Economy – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

WATCH: Can Ireland Be One? Malachi O’Doherty in conversation with Duncan Morrow #looknorth23

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 3, 2023, 1:00 pm

| Readers 2927

Duncan Morrow in conversation with author Malachi O'Doherty about his new book Can Ireland Be One at Ulster University as part of recent Look North Festival

For Malachi O’Doherty, the question of Irish unity is less about when there might be a border poll or what the result of a plebiscite would be, but whether this deeply divided island can actually ever be truly united. It’s the topic he has examined in a recently published book: Can Ireland Be One? As part of Look North! The North Belfast Festival, Malachi chatted to UU’s Prof Duncan Morrow. Filmed by Alan Meban @alaninbelfast in Ulster University on …

As the gate closes on roughneck Brexonomics, this is roughly the space in which any NI deal can be done.

Mick Fealty on February 28, 2023, 7:14 am

| Readers 2517

child, soccer, playing

There are a number of important signals from yesterday’s publication of the Windsor Framework document that have little enough to do with Northern Ireland per se but rather mark the beginning of the end of a Brexiteer fantasy Brexit. There will be many concerns arising and not all of them are being expressed by unionists. Using a mechanism like the petition of concern, which has been subject of a lot of controversial issues for a close to final arbiter has raised …

Sunak’s flying visit to Belfast smacks more of a reality check than harbinger of a deal…

Mick Fealty on February 17, 2023, 9:10 am

| Readers 6912

flower, life, yellow flower

Rishi Sunak is in Belfast to brief party leaders this morning. There’s been rumours circulating for weeks that a deal is done. Unlike Boris Johnson, the current PM has not been spraying promises around the place or playing high stakes in the media. It’s thought he’s kept the nature of the deal tight amongst a very small group within his own cabinet, so that what the party leaders hear this morning is pretty fresh. There’s an understanding in Dublin at …

Is UK political leadership starting to get real about putting their country back on post Brexit rails?

Mick Fealty on February 13, 2023, 1:22 pm

| Readers 3910

entrance signage

I agree with much of what Frank says, not least because he focuses on Ireland and its transformative experience of EU membership. There’s an awful lot in what he says about referendums, though I still think they do far too many of them. He’s right to say that Brexit has been bad for the Republic, but probably not quite as bad as I (personally) feared. That’s largely to do with the fact that in spite of Boris Johnson’s promises to …

Facilitating Access to the Workplace: It’s the Economy, Stupid…

David Bell on February 11, 2023, 1:03 pm

| Readers 1040

Do Something Great neon sign

A combination of factors, not least Brexit and Russia’s war in Ukraine, has contributed to the current cost-of-living crisis. However, economic turmoil and soaring inflation is also being fuelled by an unprecedented labour shortage. This is particularly true in Northern Ireland with its historically high proportion of those described as economically inactive – a socio-economic group aged 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work. Things have not always been like this. It is …

“Those who want unity the most seem to see it is an extension of sameness…”

Mick Fealty on February 7, 2023, 1:54 pm

| Readers 4231

loaf, to bake, crispy

Another poll in The Irish Times recently probes the unanchored certainties of those pushing an early unification without reference to the realities of the Belfast Agreement and the new binding articles of the Bunreacht na hÉireann. Fintan O’Toole comments: Those who want unity the most seem to see it is an extension of sameness: the North essentially dissolves into the South. But the survey shows how very far from Irish reality such an assumption remains. Any honest discussion of unity …

NI public services face £500m cuts…

Brian O'Neill on February 2, 2023, 10:52 am

| Readers 3215

silver round coins on blue round container

If you are thinking to yourself, hold on a minute. Are our public services not in a real mess? Do we not need to invest MORE in them? If we have practically every profession on strike or planning to go on strike for more money, how do we square this with cutting budgets? All these are sensible valid questions. As for answers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Stormont's cascading budget crisis continues. Cash cuts of around £500m need to be found for start of …

So on the third anniversary of Brexit, how do you think it is going?

Brian O'Neill on January 31, 2023, 7:16 pm

| Readers 4276

Today is the third anniversary of the UK’s liberation from under the jackboot of the EU technocracy. Since Brexit, the uplands have never been sunnier, or maybe not… Those party poopers at the IMF decided to rain on the parade by pointing out that even Russia seems to be doing better than the UK. According to the IMF, the UK economy is expected to contract by 0.5% while the Russian economy is expected to grow by 1%. “Even Russia’s economy …

Why hydrogen can’t solve our climate change problems

Brendan Heading on January 29, 2023, 10:47 pm

| Readers 1167

Hydrogen

One of the conversation points that I often encounter in the debate around climate change and the move to net zero/energy independence is the role that could be played by hydrogen. Like many of the other aspects of this debate, it is poorly understood, particularly among the press and policymakers. What is hydrogen ? Chemically, it is the simplest and most plentiful element in the universe, having one proton and one electron. It’s thought that, along with a small number …

Republic using productivity boom to invest public infrastructure and housing

Mick Fealty on January 17, 2023, 12:35 pm

| Readers 2754

house, structure, real estate

A typically spunky piece from the New Statesman’s new columnist Wolfgang Münchau starts with a great quote from Otto von Bismarck: “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” He has Angela Merkel in his sights. He notes that despite the appearance of economic success, her austerity policies have led to a public investment shortfall in public investment of some half-a-trillion pounds, with the dire consequences only leeching up from the …

Comparing the UK and Irish economies…

Frank Schnittger on December 23, 2022, 10:56 am

| Readers 16209

shallow focus photography of red apples

The chart below probably does more to sum up the economic histories of Ireland and the UK in recent decades than any other. Taken from countryeconomy.com it compares Irish and UK GDP per capita growth since 1970. Of course, here is an argument that Irish GDP is somewhat inflated by the activities of global corporations located here, but what I want to focus on is the trend. Irish and UK GDP per capita tracked each other quite closely until about …

Northern Ireland will likely tip into a recession early next year…

Brian O'Neill on December 13, 2022, 8:05 am

| Readers 4873

text

From Gary McDonald in the Irish News: Just 24 hours after Ulster Bank’s PMI report confirmed that the region’s private sector output declined for a seventh consecutive month in November, Danske Bank’s quarterly sectoral forecast paints an equally grim picture of the state of the local economy. And it believes the current cycle of high inflation, low consumer confidence and tighter monetary policy means the north will definitely experience a recession in 2023. It comes as the British Chambers of …

Paschal Donohoe re-elected Eurogroup President…

Frank Schnittger on December 8, 2022, 10:20 am

| Readers 2535

Paschal Donohoe has been the Irish Minister for Finance since June 2017 and since then has presided over one of the most successful economies in the world. He was elected President of the Eurogroup, comprised of Eurozone Finance Ministers, in July 2020 and his term was due to expire in January 2023. Under the coalition government agreement between the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green parties negotiated in June 2020, the two most senior jobs in Government, Taoiseach and …

Productivity in NI is 40% lower than the Republic

Kenneth Harper on November 29, 2022, 10:37 am

| Readers 4691

man holding smartphone looking at productivity wall decor

The Irish Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) was commissioned by the Shared Ireland Initiative in the Department of the Taoiseach, to report on relative productivity between the North and the South. Previous ESRI reports have looked at comparisons on health and education delivery and cross-border trade. Historically, most reports circulating in NI tend to compare NI with GB for obvious reasons and this report on productivity is thought to be the first to attempt an island-wide analysis. The results …

Review of ‘Beauty through Broken Windows’ on the World Day of the Poor

Gladys Ganiel on November 13, 2022, 8:05 am

| Readers 873

Today is the ‘World Day of the Poor’, observed in the Catholic Church since 2017 when it was established by Pope Francis. It’s a day to remind Christians of their obligations to follow Christ’s example to pursue justice for the poor. A new book, Beauty through Broken Windows: Empowering Edmund Rice’s Vision Today, edited by Aidan Donaldson and Denis Gleeson, is an excellent resource for learning more about how Christians around the world are living out such a vision. The …

Economic crisis – a tale of two Irelands?

Kenneth Harper on November 8, 2022, 8:05 am

| Readers 5380

closeup photo of two bubbles

Few will doubt we are entering a storm. Prof Nouriel Roubini of New York talks of interconnecting “megathreats” that may combine to make life difficult. From cold war to real war, debt and climate crisis – even a potential collapse of the eurozone fueled by Italian debt. He’s labeled Dr Doom by the Alt-right but he has a good track record at forecasting. My question is this. Will both jurisdictions on this island come through the crisis in the same …

Review of Triangle: Three Novellas of Ireland by Pól Ó Muirí

Gladys Ganiel on November 6, 2022, 8:05 am

| Readers 892

What happens in a society when previously dominant traditions of religion, spirituality, and morality crumble and then proceed to disintegrate at break-neck speed? The island of Ireland could be considered something of a sociological case study in this regard. The ‘holy Catholic Ireland’ of the Republic has been discredited and denigrated. The often oppositional Christian traditions of Northern Ireland also seem destined for inexorable decline. Analysis of the rise of those who claim they have ‘no religion’ can only be …

The Brexit effect on UK business…

Brian O'Neill on October 20, 2022, 11:29 am

| Readers 2516

Bugger Brexit.London Street art Shoreditch.Shot on film, Kodak Portra 800, Nikon FM2n

This new video from the FT is an essential watch. It goes into detail about the disastrous effect that Brexit has had on UK business – in short, it is not good. Some of the stuff is just madness, like the tea company that went from being able to deliver their product in 2 days to taking three months due to customs. Or the company that had to close one of its UK warehouses and move it to Poland to …

Will Liz Truss throw UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng under the political bus?

Brian O'Neill on October 14, 2022, 10:35 am

| Readers 2829

Once upon a time in Hollywood In London.

Have any individuals ever done more damage to the UK economy than Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng? Maybe Hitler, but you know he was on the other side. When you have the actual Prime Minister of the UK doing the imploding, you have to really question WTF is going on. The latest is Kwarteng has been recalled back to the UK. Might Liz Truss try to put all the blame on him and sack him? It is the obvious move …

NI Protocol gives boost to NI food and drink exports…

Brian O'Neill on October 10, 2022, 10:56 am

| Readers 6394

Caprese Sandwich

From Margaret Canning in the Ulster Grocer Magazine: The biggest ever annual surge in output from food and drink firms in Northern Ireland may have been fuelled by the Nl Protocol, an economist has said. Figures on the economy from the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (Nisra) show that food and drink firms’ output was up just under 14% in the second quarter of 2022, compared to the year before. There had also been growth of 6 2% between …