Last night the Government succeeded in passing a last minute amendment to the Finance (Covid and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 that will allow institutional investors, otherwise “vulture funds”, to avoid paying stamp duty on housing units if they agree to lease them to local authorities. This represents a huge concession to the investors who have […]
While Sinn Féin continue to attempt to portray themselves as opponents of the ham-fisted ongoing restrictions in the Republic, it would appear that where they have actual control that their approach will be somewhat different. In the wake of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement that almost all restrictions on masks and gatherings will […]
There is an interesting snippet of Irish republican history available on You Tube. It is part of Belfast IRA volunteer Jimmy Drumm’s oration in 1969 at the reinternment of Peter Barnes and James McCormack who had been executed in England in February 1940. The speech was a significant gambit in the simmering split within the […]
While the Government decision to “postpone” re-opening of the hospitality sector was the talk of the country, where was the main “opposition” party? That would be Sinn Féin, in numbers at least. But the party whose press office is a veritable incontinent atm of statements on everything from how much people ought to stake on […]
As the citizens of the Republic appear to be faced with another prolonged period of restrictions, with a few minor concessions thrown in as a distraction, some questions have been raised regarding the model which NPHET and therefor the state is basing its gloomy predictions on. That model is predicting a “worse case scenario” of […]
Winston Marshall deserves credit for standing up to the crazed mob Younger folk among you may be familiar with Mumford & Sons, the English folk rock band popular on the festival circuit. Anyway, they are not bad, but this is not a musical review. It concerns rather the resignation from the band of banjoist, Winston […]
A report on housing published this morning by Davy’s estimates that 200,000 new houses will have to be built over the next three years. That will require an average annual new build of 66,600 Less than 21,000 were built in 2020, with an even smaller number of completions projected for 2021. This will be to […]
June 21, 1798 was the day on which the Irish insurgents were defeated at the Battle of Vinegar Hill. The British forces numbering up to 18,000 under the command of General Lake had been engaged in a sweep through Wexford that had forced the rebel army to muster its forces, to the number of up […]
According to what was first reported in the South Korean media, the socialist state in North Korea is facing yet another food crisis. One reason is the perennial failure of the collectivized agricultural sector to produce enough basic foodstuff such as rice. Another is that the situation has been compounded by the regime’s apparent pursuit […]
June 20 marks a strange anniversary in Irish history. On that date in 1631, north African corsairs, or pirates, raided the village of Baltimore on the west Cork coast and took at least 107 of the villagers captive to be sold as slaves in Algiers. Most of those abducted were part of an English settlement […]
United States sources have reportedly revealed the identity of the Chinese defector who has been at the centre of revelations regarding what took place at the Wuhan virology institute. His information has, as previously reported, re-opened the investigation into the origin of Covid 19. The information comes from a tweet by another defector, Han Lianchao, […]
ON THIS DAY: 17 JUNE 1871: The Westmeath Act and the unbroken resistance offered by secret Catholic societies against colonialism in Ireland. The Protection of Life and Property Act in Certain Parts of Ireland was passed by the House of Commons in June 1871. It was also known as the ‘Westmeath Act’ as it came […]