After the noughties rollercoaster a new reality dawns for our children

TODAY is the last day of the noughties decade. Many milestone events have occurred in politics, economics and global affairs.

Substantive shifts are more intriguing. It is timely to benchmark how we view our affairs differently now relative to 10 years ago.

Incremental change often passes subconsciously, without being fully acknowledged. Irish society has made a number of transformational changes in terms of lifestyle, identity and outlook.