Broken promises and a discredited government

Michael Noonan's announcement last week on the promissory note deal is cause for a deepening pessimism about what is happening to this society. By Vincent Browne.

So now we know for certain: the Government is not seeking a fairer sharing of the cost of fixing Ireland's broken banks and is not seeking to require senior bondholders of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide to share the cost of recapitalising these troubled financial institutions.

Recent economic data tells a very grim story

Data published by the CSO in the last few days presents a very grim picture of the state of the country.

It shows that GNP (the relevant measurement of the state of the economy in Ireland) declined in 2011 by 2.5% – Government ministers had been claiming over the last several months that the economy had returned to growth.

Blinded to the realities in front of our eyes

Power, ambition, conceit and deference lead us to deny that which is obvious, but which doesn't suit our own interests. By Vincent Browne.

Many years ago there was an emperor who was exceedingly fond of beautiful new clothes. He had a robe for every hour of the day, spent all his money on clothes and spent most of his time changing from one outfit to another.

Pages