Economy – Page 72 – Slugger O'Toole

But will they run on time…

Pete Baker on September 14, 2007, 7:22 pm

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Perhaps I’m not reading this properly, or perhaps the full statement when it appears will explain it better, but according to this report a transport meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in Killadeas, Co Fermanagh, discussed whether hourly services could be introduced on the Belfast to Dublin railway line – “Train operators are considering further development that would also involve new engines and the removal of speed restrictions.” That’s not the part that’s confusing.. this is Northern Ireland Regional Development …

No free lunches here

Pete Baker on September 14, 2007, 3:30 pm

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And certainly not when it comes to private developments. The BBC report the headline, but as the Belfast Telegraph’s David Gordon points out there are catches involved. First is the associated development which would remain with the Sheridan Group. But its Causeway centre idea may fall foul of the National Trust and other environmental groups due to the private development element within it. Then there’s the slight problem of a recent government assessment on Sheridan’s ability to deliver the Queen’s …

“I do not believe that we must accept things the way they are…”

Pete Baker on September 14, 2007, 3:36 am

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Possibly a companion post to the one Mick noted earlier. The NI Executive’s Finance Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson, was speaking today to NI members of the CBI at the Stormont hotel “It is already obvious that the Executive’s new Budget and Programme for Government will be devised in a much tighter financial environment than for many years. “Unlike the previous devolution period, in the early years of the New Labour Government, when there were significant additional resources, this Executive …

“Belfast is outside that jurisdiction.”

Pete Baker on September 13, 2007, 4:49 pm

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While others may still be pressing for a meeting, RTÉ reports that the Irish Labour court has answered a question that I suggested should have been fairly clear. The Labour Court Chairman Kevin Duffy has told Aer Lingus management and cabin crew that it considers Belfast to be a foreign base. Pete Baker

Causeway conundrum

Pete Baker on September 12, 2007, 2:21 pm

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There are, so far, more questions than answers surrounding the still-unfolding story of the Causeway Visitors Centre and it’s not clear what worth, if any, there is in Coleraine Borough Council unanimously voting to “keep the proposed visitor’s centre at the Giant’s Causeway in public hands” – a motion seconded by DUP mayor Maurice Bradley. Then there’s the entire back-story, from the fire in 2000 which destroyed the previous centre, to the Moyle UUP councillor William Graham’s last-minute motion to …

“It would not be a prudent use of taxpayers’ money to proceed further in the circumstances..”

Pete Baker on September 10, 2007, 8:03 pm

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The winning architectural design for the proposed Visitor’s Centre at the Giant’s Causeway was announced in October 2005 and, presumably, that’s what they still intend to build [Adds or perhaps not..]. But the question of who is to build it looks like being another battle-ground within the NI Executive.. and outside as well. On Saturday SF MLA Daithí McKay complained about the delay, today we have a quick one-two of statements from the DUP representatives in the Executive – firstly …

“weather permitting..”

Pete Baker on September 8, 2007, 6:46 pm

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To be honest I was sceptical about the viability of the proposal to raise U-778, not least because of the cost involved, but according to the report in the Belfast Telegraph Derry City Council do seem to be making some progress. It’s still a long way from being lifted off the sea-bed but the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, UTV, RTE and Channel 4 “have contacted the council to express their interest in filming the exploration and raising of the U-778 …

There’s still life in the Shannon [No] Show..

Pete Baker on September 4, 2007, 8:33 pm

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The Shannon [No] Show may not be quite as over as it appeared, and I don’t mean because of the Fianna Fáil cumann in Co Clare. Aer Lingus’ largest shareholder (29.4 per cent), RyanAir, has ignored the official response from the Aer Lingus management and gone over their heads by “issu[ing] a notice to the stock exchange today of requisition under the Companies Act and Aer Lingus’s articles of association.” It’s an attempt to force Aer Lingus to hold the …

Bertie [finally] speaks on Shannon [No] Show..

Pete Baker on September 4, 2007, 1:09 am

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And he’s repeated the line from Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey, that “the focus must now be to get another operator into Shannon. He said the Government had no advance warning of the decision, adding that it contravened the Government’s aviation policy and the spatial strategy.” And according to that RTÉ report He also said there is no split within the Cabinet on the issue. So, where’s Willie?.. Could he be here, perhaps.. Just a thought.. Pete Baker

Shannon (No) Show gets a re-run..

Pete Baker on September 1, 2007, 1:15 am

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Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny’s late arrival to the debate over Aer Lingus’ tranfer from Shannon to Belfast has been somewhat over-shadowed by the annoncement by Aer Lingus that they have rejected RyanAir’s call for a Emergency General Meeting. Both stories also get an airing in this RTÉ report. It doesn’t change the fundamentals underpinning the decision though.. but whether any politician, our own local variety included, will articulate that case rather than following a locally populist, if non-sensical, line …

Cabinet meet to defuse Shannon row..

Pete Baker on August 29, 2007, 5:41 pm

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The first meeting of the Irish Cabinet since the Dáil rose at the start of the summer takes place today and as the RTÉ report says – “The Cabinet is expected to spend a considerable amount of time trying to find ways of defusing the political and economic head of steam in the mid-west.” That would be on this issue. And it’s being reported that the Taoiseach’s inter-departmental group are expected “to conclude that Shannon airport is already well connected …

Contemplating the price of a unification process…

Mick Fealty on August 28, 2007, 1:50 pm

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Fergus Finlay argue in his Examiner column today that Shannon may only be the first of a series of prices inflicted by an island wide move towards a single market space: It has been an understated part of the strategy of both the British and Irish governments for many years that they should take every opportunity to develop any situations that have an all-Ireland dynamic to them. Some of the unionist and loyalist parties in the North might have professed …

Belfast is foreign enough for Aer Lingus

Pete Baker on August 28, 2007, 12:31 am

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Far be it from me to suggest that the trade union IMPACT are asking the Irish Labour Courts the wrong question deliberately – “The IMPACT trade union has written asking whether the reference in the recommendation to ‘foreign bases’ was intended to include Belfast.” And this isn’t the right question either. The correct question to ask is whether Belfast qualifies as a “foreign base”.. and being in a different political and legal jurisdiction, under a different tax regime and with …

A cunning plan to heal the Belfast-Shannon rift…

Mick Fealty on August 23, 2007, 5:32 pm

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As the controversy over the proposed closure of Aer Lingus flights from Shannon continues, not least between the mickey taking East and the West [makes a change from odious wrangles over North Southery – ed], Newton Emerson offers a humble solution (subs needed) in today’s Irish Times:By Newton Emerson Following several days of intensive negotiations between airlines, pilots and unions, the government has announced a last-minute compromise on the Shannon-Heathrow issue. “We are confident that nobody from the Shannon region …

Irony-free zone ahead

Pete Baker on August 22, 2007, 9:20 pm

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Supernaturalist condemns.. supernaturalists… oh, and gamblers.. [and, of course, Amnesty International – Ed]. To paraphrase, Archbishop Brady calls for ‘return to the One True Superstition Church’ Adds Full speech here [pdf file] People who put their trust in horoscopes, astrology and mediums lack trust in God and are “colluding with an illusion”, a senior Catholic churchman said today. Pete Baker

“The levels of hypocrisy involved in all of this are stratospheric.”

Pete Baker on August 21, 2007, 2:55 pm

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RTÉ reports on the ongoing discussions between Aer Lingus management and the pilot’s union and, while the Taoiseach’s inter-departmental group considers what to do next, Fintan O’Toole in the Irish Times [subs req] has some thoughts on the intra-governmental disagreements noted previously and on the Irish Government’s Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea, in particular. As Séamus Dolan of the law faculty at NUIG has explained with admirable succinctness: “The concept of cabinet confidentiality flows from the notion of collective responsibility, …

Large blue box assembled in Belfast..

Pete Baker on August 18, 2007, 12:52 am

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If the Danish government won’t apologise for the Vikings what chance is there that the Swedish government will for IKEA [They’re really serious about that self-assembly, aren’t they? – Ed] Lord Mayor of Belfast Jim Rodgers today placed the last skylight on the roof of the 29,000 square metre store as part of the ‘topping-out’ ceremony, marking the completion of its construction. Announced in January 2006, and as long as there were no puzzling bits left over from that assembling, …

Shannon (No) Show rumbles on..

Pete Baker on August 17, 2007, 7:41 pm

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Another Irish Government Minister, Eamon O’Cuiv, has decided to criticise [Updated O’Cuiv link via Limerick Blogger] the Irish Government over the Aer Lingus decision and the Defence Minister, Limerick TD Willie O’Dea, has been painting defeat as victory.. Perhaps he should have listened to the Aer Lingus Chief Executive, Dermot Mannion, more carefully at that meeting.. or even to the official Irish Government statement.. oh, and the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern is reported to be saying that the …

Intervention would be “inappropriate”

Pete Baker on August 16, 2007, 10:17 pm

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The latest on the Aer Lingus Shannon [no] Show comes via the Irish Times breaking news – The Irish Government has said it is “inappropriate” for it to intervene in the decision-making process of Aer Lingus and that to do so would “ultimately be damaging to the company and its customers” – That’s apparently an official statement.. delivered on behalf of the government by.. the Education Minister Mary Hanafin.. [Where’s Willie? – Ed] Adds Official statement here “As a listed …

“NI simply cannot opt out of taking the difficult measures that apply in every other part of the UK”

Pete Baker on August 16, 2007, 7:26 pm

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Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane isn’t the only Minister facing pay-related problems within her brief, as this UTV report notes. College lecturers have rejected a 2% increase in pay offer from employers at further education institutes. And, interestingly, the Employment and Learning Minister, the UUP’s Sir Reg Empey, agrees with them.. in that “The further education lecturers have won the argument. Pay parity has the support of my department..” But the statement includes an interesting attempt at deflecting criticism from his …