 He also had for a time a weekly column in the "Irish Times" newspaper.In his blog and elsewhere he has made statements about the benefits of immigration, the risks to universities caused by the failure of the Irish Department of Education and Science to prioritise higher education, and the need to recover civility and courtesy in society.He has also been one of the advocates for a re-think on the 'free fees' scheme in Ireland, under which Irish and EU students pay only "registration" fees – he has argued that too much of the money spent on this goes to wealthier people who do not need it, while poorer students are neglected.