On Tuesday, 30 March 2010, Brian Lenihan - Minister for Finance in a state with a €20 billion deficit and almost 450,000 people unemployed - stood before the Dáil and announced that over the next number of years Ireland will pump €80 billion into five wayward banks.
In carefully coordinated statements, [...]

Government lies and myths cloud attacks on social welfare
Tune into Pat Kenny, Live at 5, or any other formulaic RTÉ current affairs programme these days and chances are you’ll come across a panel of ‘experts’ debating the social welfare dilemma. It’s no coincidence that, two years into a recession, with unemployment and a deficit still [...]

Sixteen months after the Dublin government committed the state to underwriting the six main banks’ total deposits and loans, and half a year since the introduction of the NAMA initiative - the issue of home repossessions has come to the fore. Billions of euro have been invested in the banks, eleven to be exact. Not [...]

And so the battle is on. The cuts to social welfare and child benefit in Budget 2010 saw the government cross the Rubicon to a place where no ‘right’ is safe anymore. That means that the long-time target of employers’ groups, business lobbies and vested interest politicians - the minimum wage - is back on [...]

“All euro area members must conduct sound national policies in line with the agreed rules”.
This was the opening line in a statement from EU heads of government made in Brussels on 11 February. The statement was about Greece and it welcomed the austerity measures being introduced by the errant EU member in an attempt to [...]