Economy – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

Pension provision in a united Ireland : redux

Brendan Heading on April 17, 2022, 4:43 pm

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source : getty images

Last week I wrote an article suggesting that in the event of a united Ireland, the British government would propose that the future Irish government assume responsibility for paying the former Northern Ireland state pensions, on the basis that it would already be receiving the benefit of historic pension contributions that were invested in the form of public spending there. The article noted that this was the proposed arrangement in the event of Scottish independence (see page 139). This drew …

Home truths : pension provision in a United Ireland

Brendan Heading on April 9, 2022, 6:03 pm

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source : getty images

A topic I see coming up quite often relates to the question of pension provision in a united Ireland. For such an important topic, there seems to be a great deal of misinformation. The ongoing “civic conversation” has not really addressed it properly and, unfortunately, there have even been academic papers that have sought to wave the problem away. Most people assume that since they’ve been paying national insurance contributions to the UK throughout their life, the UK government would …

Time to take off the blindfolds and look at the reality of the protocol…

Terry Wright on March 17, 2022, 4:09 pm

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eye, iris, pupil

A Committee of MPs has found the Ireland/ Northern Ireland Protocol to be ‘untenable’ if it is not ‘repaired, replaced or removed.’ Analysis published by the European Scrutiny Committee of the European Commission’s 2022 Work Programme, which outlines the EU’s law-making priorities for the coming 12 months, identified at least 29 proposals which Northern Ireland will or most likely will have to follow in the years ahead. These laws would be made with little or no input from the UK Parliament or …

Home heating oil now over £1000 for 900 litres…

Brian O'Neill on March 12, 2022, 11:13 am

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truck, tanker, fuel

Get your thermals on, the price of home heating oil continues to soar. I was looking at the prices of my last 2 fills of 500 litres: 9th Sept 2021 – £210 18th Feb 2022 – £315 Now the same oil quantity would cost me over £600, nearly 3 times the price of 6 months ago. Every week we survey home heating oil suppliers to provide you with the average cost of 300L, 500L and 900L in your local area. …

Will the Protocol (as it stands) deliver an economic ‘Hibernia irredenta’…?

Terry Wright on March 4, 2022, 4:32 pm

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ssl, https, safety

In ‘My Secret Brexit Diary” Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier refers to Brexit as ‘La Grande Illusion’. It hardly needs translation; in meaning or perspective. Is it applicable to refer to the Ireland and Northern Ireland Protocol and the premise on which it is built in the same vein? in 2016, the Irish Government responded quickly to confront the implications for Ireland’s continuing membership of the EU, future relations with the United Kingdom and managing any potential economic fallout for the Irish …

Getting a more unmuddled sense of Brexit through a larger set of perspectives.

Mick Fealty on February 14, 2022, 11:57 am

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mountains, sun, clouds

This is an excellent (and fairly non judgemental) outline of the Brexit process and why and how it got messy quite so quickly from Professor Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe… I think the non judgemental bit is important if we are going to stand any chance of un-muddling things even if it is very hard to achieve… Anand breaks it down to the following… Leaving is hard Division is difficult The constitution is complex Trade …

Casting off our cognitive binaries will create a better society

Dean Bonner on February 3, 2022, 10:25 am

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tic tac toe, heart, game

“ “Understanding languages and other cultures builds bridges. It is the fastest way to bring the world closer together and to Truth. Through understanding, people will be able to see their similarities before differences.” – Suzy Kassem Twenty-four years after the Good Friday Agreement, much of our society remains deeply divided along sectarian lines. These overlapping societal dichotomies are reinforced by the dualism between the two largest parties, both intoxicated by their supposed ideological infallibility. Increasingly, more of us are …

Loud and fiery Dail exchanges, but gripping the south’s housing problem requires perseverance, resolve and patience…

Mick Fealty on January 28, 2022, 12:53 pm

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house, abandoned, urban

Well, the sparks certainly flew in the Dail this week. That’s probably to do with the fact Irish government regulations (which have been, with the exception of Christmas 2020, excruciatingly tight throughout the Covid period) are lifting. Like melt water freed from the glacier out came the key issue of the 2020 election: the ongoing disastrously acute rental housing shortage in the south. This Newstalk video (as did much of the southern press) focuses mostly on the passionate bits (and Mary …

Poots [to] halt all checks on the East West Border…?

Mick Fealty on January 27, 2022, 3:01 pm

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As this is breaking news, and I have no time to develop a hot (or even a cold) take, I’m putting this here: FM @paulgivan confirms that @edwinpootsmla will now act to unilaterally halt protocol checks at the ports. Says civil servants would be “absolutely obliged” to follow his instructions. “We believe that the checks continuing would be unlawful.” pic.twitter.com/OzhlJvIKzc — David Young (@DavidYoungPA) January 27, 2022 UPDATE: In David’s report in the Irish News… In September 2020, ahead of …

Henderson Group – NI protocol has not damaged business…

Brian O'Neill on January 7, 2022, 11:04 am

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shopping, corona, business

The Henderson Group own or supply all the Spar and Vivo shops you see all over the place. With annual sales close to 1 billion they are a massive local success story. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph not only are they getting on fine with the NI Protocol, but they are also expanding: Mr Doody, Henderson Group sales and marketing director, said: “Our long-term local sourcing strategy has allowed us to take a strong advantage against the multiples who are …

The tourist stories of the surviving Shankill Bomber are unlikely to be doing his own community much good…

Mick Fealty on January 5, 2022, 3:47 pm

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Before Christmas I was on Nolan to talk about whether it is right for a bomber (who killed 9 civilians) to be making money by taking tourists around Belfast telling them the story of the Troubles? You can get the whole segment here: Victims and survivors of the Shankill bomb hit out after it emerges bomber Sean Kelly is giving Troubles tours in North Belfast@mickfealty | @Phil_Kelly_ 🎧 https://t.co/FKmohB3Tqu pic.twitter.com/4HwaQ923HZ — Stephen Nolan (@StephenNolan) December 22, 2021 Without labouring it, I …

If Ireland as an island is two places in one surely we can afford to relax and let natural ‘unities’ emerge?

Mick Fealty on December 22, 2021, 1:10 pm

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few, together, swamp scratch thistle

For me growing up, the border felt like a fault-line in our family’s life. I grew up in North Down but the place I most related to was the tiny Atlantic side farm on the north coast of Donegal which had been my dad’s family’s home for over 100 years before. In the early 60s you only slowly filled in the clues that this place was somehow different to our northern home (some considerable distance to the south of the …

Northern Ireland showing signs of growth, expansion and quietly escaping its historic restrictions

Mick Fealty on November 26, 2021, 12:32 pm

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butterflies, flowers, pollinate

An old English friend rang me the other day and asked me about a potential placement his son was considering from a software company in Belfast (neither have any real connection I know of with either part of Ireland). He was puzzled by the fact the opportunity was in Belfast, and wanted to know a bit about life over there and a bit about the context in which a large US software company would be settling in a place like …

Will Latest Revelations Tarnish Halo of Most Popular NI Secretary in Recent Years ?

Steve Bradley on November 24, 2021, 2:56 pm

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October’s publication of a parliamentary investigation into lobbying by former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Patterson has embroiled Boris Johnson and the Government in the biggest crisis of his premiership so far. In the wake of the scandal over MPs’ second jobs, the Guardian newspaper published a report on 30 MPs who could be affected by the proposed ban on paid consultancy work. One of those is Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon. Smith served …

Return to the ‘radical ways’ that Micheál Martin referred to in 2016 merits consideration.

Terry Wright on November 15, 2021, 11:28 am

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The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin in November 2016 hosted the first All-Ireland Civic Dialogue. To my knowledge no Unionist political representatives were present. Some made a point of not being there; foolish in the light of subsequent events. It is hard to make a case without dialogue. The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD outlined the difficulties faced by ‘the most significant challenge in 50 years for the Irish economy’ and noted that a majority in Northern Ireland voted to ‘remain’ but that ‘the vote …

Brave New Post Lockdown World: Same Office, Different River?

Ciaran Ward on November 6, 2021, 8:38 am

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despaired, businessman, business

In the early 2000s, TV viewers were invited to see the funny side of the drudgery and monotony of the white-collar workplace. The Office starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent, a deluded manager at a regional branch of paper merchant’s firm Wernham Hogg cashed in on the then-new trend for reality TV, presenting itself as a fly-on-the-wall “mockumentary” and revelling in the incidents of social awkwardness, gaffes, flirtations, clashes of egos and professional rivalries which permeate workplaces throughout the world. If …

Biggest threat no longer climate denial, but delay.

Soapbox on November 2, 2021, 5:58 pm

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Eoin Tennyson is an Alliance Party Councillor for Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council In Glasgow this week, COP26 delegates will pore over past climate pledges and calculate how they will impact global warming. The answer will be clear: the promises made to date and efforts to meet them have been woefully inadequate. 2015’s Paris climate agreement committed nations to holding global temperature rises well below 2C from pre-industrial levels, while endeavouring to keep that increase nearer to 1.5C. …

Will Stormont’s “indifference” over petroleum licensing see an industry rollover jackpot by default?

Cillian McGrattan on October 20, 2021, 12:40 pm

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ecology, globe, concept

In the often mundane world of Assembly questions a recent response by the Minister for the Economy, Gordon Lyons is remarkable in its implications. First among these is the potential for a re-run of the Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) situation whereby taxpayers continued to make good bad financial and policy calculations on a massive scale. In response to a question by the Green Party’s Rachel Woods, the Minister for the Economy, Gordon Lyons, stated that: ‘I am not in a …

Are Sainsbury’s considering pulling out of Northern Ireland?

Brian O'Neill on October 20, 2021, 10:52 am

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Shelves emptied of toilet paper, due to panic buying

Sainsbury’s is to close its Craigavon store with 109 jobs at risk. The bigger question is are they considering pulling out of Northern Ireland altogether? From the BBC story: The union has questioned whether Brexit has been a factor in the decision. Ms Trainor said: “The rationale offered by Sainsbury’s for this closure include changing demographics, which makes little sense except that as a cover for the impact of post-Brexit trading arrangements under the Northern Ireland Protocol.” In April, Sainsbury’s …

Most significant thing today is the EU has recognised the Protocol’s drag on NI’s East West trade…

Mick Fealty on October 14, 2021, 2:33 pm

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delivery, shipping, transportation

So, there’s some actual news today. My guess is that the EU’s announcement today of the compromises it’s prepared to make. Although much of it is still unquantified, the scope of the pragmatic changes are impressively wide. Some provisions, like medicines, are technically difficult to achieve and will take much more time, but the direction of travel seems to be in the direction seems to be freeing up distribution between Britain and Northern Ireland. There has barely been any acknowledgement …