On Wednesday, February 5th there will be an unprecedented protest by childcare professionals in Dublin, organised by the Early Years Alliance. With crèches closing down, workers from around the country…

The latest Red C poll suggests one thing:  progressives should start preparing for Government.  At the beginning of January I suggested that we should view the 2020 general election as…

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael competing over tax cuts.  Let’s look at two of them. First up is Fianna Fail’s proposed cut in the capital gains tax rate – from…

Is there any justification in maintaining that election 2020 is a two-way race between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael? In the Irish Times MRBI poll – the first poll whose…

It was said of the French Bourbon kings that they learned nothing and forgot nothing.  Fianna Fail are the modern-day Bourbons. ‘Fianna Fail is pledging to give first-time buyers €1…

The campaign’s first poll coming from Behaviour & Attitudes (the fieldwork was done prior to the election called, so the first published poll) shows progressives and Fianna Fail out in…

During elections there is always a danger of promise-inflation.  But Fine Gael is looking to be the most inflationary of all.  They have promised increased public spending increases, tax cuts,…

This post follows on from last week’s post which suggested we don’t have to see Irish politics as defined by a two-way contest between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.  There…

While elections can throw up surprises there is one thing we can be fairly certain of:  either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail will lead the next government.  Will they combine,…

The CSO has published new data that will greatly assist in analysing wage trends.  Here I just want to focus on a small selection of the data provided in Earnings…

Deputy Noel Grealish has raised what he considers concerns over the level of remittances sent abroad, using terms like ‘staggering’ and ‘astronomical’.  He specifically referred to Nigeria.  During Leaders’ Questions…

In last week’s blog I argued that, while increasing taxation on the rich was desirable, it would not be enough to raise tax revenue to the level of our EU…

There are many necessary and progressive projects that could be implemented if there was enough money – public services, in-work supports, anti-poverty programmes, social and economic investment.  How would these…

Going by Budget 2020, you wouldn’t think there was a climate emergency.  There was bits-and-pieces funding for greenways and urban cycling, electric vehicle infrastructure and purchase, installation of solar panels,…

Amidst all the commentary on the millions-across-the-globe Friday climate change strike, one remark was striking:  we should be very afraid.  Certainly, failure to contain the rise in global heating will…

The slowdown is beginning.  Whether it is a slowdown, as the Minister for Finance claims, to a more sustainable level remains to be seen (growth rates of five, six, seven…

It evoked some unnerving words from the Cabinet meeting: ‘carnage’, ‘significantly worse’, ‘taken aback’, ‘severity’ and ‘shocked’.  They were discussing a report on the impact of a no-deal Brexit, a…

In the run-up to the budget we will hear a lot about how the Government spends a lot or not enough, and needs to spend a lot less or more. …

In Germany, the Left is starting to acknowledge the benefits of cooperation.  In Spain, the Left is, at least, in negotiation.  In Portugal, the Left has been working together in…

Give everyone €75 a week.  All adults regardless of whether they are in employment not, regardless of their income, irrespective of their household circumstances.  This is the pathway to a…