Category: Democratic accountability

What Difference Would a Left-Led Government Make to Ireland?

Nat O'Connor 28/05/2026

As of January 2026, successive opinion polls give centre-right Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael combined less than 40% of support for the next general election. Could Ireland have a government for the first time that excludes both of these traditional parties of government? Recent polls indicate that this is possible. Whether most of the other parties …

Food (and fuel) for thought: unpacking Ireland’s fuel protests

Kieran Harrahill 14/04/2026

Over the past week, Ireland has witnessed scenes not seen for a generation. Forecourts running out of fuel, limits placed on purchases, and the …

A Defence of Taxation, Revisited

Nat O'Connor 10/03/2026

In 2014, TASC published A Defence of Taxation. Its argument in favour of progressive alternatives to reducing public services through tax cuts …

Voices of Civic Engagement

Emma DeSouza 03/12/2025

Deliberative democracy has been on the rise globally as more governments embrace citizen participation as a tool in policymaking. Despite this …

Turning away from ‘Authoritarian Populism’

Tiarnán McDonough 18/09/2025

For the last two weekends in a row, protests in central London have given rise to scenes that have been reported around the world and will trouble …

Political Imagination and a Laboratory of Social Possibilities

Mary Murphy 28/04/2025

This short blog is an argument for civil society to grow its capacity to incubate alternatives and to promote the idea of a collective ‘laboratory …

The Speaking Rights Row

Tiarnán McDonough 27/03/2025

The scenes of disorder in the Dáil chamber yesterday will have alarmed many. The row between government and opposition over speaking rights has been …

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