Drawing kindly provided by Irish Times Cartoonist, Martyn Turner
The upcoming referendum is sadly more likely to be decided upon by raw emotion rather than hard facts, writes Paul Allen.
“A vote is like a rifle,” according to Theodore Roosevelt. “Its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” Read More
Rather than continuing to look to Europe or the US for our economic stability, we should instead seek to deepen our ties with our closest neighbours, writes Paul Allen.
During the boom years it was always painted as a simple choice. Did we want to be closer to Boston or Berlin? But while our ego fuelled an inflated sense of self-importance as we revelled in the fact that Project Ireland was at last an economic success, we failed to see what was staring us right in the face. Read More
For every action in Ireland there is an opposite and equal criticism. Indeed, if cynicism was an Olympic sport, we’d be untouchable.
But while the national mood of mourning continues to fester, the international media has begun to cautiously cheerlead our economic performance as we struggle out of the doldrums.
“Never mind the crushing grip of domestic austerity or the ravages of tightening monetary policy, the Irish economy is growing,” wrote the Wall Street Journal this week commenting on what it sees as “Ireland’s economic miracle”.
A few weeks earlier The Financial Times even suggested that “Ireland’s unexpected economic comeback” could provide the blueprint for other struggling European economies. Read More