Ray Burke was corrupt, a politician who disgraced himself and his profession with his taste for accepting brown-paper bags full of cash.

If there were to be a competition to name the builder most liked by Fianna Fáil's senior politicians then it's a fair bet that Sean Dunne would be the winner, despite a long list of contenders.

The point is fast approaching where the sale of Aer Lingus should not take place, for commercial rather than ideological reasons.

The latest Sunday Times rich list has estimated that there are 250 people in this country with a financial worth of at least €35 million. There are seven Irish billionaires.

Denis O'Brien gets a lot of press. Some of it he probably sees as good, in that it reflects his view of the world and the performance of his business activities and gives him the credit and respect he believes is due for becoming rich.

The putative new Australian owners of Eircom must have been baffled by the objections to its purchase of the company raised by the head of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) last week.

Let's assume the sale of Aer Lingus goes ahead and let's leave aside all the rights and wrongs of the sale to ask just who will get the shares when they are distributed.

The domestic property market continues to soar, despite rising interest rates. Although double-digit increases in house prices have been common for years, some of the prices being reported for sales in Dublin at present are jaw-dropping. Those who have been warning that the property market is an over-inflated bubble have gone quiet, for fear of looking even more foolish if this upward momentum is maintained.

The financial services regulator has teeth after all, which must come as a surprise to the people running the country's main banks.

Gavin O'Reilly, chief operating officer (pictured above) at Independent News & Media (IN&M), subscribes to very different views as to how labour and capital should be rewarded.