If you are thinking of donating to a charity this year you might consider the Kerry Rape Crisis Centre for their support of a victim of sexual assault subject to horrific community bullying in Listowel.
In 1938 a couple of major things happened: a new Constitution became the fundamental law of this country, the British gave back the Treaty Ports and the ‘Ministers and Parliamentary Office Bill’ introduced the concept of Ministerial Pensions.
The salaries paid to office holders had been a contentious issue for some time. In the 1932 election [...]
According to Wall Street Journal ($) the B of I fund raising plan to be revealed tomorrow: €3.4 billion in total funds. Half will come from the government (=National Pension Reserve Fund) converting half of the €3.5 billion preference shares into ordinary stock. €500 million will come from an unnamed (and probably domestic) group of [...]
Below the fold, the transcript of Leaders’ Questions on Tuesday 20 April. The legal contortions that are required to reconcile Brian Cowen’s transparently untransparent answer with what we now know about Robbie Boucher’s early retirement provision are considerable — but then again not much more than what was on display from the law firm of [...]
In today’s Irish Times, columnist and psychologist Maureen Gaffney writes:
“Ireland is at a dangerous psychological moment. Human beings have a built-in meter for keeping account of accumulated negativity and bad news – constantly balanced by the flow of positive events. Normally, that change in balance from positive to negative back to positive happens smoothly, automatically [...]
HSE reports on deaths of Young Person A and Young Person B. Young Person B was named by Barry Andrews in Dail Eireann on RTE. The reports are summaries and only hint at the disastrous care received by A and B. One example from B –
The independent living accommodation that was provided to Young Person B [...]
Brian Cowen to Enda Kenny today –
[Irish Times] “Contrary to how this is being portrayed, this is a payment into an overall fund that provides for the pensions of most Bank of Ireland staff. If it wasn’t made, the fund would be short-resourced to meet its obligations to all Bank of Ireland pensioners and staff [...]
The final conference in the season is taking place this weekend as the Labour Party head to Galway (Fianna Fáíl will be holding their conference later this year). Already their prescence has drawn a dig from FF’s Deputy Mayor of Galway regarding that campaign and petition of themselves they launched this week.
The Labour Party will [...]
From the ESRI Spring Bulletin –
For 2010 and 2011, we have assumed that the Government will borrow €2 billion in each year to fund the recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and INBS. This increases the exchequer deficit in both years by €2 billion, but it does not appear in the estimate of the General Government [...]
Compared to the billions going to the banks (and perhaps soon needed for Quinn), the mere €450m that we will lend to Greece “centrally pooled by the European Commission” may not seem like much. But according to Brian Lenihan –
“The costs of all countries participating, including Ireland, in this facility would be fully covered. Ireland’s [...]
It will come as a major blow to Cowen and Brian Lenihan that the executive of IMPACT felt they could not endorse the recent pay and terms deal hammered out between government and unions. At the time, the feeling was that Cowen may have managed to pull something out of the bag by getting the [...]
“Quinn-direct is not in trouble .. The only time that Quinn-direct will be in trouble is when Sean Quinn is in trouble. And Sean Quinn is in no trouble. ” – Sean Quinn, to Simon Carswell, then at the Sunday Business Post, 30 December 2001.
One nugget in the SBP article is that at the time, [...]
Another month’s exchequer returns — and this is the press release account, so it’s phrased to sound like good news:
At end-March, €7¼ billion in tax receipts has been collected, some 3½ per cent behind profile for the period and 15 per cent below what was collected in the first quarter of 2009. However, a substantial [...]
A RTE headline with enough good cheer even for the pubs not serving alcohol on Good Friday –
IMF gives positive response to NAMA
Of course, the government has a selective attitude to IMF advice (e.g. the warning that NAMA would not increase credit flow), but leave that aside. What was actually said? –
“We used to provide Irish developers with loan terms, but insist of due diligence. They would then go off to Anglo Irish and be given the cash with no need for any paperwork”
As told to UK property expert Peter Bill.
Incidentally, he thinks that it’s former Central Bank governor John Hurley who has big questions to [...]
Writing in today’s Irish Times, Jim Glennon, former FF TD for Dublin North, makes a plea for the end of oligarchy:
“The major pillars of late 20th-century Irish society – business, the Roman Catholic Church, politics, and various institutions of State – are all in tatters.
We need a politics that reflects not only the demands from [...]
Dan Boyle sheds the green jersey. His Sunday Tribune comments (which only got a weblink late in the day) are noted by Reuters.
Ivor the Driver — full Seanad report. It was nice of Bertie to send Ivor’s letter of appointment to his Cork address.
How ossified is Irish politics? In the blink of an eye, Australia — which had no recession — replaces its Prime Minister.
I’m a victim of unique Irish blame culture, says Harney
Things Ministers don't do part 2: Harney is not really responsible for these clinial fuck-ups. Sure kick her over policy but not failure. Typical Irish begrudgerry.
