Irish Examiner view: Risk and bluff in the game of thrones
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy answering media questions during his press conference, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. Picture: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially pursued a career as a humorous actor, and his latest appearance on the world stage was delivered with all the comic timing of someone who has mastered the art of stand-up and put-down in front of a questioning audience.
Sure, he is willing to relinquish the presidency of Ukraine in exchange for peace or â and here comes the punchline â if his country is granted Nato membership.
Zelenskyy has been dealt a rotten hand â as many thought he would â since the arrival of Donald Trump, and his straight man, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, into the worldâs negotiating arenas. The US president has described him as a âdictatorâ despite the fact that Ukraine has been at war and under martial law for the past three years.
Today marks the anniversary of Vladimir Putinâs invasion in 2022.
Hegseth said that Nato was âoff the tableâ during a visit to Brussels last week.
His boss blames Zelenskyy for not cutting a deal with the Kremlin to reward its aggression. In order to secure what is left of Ukraine, then, a route to an armistice has to be found.
Zelenskyy has a limited number of cards to play.
One of them is the Russian territory that he currently holds, and must retain for now. Another are the mineral rights under his country which are eyed greedily from Washington. Then there is his own position and the timing of any election, a poll which will be difficult to hold while millions of his citizens shelter as refugees overseas.
Today we will hear what guarantees we democratic Europeans can offer. They will need to be at their strongest to catch the attention of the White House and Putinâs executive office at 8 Staraya Square, Moscow.
Itâs certain that, without the familiar âdoof doofâ drumbeats of , which celebrated 40 years of near unbroken broadcasting this week, Irish TV would have been a different experience for us all.
While , which first aired in 1960, is the worldâs longest-running soap opera, it was the popular success of the format and contemporary themes emerging from Albert Square in the fictional borough of Walford that persuaded RTĂ that Ireland needed its own gritty urban drama.
Four years after the locals started to cluster around the bar in the Queen Vic, RTĂ launched , which recounts the lives of people living in Carrigstown, a make-believe suburb on Dublinâs northside. It is Irelandâs longest-running and most popular serial, available throughout the week on streaming platforms, and at its height has claimed audiences of more than 500,000 and a string of awards.
There has long been a symbiotic relationship between the two programmes and their willingness to contemplate challenging and âedgyâ modern plotlines. broke TV ground through social conscience and realism. It delivered the first televised kiss between gay men. Other topics included domestic abuse, drugs, infidelity, and criminality.
But, if anything, drove on further. Subjects explored included gay relationships shortly after homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland; transgender politics; rape, and false accusations of rape; abortion; disability; clerical abuse; dangerous driving; addiction; prostitution; homelessness and property speculation; prostate cancer; mental illness; teenage pregnancy; incest, spousal violence towards male partners. Few taboos were left unexplored.
When decided to cast its creative net over Ireland by filming three episodes on location, there was outrage at the depiction of the Irish as âdirty, rude, and drunkâ. The Irish embassy and tourism chiefs protested so long and hard that the BBC was forced to publicly apologise.
It is, of course, a grave error to read too much realism into screen melodrama. The type of East End depicted in the BBC show has not existed for decades.
Its replacement was predicted by the fictional gangster Harold Shand in the classic 1980 thriller , staring out over what was to become Canary Wharf and wondering what was awaiting his âold manorâ.
When comes to celebrate its 40th anniversary, we can speculate how much of the Dublin which inspired it retains its original ethos and sense of community. Or whether there is life, but not as we know it.
The illness of a pope, particularly one who has represented a figure of stability during a dozen years of turbulence, remains a matter of great moment in a country such as Ireland, where a significant majority of people continue to claim affiliation to the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis, 88, has been hospitalised several times in this decade. His latest illness, given his age, seems to be of a different order of magnitude and although he was described as being ârestedâ during a peaceful night on Saturday, other reports described his condition as âcriticalâ.
The Pope, who had part of a lung removed as a young man, suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection. Doctors say their prognosis is âreservedâ and are worried about complications leading to sepsis.
There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated and the Vatican has gone into overdrive to dispel rumours that Francis, who made a memorable visit to Ireland in 2018, might decide to resign.
We have been here before, of course. Two summers ago, there was a storm of speculation that the Pope was planning to stand down. That ended when he told a Spanish radio station: âIâm not playing this game. Every time a pope is sick there is a wind, hurricane, of conclave.â
Just a few weeks ago, we were welcoming the first memoir from a sitting pontiff when his book hit the shelves in 80 countries, recounting his story of growing up as the son of Italian immigrants in Argentina in the late 1930s and '40s.
The publication date was brought forward to mark the 2025 Jubilee dedicated to forgiveness, spiritual renewal, and celebration of the Church. People of all faiths, and none, will hope that Pope Francis can face this latest medical crisis with calm and equanimity.
