150,000 people have died; 10m have fled their homes and famine could kill 2.5m by next year
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Real-estate billionaire and reality-show host. President USA, 2017-2021; voted out 2021 though does not accept that; candidate again in November.
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Conor Lenihan interviewed Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers on the eve of his first budget Jack Chambers assails Sinn Féin policies that would turn Irish economic success “to dust” and says Trump policies are a “present risk” to Irish growth; Conor Lenihan sees Chambers as heir apparent to Micheál Martin and says few in Fianna Fáil would consider opposing Martin if he runs for the Presidency next year. In his office on Merrion Street, Chambers told Village Magazine that Irish economic success would “turn to dust” should Sinn Féin be allowed into government. Describing Sinn Féin’s alternative budget as “reckless and dangerous”, Chambers said their policies would seriously risk and jeopardise the country’s progress. “We are in line to receive around €30bn in corporation tax this year – much of which is from multinationals operating here. Sinn Fein’s proposals would not only discourage any from setting up here but would drive the existing companies away”, he said. Chambers was surprisingly trenchant: “Worst of all, Sinn Féin have said they would raid the Future Ireland Fund which will be essential in providing for current and future generations”. His comments will be read as his first shots in the election campaign with a general election now expected by political pundits for 15 November. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are expected to target Sinn Féin which they perceive to be weak on a number of fronts. “Worst of all, Sinn Féin have said they would raid the Future Ireland Fund which will be essential in providing for current and future generations”.His comments will be read as his first shots in the election campaign with a general election now expected by political pundits for 15 November. The new Finance Minister professed admiration for some of the new initiatives on clean energy being carried out by the Starmer Labour government in the UK. Chambers acknowledges that Ireland must now pay attention to the risks we face due to the retreat from globalisation from which Ireland greatly benefited.: “The country must be prepared for potential disruptions to global trade, especially with key trading partners like the US and China. Managing these risks will require a careful balancing of domestic and international interests”. Not mincing his words, Chambers cites a Donald Trump presidency as one of the key risks we face: “It certainly presents risk and possibilities of disruption, as it did on his previous term, but some of the risk didn’t necessarily crystallise. However, some of the Trump policies in lots of areas are a present risk”. He intends to use the €8.3 billion available to him on budget day to promote growth: “Our primary focus is on providing tax relief to workers, promoting enterprise, addressing the housing crisis and securing long-term sustainability through strategic investments”. “”. Chambers has insisted that the tax package in his budget will be targeted at lower and middle income earners. He admits that the average worker on approximately €50,000 still carries a “significant tax burden”. “Beyond tax relief, a core aspect of our economic policy is fostering enterprise and innovation. These are the driving forces behind the future productivity and competitiveness of the Irish economy”. In Fianna Fáil circles his meteoric arrival in Finance and his appointment by Micheál Martin as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fail makes him the heir apparent to Martin if the latter moves on following the General Election. With Michael McGrath gone to Brussels it is hard to detect any serious opposition to him becoming leader. Of course Darragh O’Brien, Jim O’Callaghan and more recently Norma Foley have also got their supporters. Chambers, not unlike other colleagues, will not be drawn on what the future for his party will be beyond the leadership of Micheál Martin. There has of course been intense recent speculation that Martin may be a candidate in the Presidential election which will happen towards the end of next year when Michael D Higgins stands down. Few would presume to oppose Martin should he decide to run for the party. Fine Gael under Simon Harris are enjoying a huge opinion poll boost to their support. It remains to be seen if this will be sustained. Clearly Fianna Fáil are hoping that a strong budget performance from Jack Chambers will even out the extraordinary surge in support that Simon Harris has brought about. A distinct feature of the recent European and local elections was the strong rate of transfer between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates when one or the other dropped out. This is clearly giving hope to Martin and Fianna Fáil that the General election will not fare out to be bad for them. Jack Chambers (33) has been Minister for Finance since June 2024 when he was also appointed deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. He previously served as a Minister of State attending cabinet from July 2020 to June 2024, and as Government Chief Whip from July 2020 to December 2022. He has been the Dublin West constituency since the 2016 general election. He was educated at Belvedere College; Trinity College where he studied Law and Political Science; and the College of Surgeons where he completed a medical degree. He is the youngest Minister for Finance since Michael Collins and a likely successor to the leadership of Fianna Fáil. In the first part of the interview, former Fianna Fáil Innovation Minister and journalist, Conor Lenihan, discussed the budget and the Sate’s finances. In a second part, to appear in Village magazine later this week, Michael Smith talked to him about his political outlook. He gave Village over an hour of his time the week before the budget, remaining characteristically upbeat, solid and sober throughout the interview. Here’s the interview, lightly edited for length: Economic Statement on Tax, Expenditure, and Growth Since I became Minister in June, I’ve been working on the Summer Economic Statement and latterly Budget 2025. The Statement outlines a comprehensive plan to use €8.3 billion in tax and expenditure measures for sustainable economic growth. Our primary focus is on providing tax relief to workers, promoting
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Exclusive: the traders report on the Economic Impacts of the Proposed Traffic Management Changes in the Draft Dublin City Centre Transport Plan 2023 New report says Transport Plan would reduce retail spending in the City Centre by €141,253,366 in 2028 (when all the proposed changes would be in place) and lead to corresponding reductions in gross value added (GVA) of €87,253,471, employment 1,787 retail jobs, wages €94,198,090 and Exchequer revenue €18,262,152. By Michael Smith A report prepared for the Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance Limited by Dr Pat McCloughan, Managing Director of PMCA Economic Consulting, concludes that the proposed traffic management changes being proposed by Dublin City Council (DCC) and the National Transport Authority (NTA) would reduce retail spending in the City Centre by €141,253,366 in 2028 (when all the proposed changes would be in place) and lead to corresponding reductions in gross value added (GVA) of €87,253,471, employment 1,787 retail jobs, wages €94,198,090 and Exchequer revenue €18,262,152. However, these adverse impacts are only the direct economic impacts due to the proposed changes, which are driven by the plan to reduce cars in the City Centre even though the evidence indicates that retail spending by car users is highest among all modes of travel to the City Centre, according to the PMCA report commissioned by an alliance of Brown Thomas, Arnotts, Jervis Shopping Centre, Retail Excellence Ireland, Restaurants Association of Ireland, Louis Copeland & Sons, the Irish Parking Association, Best Car Parks and Fitzwilliam Real Estate Capital. When account is also taken of the knock-on impacts on other sectors of the Irish economy then the consequences of the proposals are even greater. As indicated in the summary table below, adding together the total economic impacts in regard to GVA, wages and Exchequer revenue leads to the total adverse monetary impact (in 2028) of €390,585,676 or in current (2024 terms) €361,001,121 in the Irish economy, with the risk of the loss of up to 6,242 jobs in the economy (1,787 in retailing and 4,455 in other sectors). Moreover, many of those at work in the retail sector in the City Centre are on comparably low wages in what are nevertheless important jobs and who may struggle to find new work if they were to lose their jobs as a result of the Draft Plan. Summary of the Economic losses in Retailing and Other Sectors of the Irish Economy due to the Proposed Traffic Management Changes in the Draft Dublin City Centre Transport Plan 2023 Economic Impact Variable Direct Impact [1] Indirect Impact [2] Induced Impact [3] Knock-On Impact [2]+[3] Total Impact [1]+[2]+[3] Retail Spend/Value of Output (€) 141,253,366 29,692,607 68,478,622 98,171,229 239,424,595 Gross Value Added (GVA) (€) 87,253,471 79,770,693 29,452,585 109,223,278 196,476,749 Employment (FTEs) 1,787 3,428 1,026 4,455 6,242 Wages (€) 94,198,090 46,408,623 12,379,630 58,788,254 152,986,343 Exchequer Revenue (€) 18,262,152 22,860,432 41,122,584 Monetary Total (2028 Price Terms) 199,713,712 126,179,316 41,832,215 190,871,963 390,585,676 Monetary Total (2024 Price Terms) 184,586,580 116,621,979 38,663,672 176,414,541 361,001,121 Source: This corresponding table in the main body of the report detailing the economic impacts in full is Table 10 (p. 14). The Draft Plan envisages a low traffic city centre with more space for sustainable modes of transport – bus, rail, cycling and walking – and with more frequent and efficient public transport links and interchanges. By re-orienting the City Centre towards sustainable travel modes, the Draft Plan aims to facilitate the Council to meet the travel mode share targets for 2028 set out in the Dublin CDP 2022-2028 and to support the Council’s efforts to contribute towards the national objective of reducing emissions from transport by 50% by 2030 in the 2023 Climate Action Plan. The Draft Plan contains the following travel mode share changes during 2019-2028 (2019 being the base year and 2028 the target year): The targets in the Draft Plan imply the following travel mode share percentage changes during 2019-2028: The inclusion of taxis in the fourth group of travel modes provokes an element of confusion because the Canal Cordon Report 2022 produced by DCC and the NTA (which provides the travel data underpinning the Draft Plan) includes taxis among the “Sustainable Modes” (of transport) in Table 4 (p. 21) (along with bus, rail, LUAS, walking and cycling) while “Car, Goods and Other Modes” in that table of the Canal Cordon Report 2022 is the sum of car, goods vehicle and motor cycle modes.2 Delivery of the Draft Plan will occur during 2024-2030 with a series of proposed traffic management measures (i.e. restrictions) introduced in the City Centre during 2024-2028, while new transport initiatives – BusConnects Core Bus Corridor Schemes, DART+ West and DART+ South West – will be delivered during 2027-2030 (BusConnects Enhancements are planned to be introduced during 2024-2025). The new transport initiatives will be preceded by the proposed restrictions (which will be felt strongly on cars) (Table A1 in the Annex to this report reproduces the timings of the proposed traffic management measures and the new transport schemes for bus and rail as scheduled in the Draft Plan). 1 An illustrative summary of the Draft Plan (including the targets) is reproduced in Figure A1 in the Annex to this report. 2 This observation regarding the Canal Cordon Report 2022 is also noted in footnote 10 of this report (p. 6). Among the traffic management measures proposed in the Draft Plan are the following: Other provisions of the Draft Plan affecting private car access to the City Centre include: The Draft Plan contains the following vision for the capital (p. 7): “Within the next 10 years, Dublin will have an established international reputation as one of Europe’s most sustainable, dynamic and resourceful city regions. Dublin, through the shared vision of its citizens and civic leaders, will be a beautiful, compact city, with a distinct character, a vibrant culture and a diverse, smart, green, innovation-based economy. It will be a socially inclusive city of urban neighbourhoods with excellent
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Editorial from Village July-August 2023 Edition The case for gay rights, pioneered in the 1980s in this country by David Norris through the courts and the European Convention on Human Rights, is unanswerable. Everyone has the option – philosophically – to believe the equality of gays or to deny it. But the fact is that if people choose – politically i.e. in practice – to be offended by what others get up to where no nuisance is caused to third parties, there would be no end to the asymmetrical busybodinesses that would undermine public and individual welfare. For this reason, society is best served by freedom for consenting adults to exercise whatever sexual preferences fulfil them. But it’s easy to be smug. As Dublin overflowed with pride in mid-June other countries were not so self-confident. In May, Uganda introduced the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. Russian authorities have been banning Pride events for years in order not to promote LGBTQ+ lifestyle to children. Former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov also labelled Pride ‘satanic’. This year, 40 Turkish Pride activists were detained after they defied a ban to stage a march in Istanbul a month after Turkey’s homophobic and hate-filled election campaign. The celebrations in Houston, the largest pride event in conservative Texas, were scaled back due to rising insurance and security costs, as Texas lawmakers prepared bills banning youngsters from drag shows and restricting how they learn about the LGBTQ+ community; and restricting gender-affirming healthcare. Pride planners across the US and Canada said they were facing higher bills because of anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation and hatred, and many events were cancelled. Prominent members of the US Supreme Court have expressed scepticism about deriving LGBTQ+ rights from the Constitution. But the principles inherent in decriminalisation and celebration of LGBTQ+ politics and culture should animate greater tolerance and enthusiasm for others who exercise preferences contrary to those of the majority, and to vulnerable minorities. Village has no time for a la carte egalitarianism. You cannot be pro-LGBTQ+ but anti-Traveller. Against that background, this magazine asserts its strong support for Trans people, the latest target of discrimination and hatred, particularly online. If someone wishes to change their gender that is their business. Issues like Trans’ advantages in sport and female changing rooms can be dealt with forensically and sensibly. They do not cut across the overriding principle for society that the majority should not interfere with a minority that is doing no harm. So, if this government has done little else that appeals to this magazine, we commend its determined backing of new Hate Legislation currently nearing passage by the Seanad. The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 will amend the law on the prohibition of incitement to violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of certain characteristics: (a) race, (b) colour, (c) nationality, (d) religion, (e) national or ethnic origin, (f) descent, (g) gender, (h) sex characteristics, (i) sexual orientation, or (j) disability. In our experience, however, many of the difficulties in enforcing Hate crimes at the moment – under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 — derive from inadequate training and enthusiasm from the Garda in pursuing those who harass or abuse others because of characteristics like race or gender. A changed ethos will be necessary. There has been dissent: some malicious, some thoughtful. Concerns have been expressed that Hate has not been defined. People Before Profit want the legislation to specify “intimidation, hostility or discrimination”. However, the judiciary is at least as well placed to ascertain the context and nuance of the motivation behind Hate Crimes as the legislature; perhaps marginally better placed because complexity requires discretion. And the usual suspects are up in arms that the legislation opens up the current binary of gender, so risking the prosecution of those who, for example, assert basic gender simplicities. But in fact, it is not the assertion of the simplicities that grounds a crime. It is the provocative assertion of them in ways that intimidate or humiliate. The Bill requires “intent [or recklessness] to incite violence or hatred against such a person or group of persons on account of those characteristics”. Irish people should reflect on the fact that advertising ‘No dogs, No Irish’ should have been a crime. Concern has also been expressed that the legislation opens up the possibility of a person “being criminalised purely for having material that is hateful, without that material being communicated to the public”. But the Bill makes it clear that the material must have been “made available on a platform that is or may be accessible by the public or a section of the public” and that, only then, will there be a presumption, that can be rebutted, “that the person intended to communicate the material to the public or a section of the public”. In short, most of the objections to the Bill are illusory. Few of them are offered by the vulnerable people who have asked for its protections. We live in a world of increasing economic inequality but in this country, we are moving against the tyranny of the majority imposing its mores on vulnerable minorities. It is progress worth fighting for.
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In the last thirty years Sinn Féin has become a major nationalistic force in Irish pol-itics. It seemed like it would be socialist.
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Court of Criminal Appeal considers appeal by P J Sweeney in eviction melée case on grounds judge allowed evidence of his finances, erred in admitting evidence from body camera and admitted evidence of Detective Jennings
