Economy: The Greek Crisis
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011A Greek exit from the euro could push up inflation and cause an Irish bank run, according to Karl Whelan. eolas considers the potential implications of its referendum. A country can change its currency in a weekend, UCD economics professor Karl Whelan has predicted, as the debate over Greece’s debt and referendum intensified. Whelan was speaking on The Late Debate on RTÉ Radio 1 after George Papandreou proposed a referendum on the EU’s new bail-out offer. Whelan added that capital could be controlled by halting electronic bank transfers for Saturday and Sunday and changing the denominations...[full story]
Environment: John McCarthy – European priorities
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011John McCarthy discusses the environmental issues likely to impact on Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013 and other key environmental policy priorities with Owen McQuade. Compliance in transposing and implementing European environmental law has seen a step change over the past two years. The level of infringements gives a “barometer of performance in this area”, according to John McCarthy, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government’s Environment Division. In the two years to the end of 2011 the number of outstanding...[full story]
Environment: Preparing for climate change
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011An integrated approach is required when making environmental policy that adapts to the “unprecedented” impacts of climate change, according to Thomas Henrichs, the lead author of the European Environment Agency’s latest environmental analysis. eolas reports. The State and Outlook 2010: Synthesis report examined social, economic, technological, environmental and political “megatrends” which are increasingly important in shaping Europe’s environmental priorities. The quality of Ireland’s environment has generally been good over the past decade, the report found, but it...[full story]
Politics: How others see Europe
Monday, November 7th, 2011Insularity and caution will damage Europe’s standing in the world, according to diplomats. Peter Cheney considers views of the continent from New Zealand and the USA. “The euro zone crisis is transfixing us in Wellington,” Vangelis Vitalis states. However, New Zealand’s Ambassador-designate to the EU is also troubled by Europe’s changing sense of perspective. “If I look over Europe now, even in the month that I’ve been here, I’ve been struck by how inward-looking Europe has become and the feedback that I get is that there’s likely to be an intensification of that inward-looking...[full story]
Economy: Resolving Ireland’s crisis
Friday, May 13th, 2011The Government’s crisis resolution strategy is the correct one for a “treacherous” economic environment, writes Professor John McHale. The brief burst of optimism that followed the recent publication of the bank stress tests has faded. As fears of a Greek precedent on debt restructuring grow, and Portugal joins Greece and Ireland in the bail-out club, market yields have jumped back above their pre-stress test levels, indicating continued high expectations of an Irish default. Debate has inevitably returned to the appropriateness of Ireland’s crisis resolution strategy. Restoring...[full story]
Economy: Noonan in finance
Thursday, March 31st, 2011A political veteran takes on his toughest brief so far. Michael Noonan needs few lessons in the nuances of cabinet government nor in the hardships of leadership. The deficit and bail-out make the Minister for Finance post as unpopular as it is important. Appointed Minister for Justice just 18 months into his Dáil career, the Limerick City TD also oversaw health in the last Fine Gael-Labour administration. A former teacher, he represented Limerick East for nearly 30 years from 1981, before contesting the new seat in February. Fearing heavy losses, the party deposed John Bruton only for...[full story]
Economy: Ireland, the €uro & the economic crisis
Thursday, March 31st, 2011Ireland’s underlying development strategy is as sound today as it was prior to joining the euro-zone, says economist Dr John Bradley. Just as the Celtic Tiger economy of the 1990s gave rise to a media industry explaining, ex-post, how it all came about, its demise has also spawned a cacophony of racy, ex-post exegesis. A common characteristic of boom and bust is that commentators are wise after the event, but seldom before. ‘The Pope’s Children’ (2005) was filled with praise for the new Irish entrepreneurial class and hardly hinted at unsustainability. ‘The Generation Game’...[full story]
Departmental dossier: Department of Finance
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011Departmental dossier A series analysing the work of government departments A finance department plays a central role in any state, none more so than in Ireland over the last three years. The Department of Finance’s main location in Government Buildings emphasises that status, but the harsh budgets of recent years also show that fiscal power does not necessarily bring popularity. Its history dates from Eoin MacNeill’s appointment as Dáil Éireann’s first Minister for Finance in January 1919. A separate Irish Exchequer had previously existed from 1210 to 1817, when it was merged...[full story]
