The details of what the presidential candidates spent during the election demonstrates again the extent to which political parties have their cake and eat it when it comes to funding.
The deal on the second Greek bailout needs to be concluded now.
The Croke Park agreement is not working, and the government should back out of it as quickly as it can.
The Planning Tribunal, which is expected to issue its final report in the coming weeks, has been a disaster for the conduct of public life in Ireland.
It could be that there is a legal requirement to have a referendum on the EU fiscal treaty. If we do, we do. However if there is no legal imperative to do so.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny goes to the EU summit tomorrow knowing he will be party to some vital decisions. On the agenda will be the new fiscal compact, the situation in Greece, the new EU rescue fund and
It sometimes seems that the central organising principle of Irish political and administrative life is that nobody, anywhere, should be inconvenienced by anything.
It hasn't quite been death by a thousand cuts. However, it is clear that finding the budgetary savings for 2012 has been hugely difficult for the government. With so many areas out of bounds because o
The fitness and probity tests being undertaken by the Central Bank of senior bank executives who were in place when the crisis was brewing is a distraction which will achieve little, apart from enrich
The troika is back in town and, no doubt, will again pat us on the head for adhering to the terms of our bailout. Some of the public choreography of this is perhaps inevitable - the last thing the tr
The government is promising it will produce a jobs strategy to boost employment. In the past, such grand plans have, all too often, been a mix of unspecified targets - a collection of a lot of things
The first thing that should be said about the controversy over new tax demands being sent to pensioners is that everyone should pay the taxes they owe. Pension payments have been largely protected thr
One of the greatest developments in this country over the past two decades was the explosion in the number of middle-income families. This - and not the creation of a small class of super-rich (many
As a new year begins, it is traditionally a time to take stock. The year 2011 was a very difficult one, with unemployment rising, living standards falling and hopes of an early recovery scuppered by t
