’Tis that time of the year when a large segment of the political populous either absconds to Cheltenham or to the four corners of the globe to use the opportunity afforded by our national holiday to market Ireland to a very influential audience.

Despite some challenges, we’re in better economic shape than the last time a big freeze hit, says Jim Power.

Last week my work took me to the very rural part of the southern regions of the Netherlands, close to the German border.

The recently-published analysis on the potential impact of Brexit on the Irish economy, which was commissioned from Copenhagen Economics by the Government, makes for sober, but not surprising, reading.

It has been a total and utter rollercoaster ride on equity markets over the past couple of weeks.

Since the EU and the UK agreed a fudge that allowed the Brexit negotiations proceed to the second stage in December, there was a growing sense, at least in my mind, that the UK would be forced and probably willing to compromise in order to achieve the softest form of Brexit possible.

Given what is happening in his country’s economy and financial markets, Donald Trump will undoubtedly have a greater swagger than usual, writes Jim Power.

Housing and health have dominated most of the political and media headlines relating to the economy so far in 2018, writes Jim Power.

I am not sure if Ireland is unique in this regard, but our propensity for negativity and backbiting has to be seen to be believed.

At the beginning of every year we look ahead at what is possible and rarely factor in unexpected events always out there, writes Jim Power.