Place: Bishopstown Road Cork

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

columnists

UCC as subservient to EU as Enda Kenny

Following in the subservient footsteps of Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan, the academics at UCC have decided, inexplicably, to bend the knee and touch the cap to Jose Manuel Borroso, president of the EU commission, at a lavish ceremony to be held shortly in Cork.

Back in the stable... and back in our box

Troika ‘leaving’ but the debts are staying

Time for serious politicians to get off the fence

Government has no power to undo Budget

A chemical attack on innocent Irish people

Nothing rebellious about ‘Rebels’ now

It is instructive that your correspondents Fr Butler (Letters, Aug 23) and Pat Kelly (Letters, Aug 28) had to delve deeply into the dim distant realms of mythology and ancient history to find some dubious justification for the term ‘Rebel Cork’.

Wed, 04 Sep, 2013

Government not leading by example

It has been announced that the upcoming budget will be a really tough one.

Fri, 05 Oct, 2012

Why can’t the rich pay their fair share in tax?

Not too long ago a Sunday newspaper claimed that the 300 richest people in Ireland had increased their wealth by €6bn, and this as austerity had begun to hit ordinary working people, including the poorest.

Sat, 21 Jul, 2012

People denied their basic rights

IT has been reported that the Government is going to seek election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Fri, 06 Jan, 2012

Little change we can believe in

IT appears extra cuts will be made to the ordinary working peoples’ income, by increasing VAT, a regressive tax that hurts the poorest the most and hardly hurts the well-off at all.

Sat, 26 Nov, 2011

State assets belong to the people

IN a recent report in your newspaper (Oct 1), Ann Cahill revealed that the EU /ECB /IMF troika had asked the Government to raise substantially more than €2 billion through the sale of state assets, even though this had been agreed in the Programme for Government.

Thu, 06 Oct, 2011

Thatcher caused misery for millions of people

RECENTLY, VE Barrett (Letters, August 24) suggested a Margaret Thatcher would be good for Ireland.

Thu, 01 Sep, 2011

The Government should cap all salaries

IT has been reported that Finance Minister Michael Noonan rejected calls from the Financial Regulator and senior bankers to lift salaries for executives at rescued banks to more than 500,000 per annum, thus removing the cap on salaries in the banking sector.

Sat, 30 Jul, 2011

Let’s hope the revolution spreads to all of Europe

IT was very encouraging to see on television the uprising of tens of thousands of people in Spain, most of whom seem to be young people.

Tue, 24 May, 2011

We should all be sharing the pain

WE have been told over and over again — usually by well-off people, that ”we must all share the pain” if we are to get out of this recession. All share the pain? I doubt it.

Thu, 17 Mar, 2011

Pursuit of profit hurts the elderly

THIS week’s Prime Time programme exposing how elderly people are abused and humiliated when they receive home care (or not) from private companies, paid by the Irish taxpayer via the HSE, illustrates what happens when policies are driven by a right-wing ideology instead of the interests of people needing care.

Sat, 18 Dec, 2010

Budget verdict

OLLI Rehn has been given the chance to decide whether or not the Government’s debt reduction budget is acceptable to the EU.

Sat, 13 Nov, 2010

450,000 people can’t take Cowen’s advice

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen says people must start spending more to help with the recovery. First of all there can’t be a recovery until thousands of jobs are being created — and that’s not happening.

Fri, 08 Oct, 2010

Public anger is not directed solely at the banks

SPEAKING at the Michael Collins commemoration ceremony at Béal na mBláth, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said he understood the public “incomprehension and anger” at the vast sums of money being pumped into the banking sector, particularly Anglo Irish Bank.

Thu, 26 Aug, 2010

Let the people decide fate of public assets

PRIVATISING public assets usually occurs when a country is in recession and its people feel anxious and vulnerable.

Mon, 16 Aug, 2010

Galway tent to K Club: spot the difference

IT seems the only difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in relation to property developers and bankers is that Fianna Fáil cosied up to them in the Galway tent and Fine Gael cosied up to them at the K Club.

Sat, 24 Jul, 2010

We must stand up to ‘the markets’ before they enslave us all

IN the past few months I have constantly heard politicians, the media, political commentators and others often express concern over how “the markets” would respond to the policies and actions of governments.

Mon, 12 Jul, 2010

Anglo bailout: are we being led by the nose, Goering-style?

SURELY not only the usual suspects but the public generally should be enraged by the fact that virtually the whole population, apart from a handful of very wealthy people, are going to have to pay in one way or another the huge cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank.

Mon, 12 Apr, 2010

EU’s free market support is unhealthy

WHEN the pro-Lisbon fraternity were demanding that the people change their previous No vote to a Yes vote for the Lisbon Treaty, they didn’t tell the people that the post-treaty EU would be run not in the interests of people but in the interests of the capitalist market.

Mon, 22 Mar, 2010

US unlikely to abandon war zones in its own self-interest

IN his letter headlined ‘Shannon stopover critics hide behind US security shelter’ (January 25), Jim Forde responds to the letter (January 18) from John Lannon of Shannonwatch who criticises what he believes is Ireland’s effective involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the compromise of its neutrality.

Mon, 01 Feb, 2010

12,000 empty rooms and no place to live

WE are told there are 12,000 hotel guest rooms for which there is no demand. Some suggest reducing the price will solve the problem. I think the reduction would have to be huge to fill 12,000 rooms.

Fri, 22 Jan, 2010

Fast-track loans for politicians most disturbing

THE revelation that an unknown number of Fianna Fáil politicians had fast-track loans from Anglo Irish Bank, with some of them amounting to millions of euro, is very disturbing.

Mon, 04 Jan, 2010

Time to get personal with developers

NOW we know that during the property boom not only did governments give numerous tax breaks to developers that encouraged them to build high-rise office buildings, apartment blocks, hotels and housing estates in the middle of nowhere — sometimes on flood plains — they also cut property developers’ personal taxes from 40% to 20%.

Fri, 18 Dec, 2009

Public sector unions victims of double-dealing

SO the unions were led up the garden path by promises of an agreement with the Government and then ditched when they called off the pre-budget day of action.

Thu, 17 Dec, 2009

Government going nowhere until the wealthy share the pain

I KEEP hearing members of the Government telling everyone we are all in the economic crisis together and we must all “share the pain” that is necessary to get out of it. They also keep saying “we are in a difficult situation” as if they had nothing to do with it.

Mon, 16 Nov, 2009

What the Government needs to do

IN referring to our present economic crisis, SIPTU leader Jack O'Connor says “We do not suggest for a moment that there is some kind of pain-free or risk-free formula for overcoming the difficulties, indeed, we believe there is no viable alternative to an agreement between all parties on a fairer, better way.”

Fri, 09 Oct, 2009

Partnership bill objectors should be supported

I READ with great interest the recent letters dealing with the Civil Partnership Bill and the opinions of the letter-writers on the measure and its possible consequences. I am concerned that the bill might make it possible to prosecute those whose conscience will not allow them to facilitate or participate in a same-sex civil partnership ceremony.

Fri, 25 Sep, 2009

US hypocrisy over release of terrorist

I CAN fully understand that the relatives and friends of those who were killed in the Lockerbie terrorist bombing would suffer anguish and a sense of extreme injustice when Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from prison on compassionate grounds. I can also understand why they would want to attack those who released Megrahi.

Sat, 29 Aug, 2009

Supporters of a united Europe are put off by democratic deficit in the ruling structure

LIKE John Mallon (Letters, August 3), I too am fed up with the bullying tactics of those who suggest there will be severe consequences for Ireland if we do not vote for the Lisbon Treaty.

Mon, 10 Aug, 2009

Lenihan should first look for patriotic sacrifices much closer to home

YOU report Finance Minister Brian Lenihan (July 16) as saying we must all accept €5bn of cutbacks while telling those set to be hit by them and public sector job losses not to selfishly oppose the measures. Mr Lenihan is wrong. Not everyone will have to accept cutbacks.

Sat, 18 Jul, 2009

Big business enters the Irish health ‘market’

DESPITE the opposition of its own planning inspector and well-founded opposition from local residents, medical consultants, councillors, opposition TDs and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, Bord Pleanála has given the Beacon Medical Group (BMG) permission to build their colocated hospital in the grounds of Cork University Hospital.

Mon, 22 Jun, 2009

Housing clawback move designed to help developers

ACCORDING to your report (June 2), the Government is considering scrapping the clawback clause which requires someone who has bought a house under the affordable housing scheme to give a percentage of any profit back to the council if the house is sold within 20 years of purchase.

Sat, 13 Jun, 2009

Faith and commerce: is there a Saudi link?

RECENTLY I saw a report announcing that the Tánaiste was going to lead an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. I was disgusted that Ireland would trade with Saudi Arabia which allows fathers to marry off their child daughters to old men and which cuts off hands for theft and beheads more than 100 people a year.

Wed, 06 May, 2009

‘Masters of economic universe’ still in control

I WAS watching the British economist and political commentator Will Hutton on a TV programme (April 27) that dealt with the financial collapse and the role of bankers and other “masters of the economic universe” in it.

Thu, 30 Apr, 2009

Effective organ donor system urgently needed

THERE are frequent appeals for people to become organ donors. Despite this, apparently there is a constant shortage of such volunteers.

Sat, 18 Apr, 2009

Be on guard against greedy fats cats taking advantage of economic crisis

I READ in a Sunday newspaper that 8 out of 10 CEOs were going to cut jobs this year.

Tue, 14 Apr, 2009

Let us satisfy need — not greed

YOU can bet that during the French Revolution when the revolutionary masses were calling for the blood of a greedy and arrogant aristocracy who had brought the country to ruin, some deluded souls were calling out “citizens, the only our aristocrats can save us”.

Wed, 08 Apr, 2009

Billions for a failed project and just a fraction for the real economy

AS part of the recapitalisation arrangement, AIB and Bank of Ireland are required to start providing credit.

Fri, 20 Feb, 2009

Still not reassured

APPARENTLY when referring to the Government’s response to the pigmeat contamination crisis, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said: “Everything was done as one would expect.”

Sat, 20 Dec, 2008

Pigmeat crisis leads to loss of trust in monitors

UNLIKE every other problem it has had to face in recent times, the Government can’t blame the credit crunch or the international economic downturn for the disaster caused by dioxin-contaminated animal feed.

Wed, 10 Dec, 2008

Banks should belong to the people

I AGREE with Gary Honer, national chair, Labour Youth, that the banks should be nationalised (Letters, November 22).

Fri, 05 Dec, 2008

Will the paymasters also have their day in court?

REGARDING charges being laid against Frank Dunlop for allegedly making corrupt payments to politicians, Denis Moloney (Letters, November 28) wonders if the same politicians who accepted these payments will also have their day in court?

Tue, 02 Dec, 2008

Greens abandon basic principle in disgraceful decision on cervical vaccine

WHAT was really infuriating about the Government’s decision not to provide the anti-cervical cancer vaccination for young girls — at a saving of a few million euro — was that it came after it was reported that ministers had bowed to construction industry lobbying regarding the costing of State-funded projects: this lost the taxpayer €150 million.

Wed, 19 Nov, 2008

Economy ruined by a neoliberal elite

IN his letter (September 4), John Mallon says Europe Minister Dick Roche and his colleagues in government appear to see the electorate as some kind of unfortunate byproduct of the democratic process.

Sat, 20 Sep, 2008