Irish Examiner view: Missing the deadline on newspaper Vat

Publishers urgently require some breathing space

European countries have taken a more progressive view on newspaper Vat than Ireland.

Back at the start of summer we stated, not for the first time, that Vat should be abolished on newspapers, and on their electronic versions. It is unconscionable that Ireland has been prepared to tolerate this tax on knowledge while other European countries take a more progressive view.

This argument was put more eloquently this week by Frank Mulrennan, CEO of the Celtic Media Group of local papers. He quoted Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises who answers a question about how someone can go bankrupt.