Michael Clifford: Who will bear the economic pain of the pandemic? 

After the economic collapse in 2008, austerity was imposed on those least able to bear it. It could happen again when the bill for the pandemic comes calling, believes trade unionist Brendan Ogle

Caitriona Twomey, of Penny Dinners in Cork, which is making up to 2,000 meals a week for those in need, compared to 150 before the pandemic. 

Brendan Ogle is on a mission. He has produced an economic analysis of inequality and deprivation in this country. Nearly as interesting as the content of the document is the premise the Unite trade unionist relied on for compiling it.

Last autumn, UCC economist Seamus Coffey wrote a piece in which he showed how income inequality in this country was bucking a trend. As the gap of inequality widens in most other wealthy countries, his analysis outlined, it has narrowed here.