Europe

Apart from a few years in the middle-east, I've lived my whole life in europe; the great majority in britain. I am a european, both from conviction and pragmatism. Europe, of which the uk remains a part, is helping forge a new way forward for the world. It is a lighthouse of how old enemies can become not just new allies, but so closely bound and integrated that their future prosperity depends on them hanging ever closer together. At its best, europe brings real benefits from bigger and freer flowing markets, economies of scale, the circulation of best practice and safety in numbers. I have written a lot about europe, mainly in my guise of new europe, and you can read it all here. Watch the clip, by oscar-winning producer alice doyard

of the irish (march 2013)

Following my recent inquiring trip to dublin (see 12 january 2013), I returned to help deliver some of the verdict (and you can see me here, at 1:59:00). The irish have yet to go through the fire of their local government reorganisation, and it remains within the balance whether they will or not, with the evidence suggesting they should, but politics perhaps mitigating against.

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