Sport Field of dreams – what might have been if we were hosting Rugby World Cup If Ireland had won the rights to hold the event, it might have gone well or maybe not but our failure to do so would probably be regarded as irrelevant if we could what many say we are capable of and win it
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Saudi aircraft leasing plan is set for take-off – but ethical questions remainThe Public Investment Fund has spent $3.6 billion building up its Dublin business, putting Ireland at the centre of claims that it is trying to launder its reputation
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Quiet force Chryss O’Reilly was a true match for her high-flying husbandTony O’Reilly’s wife, who died unexpectedly this week, was an apt partner for the roving media magnate with immense wealth of her own and a loyalty to him that endured
RTÉ in Crisis Matt Cooper: Real story of Toy Show the Musical is still under wrapsIt was odd, last year, when Ryan Tubridy was not a more vocal champion of the ill-fated live-show project – but emails suggest he may have been part of a separate venture riffing on the Toy Show brand that never materialised
The Last Post Matt Cooper: State appears to be damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t buy ‘Terminal 3’ land The offer for sale by the McEvaddy brothers of their land adjacent to Dublin Airport poses big strategic questions for the state, but some of the answers can be found by reference to the past
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Succession succeeds above all others in depicting reality of business worldThe hit television series about the corporate greed of Logan Roy and his family may be fiction but much of it is based on the reality of how high finance operates in that rarefied world
The Last Post Matt Cooper: O’Leary all-in as Ryanair’s mega Boeing gamble certainly not risk freeThe announcement of the purchase of hundreds of new aircraft at a cost of up to $40bn, intended to extend routes and lower costs, is typical of O’Leary’s risky but effective approach
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Chelsea’s new owners playing a risky game in stockpiling unproven talentThe club’s deep-pocketed owners see the enormous outlay on new players as capital investment, but if Chelsea fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League, then players may well have to be sold to recover the cost
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Free GP care proposal raises issues of practicality over costThe price of extending free doctor visits to all citizens is estimated at €880 million a year, but there are bigger questions around GP shortages, pay rates and financial responsibility
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Prince Harry boosts his coffers while taking no prisoners among press and peersIt’s hard to blame Harry for hitting back against the monarchy and the media that made a sport out of his life for entertainment and profit
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Ronaldo spat raises questions over who has the bigger brand – superclubs or superstarsThe Portuguese superstar is engaged in a war with Manchester United after an interview in which he claimed the club care more about marketing than sport. But the controversy suggests MUFC is no longer even at the top level of business management
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Liverpool FC transfer rumours raise questions about club’s futureThe football club was recently valued at £3.6 billion, but if FSG, its American owner, sells up, what will it mean for the team beloved of so many Irish fans?
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Bono’s paradoxical life between the material and immaterial worlds‘An artist is not a sacred soul because they make art,’ writes the U2 lead singer in an engaging memoir that is far more than the sum of its parts
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Sunak’s cabinet of curiosities does not inspire hope for an end to the madnessBritain’s latest prime minister has picked familiar faces in his cabinet, but Ireland should hope that he seeks a new path on Brexit
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Central Bank bets its house on mortgages staying better value than rentThe Central Bank must have calculated that, even with a bigger loan, house buyers might still be paying less out of their monthly income on mortgage repayments than they would on rent
The Last Post Matt Cooper: McDonald book row raises questions of how Sinn Féin in power will treat media The party’s track record of litigiousness raises questions about how a SF government might influence, directly or indirectly, an ‘independent’ media
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Nesbitt speech explains how our words matter in talking about Ireland’s future The actor offered a thought-provoking take on the future of this island, pleading for the use of a different language which does not carry political connotations
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Budget packs a political punch that could change the fortunes of the parties in powerWhile the government might get a boost in the polls, there’s still so much that can go wrong – mostly arising from circumstances outside its control
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Why Tommy Tiernan’s heartfelt pleas for Africa are likely to go unansweredThere are few votes to be won in being generous internationally and a massive government commitment to alleviate hardship at home is why appeals for assistance to drought-stricken areas of Africa may have little effect
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Contentious tax commission report will likely just join the others gathering dustRecommendations that require tough and unpopular decisions are diluted or ignored at the best of times, never mind on our current wartime footing
