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The Campervan
Oh George, there’s another one of those campervans outside the window again. I know how you hate them. Blocking out the view of the sunrise. Hiding us from the sea. I’ve a good mind to go out and give ’em a piece of my mind. Great hunkering lumps of steel. They have no right to…
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Actions Without an Image: What Happened to Ireland’s Imagination?
There is a phrase that appears frequently in Irish public life whenever discussions turn to housing, infrastructure, energy, education or regional development. It is usually followed by immediate agreement. Yes, we need a vision. Yes, we need long-term thinking. Yes, we need to look beyond the next election. Yet the phrase leaves me uneasy. Not…
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The Espadrilles
Social engagements with Asian communities are often easier. The question presents not as, are you vegetarian, but more, on what day? The conversation embraces my choice, and we perhaps move on to a discussion of our favourite Diwali cakes, or which of those made by our friends do we secretly like the best. Elsewhere away…
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Structures of Confidence: Labour, Participation, and Centralisation.
I have spent much of my life in places where people gather to learn something about their own capacities. In union education, these places were often practical rooms: the kind with mismatched chairs, a kettle in the corner, and a noticeboard that told you more about the community than any textbook could. In universities, the…
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The publication hiatus and new web platforms
Many of the ideas that previously appeared here have been transferred to my more developmental ontology site, where they can be explored in greater depth and within a more formal structure. Essays continues to serve a different purpose. Rather than pursuing comprehensive explanations or proposing solutions, it focuses on clarifying questions, examining observations, and making…
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Essays on Method II: On Taking a Position
An essay often begins with a claim that feels too sharp, too certain, too easily said: Every generation thinks the world is getting worse. Before we argue about this statement, agree with it, disagree with it or dismiss it altogether, let’s leave it where it is for a moment and take a closer look. This…
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Essays on Method I: Dig Where You Stand
– The beginning of the method The moment that set this essay in motion wasn’t dramatic. It was just my phone, rocking gently on the desk, refusing to do the one simple thing I needed it to do. I didn’t expect the first words to begin with something so ordinary. But that’s where it began.…