Economy
Sarkozy: “I did not know she voted in France…”
At the Guardian’s Politics Blog, Michael White has some fun with reports that Nicolas Sarkozy has enlisted Frau Bundeskanzlerin in his French presidential re-election campaign. Although this post’s title quote, from the Wall Street Journal blogs, suggests he may already be having second thoughts… ANYhoo… From Michael White’s post We can assume that pollsters have advised [...] more »
Irish DPP to consider Garland case
Having dismissed, in December last year, the US application for the extradition of former Irish Workers’ Party president, Seán Garland, in the long-running saga of the counterfeit ‘super-dollars’, Dublin High Court has now referred the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions to examine whether he should be charged in Ireland. From the BBC report Giving his reasons [...] more »
“Recently the two Governments agreed to address issues relating to both Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough in the round”
Here’s something that could develop into something quite interesting. It follows on from the “Memorandum of Understanding reached by the two Governments with the support of the Northern Ireland Executive… on marine jurisdictional issues.” As I said then If you were wondering why the lines stop at the entrances to the respective Loughs, that would be [...] more »
Strangford Lough: “It is not as if the two departments did not know what needed to be done.”
It’s worth stating at the beginning that the European Commission haven’t, yet, imposed a fine for the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to protect and restore a special habitat, of [protected species] horse mussel beds, in Strangford Lough – a designated Special Area of Conservation, an Area of Special Scientific Interest and a Ramsar (protected wetland) site. But, BBC [...] more »
“local communities need help – particularly funding and local political leadership”
In June last year The Detail’s John Breslin was asking questions of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), and the “significant amount of money under its control, or on the way, that has not yet been either allocated, or is in the hands of, particular projects.” On Thursday last week the IFI announced a Peace Walls Programme with [...] more »
Sean Quinn Declared Bankrupt in Ireland
Having succeeded in having Sean Quinn’s bankruptcy status in the UK annulled, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBCR), formerly Anglo Irish Bank, today applied to have Mr Quinn declared bankrupt in Dublin High Court. Mr Quinn did not oppose the application. On Friday evening there was another attack on Mr Quinn’s former business headquarters. That occurred just [...] more »
Belfast High Court Annuls Sean Quinn Bankruptcy
As the BBC reports, in the latest instalment of the continuing complicated legal battle between Sean Quinn and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank, Belfast High Court has ruled that Mr Quinn is not entitled to declare himself bankrupt in the UK. He can, however, apply for bankruptcy in Ireland. From the BBC report At the [...] more »
“Ireland faces a major challenge this year with the United Kingdom.”
Some interesting speculation from Paul Gillespie in the Irish Times on the potential outworkings of an Irish referendum on greater euro zone integration. From the Irish Times Unless the UK rethinks its veto (unlikely because of the political pressures on Cameron) it will become an outsider with an interest in the euro’s survival for its [...] more »
Trouble with the Troubles in the Irish Diaspora…
I was talking to a friend in Limerick, who’s particularly well networked (virtually and in real terms) with the Irish diaspora. One of the things he suggested is that that the troubles plays a much larger role, certainly within the Irish diaspora in the states than is often appreciated at home, to the point where [...] more »
“more to do with their reluctance to take the hard economic decisions…”
As Andy said in his post yesterday Many people were surprised when Sinn Féin did not take the influential Enterprise, Trade and Investment portfolio after last May’s election, even though it was theirs for the taking. I have heard it said that this absence of interest in the economy is partly due to a lack [...] more »
Quote of the Day…
From The Great Stagnation, quoted by Martin Wolf… “…politics is very difficult in an America without much low-hanging fruit”. As in America, so in Ireland where pork is also the chief political commodity? more »
Dublin High Court dismisses Garland US extradition application
As Garibaldy notes, Dublin High Court has dismissed the US application for the extradition of former Irish Workers’ Party president, Sean Garland, in the long-running saga of the counterfeit ‘super-dollars’. From the Irish Times report Authorities in America had sought the extradition of Mr Garland (76), of Beldonstown, Brownstown, Navan, Co Meath, to face charges relating [...] more »
Mario Draghi: “no doubt whatever about the strength of the euro, its permanence, its irreversibility…”
The Guardian reports the comments by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that he has “no doubt whatever about the strength of the euro, its permanence, its irreversibility”. But then, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Meanwhile, some European countries have agreed to provide €150billion to the International Monetary Fund to cover eurozone countries’ debt – short of [...] more »
Sean Quinn’s wife ordered to repay €3million loan
In the latest instalment of the continuing complicated legal battle between Sean Quinn and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank, Sean Quinn’s wife has been ordered to repay an over €3million loan which she had personally guaranteed. Patricia Quinn’s lawyers had argued that she had been ’unduly influenced’ by her husband into signing the [...] more »
“Without prejudice to the negotiation of territorial sea boundaries…”
The Northern Ireland Energy Minister, the DUP’s Arlene Foster, has welcomed the “announcement by The Crown Estate of two parallel Leasing Rounds for offshore wind and tidal stream development as new sources of renewable energy for Northern Ireland.” The Crown Estate website has more details here. From the Minister’s press release Arlene Foster said: “Today’s [...] more »
Euro crisis: “Anyone who claims to know what is about to happen to Europe is a fool.”
In the Guardian, Simon Jenkins identifies a key point missing from most analysis of the aftermath of the EU crisis summit. From the Guardian article Anyone who claims to know what is about to happen to Europe is a fool. An unprecedented collapse in world credit has hit against years of reckless state borrowing to [...] more »
Local Political Reaction to EU Crisis Summit Outcome
How have our local political parties reacted to the outcome of the EU crisis summit? Well, neither the Green Party nor the Alliance Party appear to have noticed… The “Conservative and Unionist” MEP, Jim Nicholson, has, unsurprisingly, “welcomed the use of the British veto over a new EU-wide treaty by Prime Minister David Cameron”. “David Cameron [...] more »
Euro crisis: “So we have two crises now.”
In the FT, Wolfgang Münchau gives his initial thoughts on the outcome of the EU summit. From the FT’s A-list [free subs may be required] Thursday’s European Council meeting has demonstrated that a monetary union cannot co-exist with a group of permanent non-members in unified legal framework. The EU with its current treaties and institutions [...] more »
Thoughts from Brussels on the euro crisis
I have been prodded – both by being on a radio panel discussion today and by the awesome Catie – to assemble some thoughts on the euro crisis and what it means for both parts of Ireland. There is a certain air of pessimism at present, driven largely by recent pieces in the Financial Times [...] more »
“The restoration of this beautiful building, due to be completed in….”
Another example of the kind of openness, transparency, and forward-planning that makes Derry City Council the local government it is… They’re moving to facilitate restoration work. And the BBC reports that the £3million Guildhall Restoration Project, on which work began in August 2010, is not expected to allow the 19th Century Guildhall to re-open until Spring [...] more »
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Books
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The Creative Class and Northern Ireland
As part of NICVA’s series of masterclasses from its Centre for Economic Empowerment project, there was a morning seminar on the topic of the “creative class” (as popularised by Richard Florida) and its applicability to Northern Ireland. The agenda was to: Explain Richard Florida’s idea of the “creative class” and the link between economic outcomes [...] read our review »
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“I loathe Ireland and the Irish.”
In the Irish Times, Brian Cosgrove takes up temporary residence in An Irishman’s Diary in the hope that, with the lifting of European copyright restrictions on James Joyce’s major works, a greater familiarity with Joyce’s ”sometimes ruthless realism” may change the nature of the “annual Edwardian charade” that is Bloomsday. From the Irish Times The devastating cultural effects [...] read our review » -
Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011
Writer Christopher Hitchens has died aged 62. He was as contrary as he was brilliant. Here is a brief In Memoriam from Vanity Fair (his outlet of choice since 1992) and, here, a longer tribute from his friend Christopher Buckley Stanley in The New Yorker. Better, perhaps, though to post one of Hitchens’ own writings in [...] read our review »
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