Ireland's political and cultural magazine
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By Brian John Spencer George Orwell wrote that sport is war minus the shooting. Like a ritualised clash between two tribes sport allows men and women to spill their primal energies, growing and bonding as human beings in the process. I played rugby every weekend from the age of seven with Instonians at Shane Park, […]
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By Constantin Gurdgiev Stock and bond markets have been rocked on the waves of volatility, the doom of deep corrections and the highs of rapid reversals. The summer of 2015 will go down in history books as a period when the markets have finally reverted to pricing in real fundamentals. And the process of market […]
By Anton McCabe Growing links between some unions in the Republic and Sinn Féin are causing certain concerns in the Northern trade union movement. While in the North the trade unions largely succeeded in holding together in a period of communal division, as part of wider society they are not immune from its tensions. In […]
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By Michael Smith The Equality Tribunal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Labour Relations Commission and the National Employment Rights Agency will soon be merged together into the Workplace Relations Commission (as recommended by An Bord Snip Nua). Many of the reforms envisaged by the Workplace Relations Commission are necessary and will benefit both employers and […]
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By Frank Connolly Yet another storm is brewing in Wicklow following a decision by county council officials to dispose of its freehold on a significant commercial property on the Bray seafront. A number of elected members were shocked to learn in recent months of the disposal for just €10,000 of the freehold on the property […]
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By Frank Connolly Is it possible that the row that has engulfed the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA), a leading solicitors firm and senior politicians in the North over the disposal of its Project Eagle portfolio of distressed loans could spill over to its controversial operations south of the border? The involvement of the US […]
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By Frank Connolly The recent appearance of Michael Fingleton at the banking inquiry served only to reinforce the widespread view that the Oireachtas hearings have done little to elucidate the real causes of the Irish financial collapse. The former head of Irish Nationwide Building Society accused everyone else but himself and his poor and self-serving […]