The European Commission (the executive branch of the EU) for the next five years has recently taken office under the Presidency of Ursula von der Leyen. The 27 members of the Commission (one from each member state – the departing UK has not named a commissioner) form a cabinet government and together they propose legislation, […]
Tomorrow on TG 4 (Wednesday, Jan 8th), viewers of Irish Television, will get a rare opportunity to see a documentary that gives an honest assessment of our nation’s fishing industry. Little attention is ever given to the fact that our fisheries is our greatest natural resource. Since 1975, foreign boats netted over €240 Billion worth […]
The Journal.ie reports this morning that there appears to be no end in sight to Ireland’s newly declared direct provision wars: THE GOVERNMENT IS looking at housing thousands of asylum seekers in new Direct Provision centres in the coming years. The numbers of people arriving to seek international protection in the state has risen 50% […]
To cut a long story short, the banks are charging people hundreds of thousands of euros more than they should be. Shawn Pogatchnik has the scoop: “Banks are hitting many mortgage holders with double the interest rate they need to be profitable, the Central Bank has warned in a stinging rebuke to lenders’ claims of […]
Strong words this morning from the incoming President of the EU Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen: Today on #EqualPayDay, women earn on average 16% less than men. Written in the European Treaties 60 years ago, equal pay for equal work is still not a reality. That's why I will table measures to introduce binding paytransparency […]
The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa is by far the biggest EU trust fund in existence. It emerged from the EU-Africa migration summit in Valletta in November 2015 with the aim of “fostering stability and to contribute to better migration management, including by addressing the root causes of destabilisation, forced displacement and irregular migration.” […]
Guy Verhofstadt, if you are not familiar with the name, is the leader of the ALDE group in the European Parliament, home to Fianna Fáil’s MEPs and the UK Liberal Democrats, amongst others. He is also the European Parliament’s head man when it comes to Brexit, and in that capacity, he was invited to speak […]
Fintan O’Toole is not shy about declaring what he is. His working titles are “historian, biographer, literary critic and political commentator”. To these he adds “acclaimed” columnist, adding that he writes “on Brexit for the Irish Times”, which he calls “a form of self-harm”, adding that it is also “a form of fatal attraction”. His […]
According to the generally well-informed Pat Leahy over at the Irish Times, Dublin is refusing even to engage with the British authorities on the arrangements that might be necessary in the event of a no-deal Brexit: The new British government wants to talk to Dublin about managing a no-deal exit, but Irish Ministers and officials […]