Society

To surrender to fear is to surrender to perpetual austerity for future generations. By John Farrell Clark.

At the height of the Depression in 1933 Franklin Roosevelt spoke these words in his first inaugural address:

“This great nation will endure…will revive and will prosper…let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless,  unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

The Government and their austerity supporters have co-opted the language of progressives to avoid answering a fundamental question:  what the cost of the Fiscal Treaty will be in terms of future austerity measures. By Michael Taft.

The ethos, regularities, hierarchies and deferences of the Catholic Church created a mindset in Seán Brady which quietened in him the normal human impulses to care for children in danger. By Vincent Browne.

Several years ago, I had a brief meeting with Seán Brady in a hotel lobby, a meeting spontaneously instigated by him. My fleeting impression was he was a decent, modest man, and nothing that has been revealed since then disturbs that impression.

It is rather surprising now to be reminded of the significant negative opinion that the Irish political establishment had of China in 2007. It is best illustrated by the high profile campaign calling for countries to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics which gained the support of independent senators, Fine Gael (in the form of Simon Coveney), Labour, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.

The Fiscal Treaty is a recipe for extending and deepening stagnation across the Eurozone and the EU. By Michael Taft.

Workers at Vita Cortex yesterday evening (2 May) voted unanimously to accept a severance deal with their former employer, bringing to an end the sit-in at the Vita Cortex plant in Cork that has been ongoing since 16 December last.

The workers will continue to occupy the plant for another fortnight, to ensure the money promised in the settlement is paid.

The Labour party was formed a century ago. In that time it has been as famous for its failures as its successes, but now that it has been overwhelmingly placed in government what does the party need to become if it is to meet the needs of the Irish people? In Making the Difference? a selection of historians, journalists and political figures have been brought together to look over Labour's record and answer that question. By Ed O'Hare.

The cacophony of ministerial threats upon the people threatens to drown out all reasoned debate on the Fiscal Treaty. By Michael Taft.

According to the Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes Survey published on 22 April, 55% of the electorate do not fully understand the Fiscal Compact. This is worrying - if you are going to vote on something that will have profound implications for your fellow citizens, you owe it to yourself and the rest of the country to fully inform yourself as to its implications.

A currency union requires a unified banking sector. With one supervisory authority that keeps banks in check (and, hopefully, in awe), recapitalises them when the need arises and, when this happens, takes a stake in them in exchange for the capital injected into the banks. By Yanis Varoufakis.