Economy – Page 79 – Slugger O'Toole

A river runs through it…

Pete Baker on September 5, 2006, 7:21 pm

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Well not quite a river as such.. As the BBC reports, Water Service Chief Executive, Katharine Bryan [and not an NIO minister? – Ed] has announced the awarding of a contract to build a new sewer for Belfast.. to Morgan Est and Belfast-based contractor Farrans (Construction) Ltd (also involved in the new Westlink construction), and worth either £100million or £91.8 million.. depending on which press release you read.. The Water Service website should have details, check the 21st Century Infrastructure …

Sharp rise in house prices…

Mick Fealty on September 4, 2006, 5:49 pm

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Shortly after I landed in the south of England, it struck me that a fairly modest sized detached house in East Dorset was going the same price as some of the biggest, poshest houses in Holywood. Now, with a 25% hike in prices in the last year, the gap is closing. The BBC reports that house prices in Northern Ireland are rising by £600 per week. Bank of Ireland’s Head of Research in Northern Ireland Alan Bridle, said growth rates …

Magners drives a cider revolution…

Mick Fealty on September 4, 2006, 4:17 am

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It seems that Magners has helped create a minor revolution in the UK, which has seen the balance tip dramatically (if not necessarily decisively) between beer and cider. This chart from the FT shows just how sudden and far reaching the change has been. It has also consists of 68.4% of the profits made by C&C up until February this year. As a mass market cider, it seems, nevertheless, to have driven a rediscovery of other more exclusive ciders.Interestingly, the …

Irish company strains to meet British demand

Mick Fealty on September 1, 2006, 3:57 pm

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The FT today has a piece on the Magners success story. The Clonmel cider plant is having difficulties keeping up with a monster 250% growth rate in Britain. C&C said that capacity constraints meant it was “experiencing difficulties in meeting the full market demand for Magners, particularly in relation to take-home packs”. The company said it planned on investing to increase its capacity before next summer. That would reduce its free cash flow/earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to …

Farren: fulfil your obligations, then jump…

Mick Fealty on August 31, 2006, 1:21 am

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This is one of several keynote presentations made by politicians at Glencree Centre for Reconciliation‘s Summer School over the last weekend. Sean Farren re-iterates the centrality of the Belfast Agreement, and argues that the blame for vacuum lies squarely at the feet of paramilitaries. The hiatus has claimed lives and distracted politicians attention from key issues like reflating the local economy.By Sean Farren The greatest political challenge for all of us in public life in the North is to recover …

How contraception built the Tiger economy…

Mick Fealty on August 30, 2006, 3:26 pm

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Contraception, apparently. According to Malcolm Gladwell, it’s what Harvard academics David Bloom and David Canning argue for some years now. When all other explanations are spent, it is the dramatic fall in the birth rate just after the Tiger generation that released a major amount of resources from sustaining a non working population and made way for economic growth rates double that of the EU average. Hat-tip to Fews Orange! “The introduction of demographics has reduced the need for the …

Magners busts Guinness’ hold on Irish drinkers?

Mick Fealty on August 30, 2006, 3:58 am

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The phenomenal rise of Magners cider has to be seen to be believed. I know guys here in England who’ve never drunk cider before puzzling over why within twelve months of its GB launch they all to a man now drink Magners. Now it seems that in Ireland Bulmers increased cider production is accounting for some of a substantial dent in the scale of Guinness drinking which could have major implications for Diageo’s global marketing strategy. In February Diageo revealed …

Northern Ireland ‘nice place to live’ shock!

Mick Fealty on August 25, 2006, 6:11 pm

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That’s the upshot of the Newsletter’s take on the news that Northern Ireland has the UK’s fastest growing population, it’s expected to increase by 12% over the next generation. It now accounts for 2.7% of the UK population. The demographic profile shows a strong youthful bias, which as the Newsletter points out ‘should be positive for a cohesive economy’.It also notes: …the Office for National Statistics confirms that the numbers of migrant workers are greater than the young people leaving …

Towards Belfast’s Gaeltacht Quarter…

Mick Fealty on August 11, 2006, 1:38 pm

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I’ve little time to blog at the moment, so I’ll just quickly note an excellent public debate at the Culturlann on Wednesday night, on the Gaeltacht Quarter. This is the suggestion, rising out of the Dutton Report that West Belfast seeks to become a more physical expression of the high level of local Irish speakers that are to be found there. The panel included Mairtin O’Muilleoir, Ian Parsley, Nelson McCausland, Sue Ward of the Tourist Board and Jake MacSiacais of …

judgement has to be made..

Pete Baker on August 10, 2006, 12:45 am

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I was disappointed [but not that surprised? – Ed] to see Eamonn McCann, regular Belfast Telegraph columnist and occasional election candidate, in the middle of this particular story. After a long running campaign repeatedly failed to achieve its aim of forcing prominent American company Raytheon to leave his beloved Maiden City – and take their software engineering jobs with them – today he and 8 others resorted to violence, stormed the offices, threw computer equipment and documents from a first …

SEM to go live.. late

Pete Baker on August 9, 2006, 12:46 am

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In a characteristically upbeat statement, Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland Peter Hain, and Irish Minister for Communications Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, have announced a delay in setting up the Single Energy Market[SEM] – Press Association report here. 1st November 2007 rather than 1st July 2007 is now the “go-live” date. That will be more than half way through the 2-year attempt to create a market for renewable energy in NI, assuming Wales doesn’t overtake us …

Serious underinvestment in roads…

Mick Fealty on August 8, 2006, 11:09 am

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The same kind of interval speed check cameras (subs needed) that have been operating on the Gretna – Stranraer stretch of road in Scotland is to be used on the Newry – Belfast road in order to cut speed and thus the high rate of road deaths on the A1 dual carriageway. Conor Murphy however complains that road budgets have been cut under direct rule ministers and that it is under investment in the actual roads themselves that accounts for …

The global ‘wonderbra’ effect…

Mick Fealty on July 31, 2006, 4:53 pm

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One of the things that demonstrates how far behind Northern Ireland is in terms of what’s happening in the wider world. Even if you don’t like economics, I recommend heartily that you take some time out to watch this presentation from Hans Rosling, who notes how widespread preconceptions of how the world is split into two discrete world’s of rich and poor are profoundly misleading. The data, he asserts, is way more interesting than old narratives. Hat tip to Nestor!!It’s …

Talkback on NIR online ticket fiasco…

Mick Fealty on July 25, 2006, 4:05 pm

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Talkback is raising the topic raised and discussed on Slugger by Fair Deal: ie the unavailability of NIR crossborder tickets by the internet. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Republic needs Mayoral offices to fight urban decline…

Mick Fealty on July 25, 2006, 2:11 pm

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David McWilliams reckons that the Republic’s expansion has led to unsustainable urban communities, and a startling divide between ‘new’ and ‘old’ Ireland. In essence, the problem raised by the 2006 Census is that whilst Dublin is expanding rapidly, the countries other centres of populations, Cork, Limerick and Waterford are witnessing falls in their population, whilst in the countryside it is rising. The population is falling or about to fall in three of our five major cities. This is a huge …

Sinn Fein raises migrant workers rights

Mick Fealty on July 19, 2006, 4:11 pm

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Arthur Morgan, Sinn Fein TD for Louth, got a few square blows (and one rabbit punch at the end) in for his party’s election campaign, when he went head to head this morning on Morning Ireland with Harry Nash of Transport Components Ltd over the rights of migrant South African workers putting safety belts on Bus Eireann buses. The workers appear to getting way below (about €2.50 per hour) the minimum wage (€7.65 per hour), although Nash argued that a …

Podcast: On the importance of West Lothian…

on July 18, 2006, 8:17 pm

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Last week we caught up with top Tory blogger Iain Dale to ask him about his party’s raising of the West Lothian question (download from here). He notes that for all the recent furore around West Lothian question it was in the last Conservative manifesto. He argues that if the presentation has not been everything it should have been, the party is right to raise English unease at a perceived imbalance in the wider relationships of the UK. Indeed, he …

“I’m very happy to take your questions.”

Pete Baker on July 18, 2006, 3:02 pm

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Following his speech at the MacGill Summer School on Sunday, where he focussed primarily – and, according to SF leader Gerry Adams, patronisingly – on the issue of policing and Sinn Féin, Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland Peter Hain, has given another speech. This time, in true campaigning style, he was speaking to the gathered NI press corps at Stormont – full speech here[pdf file]… and there are plenty of areas for further questions to be asked. …

Nomadic no more..

Pete Baker on July 16, 2006, 12:12 am

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So much for the extended Newsline edition on Monday featuring live coverage of the SS Nomadic returning to Belfast docks.. The BBC report that it’s already arrived! Better photos and coverage here. The former White Star Line ship (they sold her in 1927) which we bought the Department of Social Development bought on our behalf [without telling us – Ed] for €250,001 at an auction in Paris in January is to stay at the docks until Monday when it will …

Can the south afford a tax and spend north?

Mick Fealty on July 11, 2006, 11:49 am

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It seems the Republic is now the second wealthiest nation in the world. Previous urban myths amongst some in Northern Ireland had it that it was all based on hand outs from the EU. Not so. Indeed, as Newton Emerson points out in the Irish News article below, there have been some profound political shifts in the south. The mismatch with Northern Ireland’s spend and hang the consequences attitudes may be the biggest barrier to an eventual united Ireland:By Newton …