Ireland's political and cultural magazine
24March/April 2022ON 7 April 2009, the Minister for Finance, the late Fianna Fáil TD Brian Lenihan, introduced the National Assets Management Agency, a “bad bank”.In response to the Ministerial announce–ment, Bank of Ireland assembled an internal ‘Specialist Property Group’ with the task of identify–ing what they could sell to Nama.By that September, this Group collated […]
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March/April 2022 23Ifrst reported in Villagethat Leo Varadkar had improperly passed a draft contract to a friend Maitiú O Tuathail. The article was published on 31 October 2020.The story was headlined “Leo always delivers’, the cover was ‘Leo Law Breaker’. The cover of the following edition was ‘It’s a Crime’. Under cover of Dáil privilege […]
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March/April 2022 21Kerrane replied that “Despite attempts to endow a rather mundane committee with wide-ranging powers, the reality is that this is an administrative sub-committee, with no policy role and subject to the Ard Comhairle on all matters”.In fact most real power doeslie with the Coiste Seasta of eight. Five are Northern based. Only Assembly […]
20March/April 2022A SINN FÉIN First Minister is by no means certain after the Northern Assembly election in May. It is most probable Sinn Féin will be the largest party in terms of votes. In the last Assembly election, it was only 1,000 behind the DUP. However, there is a precedent for the largest party in […]
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March/April 2022 19scheme is purely for rental and does not meet the need for local residents and their community for housing which is integrated and provides for people of mixed incomes as well as appropriate social housing. The scheme includes provision for the required 10 per cent social and 10 per cent afordable housing.Rory Hearne […]
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March/April 2022 17around Moore Street was not refected in the fnal recommendation.Claims that the compensation offer was conditional on accepting the Hammerson proposals have been rejected by ofcials of the Council and the Department of Heritage with knowledge of the negotiations. Butcher, Stephen Troy, has claimed his business on Moore St will be severely disrupted […]
14March/April 2022IN 1999 the chairman of ISME (the small and medium enterprise lobbyist), Seamus Butler, wildly alleged that – in my capacity as CEO of ISME – I’d been involved in fraud of the EU by submitting unpaid invoices for payment of EU grants. In fact, unknown to me and after ISME had claimed the […]
10March/April 2022This is a tale of greed, destruction, violence, corruption and betrayal.The Quinn Group business employing 7000 with profts of €500m/year has turned into a husk of itself with only 800 employees and meagre profts with its construction division scandal–ously losing money. Conventional wisdom blames the recklessness of Sean Quinn but there was a further […]
After an inexplicable delay of five years, the public apology recommended in the final report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry will finally be made by the Northern Ireland Assembly (on 11 March). The announcement of the apology has been received with little enthusiasm by some of the abuse victims who say that they will […]
August/September 20225Crick you brickOne inspiring perspective on politics, relevant to the abortion debate, came from Bernard Crick, a British political theorist who died in 2008. He wrote that politics, is a marketplace where irrec–oncilable interests come to resolve their difer–ences through compromise in order that people can devote their passions to the really important things […]
From Village Magazine Mar-APR 2022
