Equality Authority cuts - Unhealthy whiff of revenge

YOU don’t have to be Cicero to work out that Taoiseach Cowen’s government has more than enough on their plate without making unnecessary trouble for themselves.

It is difficult then to understand why Justice Minister Dermot Ahern should involve himself in a skirmish where the pay-off is bordering on the irrelevant and the ensuing furore loud and justified. Even more so when cutbacks, which seem disproportionate, neutralise a body responsible for enforcing welcome social change.

Earlier this week the chief executive of the Equality Authority (EA) Niall Crowley resigned because he believed that the EA could not fulfil its obligations after its budget had been cut by 43%.