The Time to Make a Commitment campaign was launched in Dublin yesterday by a coalition of leading charities, trade unions, community and voluntary groups.
The campaign, organised by the Poor Can't Pay coalition, calls for the government to protect people on the lowest incomes from further cuts in the budget. Members of the campaign include The National Women's Council of Ireland, Age Action Ireland and St Vincent de Paul (SVP).
The Health Service Executive has confirmed that it is to close the residential section of Wicklow District Hospital. Local councillors were notified of the imminent closure at a meeting today. By Christina Finn
HSE spokeswoman, Marian Meaney said the decision to close the unit had been prompted by infrastructural issues that had arisen in the recent Health Information and Equality Authority (HIQA) report. In particular, fire safety was identified as an issue too serious to ignore, Ms Meaney said.
Four out of five people are dissatisfied with the government according to the most recent political polls. Not surprising given the fiasco that the current government has got us into. Most reasonable people believe that the politicians, who got us into this mess, cannot and will not get us out of it. And each day new figures emerging about our dire economic circumstances back up that gut instinct of the Irish population.
This lethal combination of bad fiscal and policy choices has brought us to a critical moment in Irish social, economic and political life.
On 7 October 2010, HSE chief Cathal McGee (pictured) had his first outing to the Oireachtas in his new role as CEO. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) alongside officials from the departments of health and finance, a catalogue of bad governance, bad accounting and no transparency was revealed for money allocated to the controversial SKILL programme.
The new Immigration Bill creates the conditions for miscarriages of justice to occur, by Siobhán O' Donoghue
The Immigration Residency and Protection Bill passed the Second Stage in the Dail last week. This brings the legal basis for summary deportation, without notice, of anyone found to be illegally resident in Ireland, a step closer to becoming reality.
An alternative budget for 2011, launched on Monday by Social Justice Ireland (SJI), tackles the contentious issues of pensions, third level fees and corporation tax in search of a fair budget. Details of Budget 2011 will be announced on 7 December by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan. By Alison Spillane.
SJI director Fr Seán Healy said that the government "savaged" poor people in the last three budgets and left the rich untouched.
An estimated 300 people marched in Dublin today to call for a 'wealth' tax to be targeted at the richest one per cent of people. The See How the 1% Live demonstration passed through some of the wealthiest parts of Dublin. The protest was organised by the 1% Network, a coalition of socialist groups including Eirígí, Irish Socialist Network, Seomra Spraoi and the Workers Solidarity Movement. By Christina Finn.
Senan Moloney's book on the Titanic rigorously questions the scandal of the Mount Temple which allegedly sailed away from the sinking cruise-liner. By Justin Frewen.
Thomas Keneally's latest novel brings the Russian Revolution to life. By Clare Lanigan.
Since the days of Margaret 'There Is No Alternative' Thatcher, many (if not most) people have accepted as natural that economic prosperity can only be achieved through a free-market economy that flourishes as speculators make it big on the international markets. Few governments in the West, despite their political allegiances, have made any serious effort to embrace a different system over the last two decades.
Ireland's corporate sector has yet to make a contribution to the recovery, a seminar heard today. By Alison Spillane.
Speaking at the launch of Social Justice Ireland's alternative budget, SJI director Fr Séan Healy called for the introduction of a 2.5% levy on profits from the corporate sector on top of the existing corporation tax (12.5%). This would provide an estimated €632 million for the exchequer, according to the SJI's fully-costed budget.