Dick Roche News Today

The report from an Ad Hoc Committee of the Bulgarian National Assembly provides an intriguing insight into the controversial BOTAS - Agreement signed on 3 January 2023 - writes Dick Roche, former Irish Minister for European Affairs. When the Agreement was signed the Commission was blindsided. It had no prior knowledge of the deal and […]

The Fine Gael politician has scraped through tight corners in politics to become taoiseach-designate

In a recent speech in Vienna to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Murat Nurtleu, said his country firmly believes that at a time of unprecedented global turmoil and geopolitical shifts, the role of multilateral institutions such as the OCSE, is as crucial as ever. The European Union’s delegation was quick […]

Fresh faces and new ideas are a must

In “Economy and Society” Max Weber wrote, “bureaucracy naturally welcomes a poorly informed and hence a powerless parliament--at least in so far as ignorance somehow agrees with the bureaucracys interests” - write Dick Roche. For the best part of a year, the actions of the EU Commission and EIOPA demonstrate that one hundred years after […]

A ceremony in Wexford pays tribute to 10 Wexford-based seafarers who pulled 168 German sailors from the sea in a daring rescue 80 years ago

A Wicklow man who used to be a Government special adviser has earned a first class honours degree in Digital Forensics and Cyber Security.

After hearing that her grandfather, who she never knew, had taken part in the perilous rescue of 168 German sailors during World War II, Alison OReilly decided to research his life. Here she tells how she ended up meeting his family who hadnt known anything of his whereabouts for 60 years

A 2013 EU Commission review of the Bulgarian energy sector noted the country’s “high energy intensity, low energy efficiency, and deficient environmental infrastructure hamper business activity and competitiveness”, writes Dick Roche. Ten years on state state-owned enterprises still retain a stranglehold on Bulgaria’s electricity assets including power generation and transmission, creating a structure that the EU Commission has flagged […]

Dialogue' best way to solve rift between West and China. A former Irish government minister says “dialogue” is the best way of improving the currently strained relations between the West and China.Speaking at Brussels Press Club on Thursday (28 September), Dick Roche, a former Irish minister for EU affairs, also said he hoped for a “peaceful resolution” to China’s ongoing sovereignty conflict with Taiwan.