The Last Post Matt Cooper: No matter how much the new HSE boss is paid, it won’t make up for the challenges ahead Whoever replaces Paul Reid as head of the HSE will have to try to control spending while at the same time hiring 700 consultant doctors, improving technology, solving the trolley crisis and delivering Sláintecare
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Deluge of Saudi cash threatens to wash out Europe’s flagship golf eventsThis week’s Horizon Irish Open in Mount Juliet has a prize fund of €6m, and will be fighting for TV viewers against LIV’s $25m exhibition in Portland
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Avolon boss’s €150m plan to bring the brightest and best here could pay offIt will be considered elitist by some, but Dómhnal Slattery’s proposal to attract the ‘best brainpower in the world’ to Ireland to carry out research here could bring big rewards
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Whose fault is it that Johnson is still in power? Through sheer brass neck and absence of conscience, the British prime minister has ridden out the media storm for the required 11 days, which also reflects badly on those who can’t or won’t oust him
The Last Post Matt Cooper: Businesses will survive by persuading people to part with their Covid savingsMarketing budgets have been slashed in previous budgets, but this time that might well be unwise because many people have pandemic cash which they are willing to spend
twitter Matt Cooper: Our president’s generalisations about private enterprise are not helpfulWe may not agree with Elon Musk but the reality is that he and other billionaire entrepreneurs have done a great deal to accelerate innovations to combat the climate crisis
Matt Cooper: Le Pen as leader of France would be huge threat to EU from within In hock to Putin and Russian banks, determined to rewrite the constitution and deny immigrants their rights, Marine Le Pen as French president would set her country on a collision course with the European Union
Matt Cooper: Megalomanic Musk plays to his fanboys with his ‘disruptive’ bid for TwitterThe Tesla and SpaceX millionaire has cited free speech concerns and ‘the future of civilisation’ as driving his Twitter ambitions.
Matt Cooper: The collapse of Abramovich’s empire lays bare the devalued standards of the British Premier LeagueChelsea Football Club, which lived off financial top-ups from its Russian owner for 19 years, should not now be given public funds to pay the eye-watering wages of players
Matt Cooper: Big Phil’s own words could land any damages case in the bunkerThe former EU Commissioner may be considering demanding compensation for the ‘damage suffered’ when he had to step down, but he is very unlikely to get it
Matt Cooper: No amount of Metaverse guff can distract from Zuckerberg’s failingsThe Facebook founder concentrated on the future in his message to his ‘Metamates’ last week, but the company’s best days may already be behind it
Matt Cooper: Delaney-era guff will not help FAI win trust, or a men’s team sponsorThough it puts forward some grand and worthy plans, the association’s new strategy document is vague about where the money will come from
Matt Cooper: Greenwood allegations are about more than football for Man United Even if the footballer is not charged or if charged, he is found not guilty, the club faces an ethical question, not a commercial one
Matt Cooper: Whatever trouble may be ahead, let’s face the music and dance Fingers crossed that we’ve not acted too quickly in lifting restrictions, but with our society and economy on the brink, it’s a chance worth taking
Matt Cooper: Shane Lowry may live to regret his involvement in Saudi ‘sportswashing’The country has a dire human rights record and is using its wealth in a bid to launder its reputation
Matt Cooper: Living in interesting times: what may lie in store for us in 2022From an election-hungry Sinn Féin to fuel prices and the possibility of long term inflation and interest rate rises, the coming year looks likely to further test our patience and endurance
The Last Post: Pandemic profits: it seems we are not all in this together Many companies that received Covid-19 subsidies from the state performed far better during the crisis than they anticipated. Some gave the money back; those who didn’t should do so without delay
The Last Post: It seems that the temporary rise in inflation is likely to become permanent Rising inflation is here to stay – which means supply-chain issues, spiralling utility prices and demands for higher wages are also not going anywhere
The strange case of Perrigo, the Revenue and the shrinking tax demandWhy did our tax authority settle for less than one-fifth of what it thought was properly owed by an American-based pharmaceutical company?
Matt Cooper: O’Leary takes aim at Ryan as climate goals and aviation recovery collideThe Green Party’s role in the coalition will grow in significance as the Ryanair boss exerts pressure over an aviation recovery