euro|topics - Lauren O'Hara

09/01/2009

English
Deutsch
Français

Español

O'Hara, Lauren

Cyprus journalist

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Cyprus Mail - Cyprus | 06/02/2007

The tyranny of laws in the democratic world

The Cypriot journalist Lauren O'Hara reflects on rules imposed around the world: "Laws : we live by them and die by them. And perhaps nothing can define a country more than its 'dos and don'ts'. Don't smoke in public places ... or, if you are living in Turkmenistan, don't have a beard ... President Niyazov gave no reason for his decree and he died on December 21, but his laws remain. ... This is the danger of totalitarian regimes; the idiosyncrasy of the individual becomes tyranny against the masses. But we are foolish if we think it only happens in one party states. Increasingly, our democratic world is being dominated by the personal crusades of our elected leaders – 'their will be done'. We talk of the clash of religious culture as the predominant text in the next century, but in many ways the real core of international conflict is the relationship between state law and the citizen, and between our freedoms and our restrictions, between tolerance and intolerance, between rational and considered laws and arbitrary dogma driven edicts."

Cyprus Mail - Cyprus | 13/12/2006

Lauren O'Hara on Cyprus' colonial past

The journalist Lauren O'Hara considers the complex relationship between Cyprus and its former colonial rulers in the light of a collection of essays entitled 'Britain in Cyprus. Colonialism and Post-Colonialism 1878-2006' edited by Hubert Faustmann & Nicos Peristianis. "Colonialism was both good and bad for the island; in post-colonial Cyprus, the mistakes of the past that divided communities and reinforced differences should not be repeated. It is too late to vote 'yes' in the Annan plan and, unless Turkey joins the EU, unification is just a dream. But it is not too late to create an inclusive, fair society that treats all its members equally. Otherwise, the noose of nationalism with its nepotism that favours one ethnic group over another, gives jobs to its own, and uses networks to do business simply becomes a neo-colonialism that replicates the inequalities of the past. While blue and white flags dominate: the reality of being 'Cypriot' will never happen."

» Index of Authors

Bookmark this page at