There used to be a vigorous, challenging, intellectual vibe about RTE in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. But now it is home to a culture of complacency. By Vincent Browne.
Cathal Goan, the outgoing director-general of RTE, is a fine man: personable, intelligent, well-read, good company.
Had he the decisiveness and general managerial ability to be head of RTE at a difficult time? Certainly in some cases.
In other cases, maybe not.
Dunnes Stores has received a petition signed by over 6,000 people demanding that it cease stocking Israeli goods. By Eamonn Costello.
Around fifty protesters gathered with flags and banners at Dunnes Stores head office in Georges Street, Dublin at lunchtime yesterday to support the boycott.
Ireland is not broke, just dysfunctional and that could be easily remedied if the political will to do so existed. By Vincent Browne.
ON RTÉ the other morning there was another example of the station’s relentless mischaracterisation of the present crisis, a mischaracterisation that, coincidentally, fits neatly into the agenda of the Government and, as it happens, of an elite here.
Who decided that such a large amount of public money should be spent on the construction of this 'statement building'? By Vincent Browne.
Members of the Bar are delighted with the new Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate Street.
State-of-the-art and all that. The courts needed additional accommodation and, had existing facilities been refurbished and extended, the cost would have been only €24m less than the new building cost.
So why not?
Fifty people from across the country answered a letter in the Irish Times to attend the establishment of a new political party last night. By Vincent Ryan in Kilkenny.
The home defence Bill makes no difference to the law – the Minister is merely bolstering his strong-man credentials. By Vincent Browne.
On July 21 2005 Dick Forrestal, aged 69, a horse breeder, rose, as was his wont, at 5.30am at his home in Carrigavantry, Tramore, Co Waterford. He lived alone, but on that occasion, a friend, Louis Murphy, an octogenarian, was staying with him. They had breakfast together.
There is a shocking distinction between the treatment of asylum seekers and the powerful in Irish society. By Siobhan O’Donoghue.
There is big money in oil. Certainly that seems to be the motivation for people like Sean Fitzpatrick, who along with Lar Bradshaw invested €25m in Movido Exploration and Production, an oil company operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
There is also big trouble associated with oil. The people of the Niger Delta have been struggling with this reality for decades.
Contrary to the narrative we are often told, warnings were given. They were simply not listened to. By Vincent Browne.
On January 24, 2008, a confidential paper was circulated within the Department of Finance, addressing the issue of the stability of Ireland’s financial institutions.
It was a prescient overview of the then and future state of Irish financial institutions. While it expressed a then-familiar confidence in the solvency of those institutions, it foresaw grave problems ahead.
Karel Capek (pictured) and Gyyula Krudy, two major figures in European literature, have waited a long time for a new audience. The reprinting of two of their masterpieces is cause for celebration. Review by Edward O’Hare
Topic: the events of the year so far
Guests: Martin Mansergh TD (Minister of State), Pat Rabbitte TD (Labour), Justine McCarthy (The Sunday Times), Medb Ruane (The Irish Independent) and Eoghan Corry.
How can the Government justify the building of new courthouses, when prisons are over packed? If anything would it not make sense to build new prisons?