Two major problems are now starting to manifest themselves in Fine Gael’s poll numbers. Both relate to the issues of incumbency.
In stark contrast to his predecessors, Trump has a radically different view of the power and responsibility of the US. At the very least, the return of the Reagan rollercoaster is now likely.
If Conor Niland’s professional sports career was relatively ordinary, how he told it has marked him out as extraordinary. His memoir is his revenge on the hierarchies and elitism of the game.
Ireland lost 5-0 at Wembley because of a series of bad decisions taken nearly 20 years ago and compounded ever since. The only way to change is to understand the fundamental flaws in the game and work to change them. It is the only way to restore power to the powerless that dominate Irish football.
The decision seems to go against recommendations by the OECD for Ireland to further develop its incubator industry – not reduce it.
Driven partly by inflationary woes, an unusually large number of incumbent governments have been booted out of office by voters. How have Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil seemingly escaped the wrath of voters on inflation?
A sane and fiscally sustainable economic policy is a bulwark for the small business sector in Ireland, but a bespoke policy, made-to-measure for any faltering sector, is delusional.
Institutions have been spooked by the prospect of capped returns, meaning Dublin has struggled to compete with other European cities for investment. Just €440m was invested in Ireland’s build-to-rent market in 2023, compared with €1.9bn the previous year.
Fine Gael is proposing to increase capital spending, implement a €7bn tax package, and maintain an element of fiscal rectitude. However, it has set aside €5bn less than Fianna Fáil to cover the cost of existing service and a public sector pay claim.
There is a difference of almost 100,000 homes between the Department of Housing's estimate of the housing deficit and the Commission on Housing's. The reason is the department does not understand what unmet housing need actually is.
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