrein verliezen (geen enkele meer in de top-50) doen de Vlaamse univs het uitstekend in de @THEworldunirank Ondanks veel krappere financiering dan de NLse. Schitterende prestatie van de @KU_Leuven op plaats 43. standaard.be/cnt/dmf2024100…

Very engaging presentations by young researchers on competitiveness, enlargement, European citizenship education, and treaty changes. @philipmurphy81 certainly got everyone's attention with key pointers to improve civic attitudes. #jeanmonnet35

There is an urgent need to ramp up our military aid to Ukraine. All the talk of escalating w/ strikes vs Russia obscures the broader issue: Ukraine doesn’t have enough missiles. The US and EU need to ramp up defense industrial production and pull from stocks now to aid Ukraine

Biervilt berekening: Nederland draagt ongeveer 5,5% bij aan de EU-begroting, Hongarije kreeg zo'n €60 miljard in de laatste tien jaar. Hoeveel Nederlands belastinggeld kwam in het Hongarije van Orban terecht? Ongeveer €3,3 miljard. Transparency international Hongarije stelt dat…

Travelling through the Dublin Docklands - a centre of commerce and business - and you’d swear it was abandoned and being reclaimed by nature! Weeds everywhere. 🌱 How can major foot flow routes be let to deteriorate like this? @DubCityCouncil @GeogheganCllr

Smurfit documentary just now highlights how Ireland is focused on the anglophone world in so many ways. Yet at the same time we’re part of a continental European polity that has limited impact on our worldview.

The problem in the Euro zone is that there's no penalty to irresponsible fiscal policy. In fact, it's the opposite. The ECB has a track record of intervening to cap yields in bad shocks, which helps high-debt sovereigns. So it's not surprising they just run up more and more debt.

OPINION: In desperately seeking to maintain its privileged position in Washington, successive Irish governments have unintentionally sabotaged their credibility within the EU. And that’s bad news for both Ireland and America. trib.al/OpicxXi

Shamrock Rovers were at home to APOEL Nicosia last night in the UEFA Conference. They were reduced to 10 men on 50 minutes, went 1-0 down on 59 and equalised with this header from Dylan Watts on 90+2. Superb scenes in Dublin.

Best email to get at 5pm on Friday evening. A student who did BFGtoEU in 3rd class as I was piloting it sent me request to visit her school & talk to her year, over 200 students,about 🇪🇺. Glad to have impact 6 years on. Will share our amazing dabtheeu.com resources