On reflection, I agree with the comments that David Cameron did not necessarily go so far as the Bel Tel claim that he had “dropped a heavy hint that calls for a cut in Northern Ireland’s corporation tax would be kicked into the long grass as a result of the collapse of the Irish economy.” On this important point, his reported remarks are far from clear – nor does he appear to have been pressed for clarity – and he may …
As I feared and after all the hype, the presumed coping stone for a Northern Ireland expansion strategy has been kicked in the long grass. ( Did Cameron stub his toe?) Even though the 12.5 % company tax looks safe in the Republic, (although still tbc) the British government has balked at introducing a similar rate for Northern Ireland, according to the Prime Minister in an interview with the Bel Tel. The reasons are not hard to find and are overwhelmingly …
The Republic supports two latter day raging Jonathan Swifts, Vincent Browne who had the plug pulled on him by RTE and Fintan O’Toole. To be sure, there’s a horrible banality as well as tragedy about being in hock to bankers just as it was to 19th landlords or ironclad industrial capitalists. Fintan comes close to recommending revolt, surely a risky approach at this time of high anxiety and volatility. And where is the real strategy in this howl of protest? The primary goal of the IMF-EU …
Cuts in pay and welfare start in the Republic start from a much higher base than in Northern Ireland, according to headline comparisons made by Gerry Moriarty in the Irish Times. This is a reporting mission I’ve been urging for months. Well done Gerry. The job is by no means complete and I hope it will prompt wider analysis and debate. Remember that Irish public sector pay and benefits was higher a year ago. The taoiseach’s salary was about 20% up on …
Nerves will be stretched until the exact terms of the deal are known. Meanwhile government spin continues to minimise the extent of the damage. The bond markets at least seem satisfied for the moment but what about the Irish people, still much in the dark?. A huge sigh of relief will go up at the one bit of good news for Ireland. At least for the first year, the EU terms will be no worse than the Croke Park agreement. …
Now that the Irish government has come clean albeit through gritted teeth , anxiety mounts over the terms of the bailout, in particular the fate of 12.5% corporation tax. Given the total stand- off between the parties, this seems like a issue of confidence for the survival of the Fianna Fail-led coalition. Internally in the short term at least, they should come through. This is no time for a general election or a handover to a different coalition, particularly one without an …
Is this genuine, generous solidarity, the like of which would not be extended to any other country or a cunning Irish write-in? Ireland bailout: should Britain foot the bill? 59.2% Yes 40.8% No Bearing in mind… Ireland bailout: UK taxpayers could face £7bn bill But the Wall St Journal plays down the threat to sterling… Debt stresses in nearby Ireland therefore are unlikely to derail the pound’s outlook for now at least. In fact, they are “something of a small positive …
“The creditors say please take the money, and the debtor says ‘we don’t want it’. It’s very odd..” says one observer of the Irish financial crisis. Dublin is resisting an ECB-inspired bailout because it fears the likely terms will damage their holy grail, the prospects for future growth, by imposing virtually insupportable terms like ending 12.5% company tax. On the other hand, you might think it’s just as peculiar for the ECB to insist on Ireland taking the money when …
3 pm . While RTE reports only the Commission saying ” it isn’t us” The Irish Times reports that the pressure for a bailout is coming from the European Central Bank in order to ease pressure on Irish banks rather than the State directly.. European Central Bank vice president Vitor Constancio said Ireland could use the European Financial Stability Facility to help prop up its banking system to restore investor confidence. “The problems of the Irish banking sector are not …
The Anglo-Irish Agreement whose 25th anniversary falls today immediately exposed the limitations of a unionist veto on all political progress. But its equally significant and unintended result over time was to demonstrate the impossibility of reaching full agreement without participation by all sides, Sinn Fein as well as unionists. Understandably perhaps, retired mandarins of Iveagh House like Sean Donlon stress the check to unionism. Essentially the elements of the 1985 Agreement remain the default position should the GFA and St …
The debate over what lower corporation tax for NI only would do for the local economy is in total confusion. That’s my verdict after listening to a couple of hours of frankly embarrassing evidence before the NI Select Committee. I’d got such a different impression from the chairman of Belfast Harbour Board Len O’Hagan yesterday. It was all so very “Ulster.” What you’d expect for such a fundamental shift of policy is for the Executive to commission an authoritative report …
What was Chief Constable Baggot thinking of when he sought an injunction to try to halt the airing of this week’s BBC Spotlight on the state of a new PSNI investigation into the Claudy bombings? The move has revealed a dramatic revival of police interest in the case after the post-Saville furore that Claudy was one of many atrocities that had been forgotten, a view underscored by DUP MPs in the Commons debate on the Saville report only yesterday. I …
This a full report of the Saville debate and replaces Woodward’s bombshell The unlikely figure of Shaun Woodward has torn open the smooth surface of Westminster consensus by launching an attack on his successor for dilatoriness in tackling the legacy of the Troubles. Despite his criticisms and and government protestations they were moving as fast as posible, the debate yielded few clues about what should replace public inquries in complex controversial cases beyond a suggestion to look again at Eames/Bradley’s legacy commission. There was no …
More as a trailer than a review – as it’s out on Thursday– I draw attention to Fintan O’Toole’s latest polemic “Enough is Enough – how to build a new Republic“. Fintan has been promoting the book vigorously on this side of the water, on Radio 4’s Start the Week and here at greater length in an interview on Radio 3’s Night Waves (first interview)). A pity he didn’t link both parts of Ireland in his modernisation project. Note his …
Should the Assembly bid to Westminster to take on tax varying powers and lower corporation tax to the Republic’s level of 12.5%? Local experts appearing before the NI Select Committee were divided. It was pretty much the magic bullet for lobbyists from the Economic Reform Group, Eamonn Donaghy of KPMG and Victor Hewitt of the Economic Research Institute.( I was relieved to see them alive and talking; for judging purely from their websites, they died a while back- terrible PR that). Their …
As the Irish government clings desperately on to both the country’s economic independence and to its tiny Dáil majority whilst simultaneously promising the Plain People in the South more pain in the shape of less pay, fewer jobs and disappearing public services it may seem surprising that they are still funding that road which winds its way through the middle of the Ulster countryside and for no obvious electoral advantage. Of course, all political parties in the South insist that …
John Hume wins the RTE competition, followed by Michael Collins, Mary Robinson, James Connolly and Bono ( at least according to the Irish Times report. Ryan Tubridy announced the losers ” in no particular order”). Pity no voting figures were given for the phone-in poll. But there we are. No Taoiseach made it to the final five, not even Dev, while Collins did – although I suppose we can count him briefly as the formal head of the provisional government. Interesting if …
Have I missed a burning debate about university tuition fees in NI? I thought not. But better late than never. It’s surely obvious that Joanne Stuart’s recommendation to keep them at their present £3290 level is out of date – if it ever was up to date. The DEL report is understood to favour keeping the current fees and improving maintenance grants. Sir Reg has hinted that the financial crisis could affect any moves to be more generous to students. …
The Irish Times today gives space to a perennial whinge. Freelance journalist Darach MacDonald complains that, living in Northern Ireland, he is “now deemed by geography to be not quite Irish enough” to vote in the forthcoming Irish presidential election – even though he could stand, and take office if elected. But, rather than extending the franchise, there is a more obvious solution to the apparent contradiction. Introduce a residency requirement for the office of the President of [the Republic …
Now that the depth of Anglo’s pit has been divined (though have AIB and Irish Nationwide been stress tested enough?) the Irish Economy blog makes a cogent case for a November election before the budget. The question of whether the government had a mandate to introduce unpopular measures would disappear. And despite regular claims from journalists that the opposition are irresponsible and have no policies, both Fine Gael and Labour did produce plans last year detailing how they would implement …
