Ed Brophy

The economic consequences of sanctions are being felt in Russia and in the West. Nicholas Mulder discusses sanctions, the united response to Putin's invasion that may have stunned the Russian president and why unity is needed in the next steps too.

The food insecurity triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will cause deep problems in Africa, where nearly half of the continent depends on Russia and Ukraine for food staples. Africa is already a new front in a new Cold War.

Helen Thompson's new book Disorder explains why we are living in the times we are, times which became more frightening with Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In this interview with Ed Brophy she discusses Ukraine, energy and Brexit.

The Claire Byrne Live show on the rise of Sinn Fein felt like the last gasp for a dying formula in the coverage of public affairs. Younger generations aren't interested in the lowest common denominator.

Dublin city's governance is miles short of its ambitions. Fixing the problem risks upsetting the governance of the entire country.

We would regularly joke during my time in government that it was easier to access the Department of the Taoiseach than it was to get into Coppers on a night out. Indeed, for reasons not yet explained, this government even abandoned its Cabinet Committee on Security.

Mary Lou McDonald talks about a “constipated” civil service. Based on my decade on the inside, I think we could help reform it by ending permanent tenure, prioritising outside appointments for delivery roles and being flexible on remuneration. But would the permanent government allow this to happen?

I was there when the government first locked down the economy. Almost two years on, politicians must resist the seductive rhetoric that this will somehow be “over” after we cross some final hurdle and admit publicly that this is a long war.

Soon after I started to work in government, a very senior official confided that the reason the civil service rules the roost in Ireland is that the political system is “immature”. Regardless of who is in the next government, it is time for politics to assert its primacy.

The capital markets that finance intellectual property are portrayed as heroes and the Dutch and German pensioners funding the construction of apartments in Dublin as villains. The political consensus on foreign capital has clearly come unstuck.