Inequality is one of those concepts that for many people remain somewhat abstract and amorphous.  There are few that are against equality, but it has difficult gaining traction in the…

If five percent of the population suddenly fell ill to an unknown disease a national emergency would be called.  Government agencies and health professionals would be brought together under the…

“Old people don't need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so that it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use.”…

“Old people don’t need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so that it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use.”…

Everyone in Ireland, regardless of their political orientation or party-political affiliation, should be hoping Syriza wins the upcoming Greek election and forms the next government. Why?  Because their proposals on…

2015 will be all about making ends meet; or rather, not making ends meet.  Gone are the drama days of the last few years – NAMA, bondholder debt, collapsing employment…

Christmas comes early for employers, high-income groups and right-wing ideologues.  The Sunday Times (behind a paywall) reports on demands from Government backbenchers to introduce a mini-budget in an attempt to…

You’d think there would be concern among commentators about the latest GDP numbers produced by the CSO.  After all, a quarterly growth of 0.1 percent is not that far from…

Apparently the Government, if not having an outright row, is at least engaging in a ‘strong debate and discussion’.  What’s it about? The introduction of a Living Wage and associated…

Fourteen Unite members are currently on strike at a site in Kishogue, Lucan, County Dublin where a new school is to be built.  The outcome of this industrial struggle between…

Are we getting into election mode?  We have Government Ministers promising every tax cut possible while warning of the pestilence that will descend upon us if anyone else gets elected…

Ireland is a deprivation nation.  All manner of numbers and stats regarding growth and employment numbers are thrown around which feeds into the illusion of the ‘Celtic Phoenix’.  But there…

Here’s a quick post:  Had an interesting and informative twitter exchange with Tom Healy, Director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and Dan O’Brien from the Sunday Independent on foot…

Minister Ged Nash launched an investigation into the extent of zero and low-hour contracts in the labour market.  This is most welcome – we need this information which is not…

Let’s recap.  The Government has been forced to: Stop Irish Water’s access to PPS numbers Provide certainty to household payments Reverse the sanction of reducing water flow to a trickle…

I admit I can’t let this issue go but such is the misrepresentation, partial information and deliberate obfuscation being put out in the debate that it goes beyond a narrow…

This is a guest post by Michael Burke.  Michael works as an economic consultant. He was previously senior international economist with Citibank in London. He blogs regularly at Socialist Economic…

We are experiencing a privatisation of the economy and society by stealth.  We usually associate privatisation with the sale of state assets to a private company.  But there’s a larger…

During a recent debate on water charges, Minister Alan Kelly had this to say about Government policy: ‘I would go so far as to say that the timelines operating to…

Well, not quite – but the effect may be the same.  Many international commentators welcomed the Irish Government for ending the infamous ‘double-Irish’ tax scheme.  But just as it shut…