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    • High growth but high inflation too

      For the second month in succession, the rate of consumer price inflation remains at 5.1 per cent. This statistic for April is probably the last major signal the economy will send before polling day. p

    • Taxes v services

      Benjamin Franklin's observation - "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" - still holds true. But during this election campaign the great majority of voters believe the Government has enough money to fund desirable public services from existing taxes if they are spent effectively, not that they should be increased. Most people are not prepared to pay more taxes. p
    Opinion

    • Election on knife edge as leaders gear up for debate

      With the election campaign past the halfway mark, the contest is still finely balanced, but it appears increasingly unlikely that the current coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats will have the numbers to form their third administration in a row, despite signs of some recovery in support for the main Government party, writes Stephen Collins p

    • Party leaders TV debate could prove decisive

      After an extraordinary first 10 days, this election campaign has now entered a relatively subdued phase, writes Noel Whelan p

    • Polls are consistent but PR system always has last laugh

      At the time of the June 2004 local elections, I felt that the potential longer-term significance of their results was generally underestimated. For I believe that the votes cast in that election, in which Fianna Fáil secured only one-eighth more votes than Fine Gael, were a more genuine reflection of the electorate's underlying feelings than was likely to be the case in subsequent polls that asked for people's general election voting intentions, writes Garret FitzGerald p

    • Plain Bertie may last longer than slick Blair

      Tony Blair is a source of marital discord in this household. From the very beginning, even in the heady days of the 1990s, I felt that Blair was untrustworthy, writes Breda O'Brien p

    • Can powersharing lead to place of through-otherness?

      WorldView: 'Ireland's greatest living poet, a fellow Derry man, Seamus Heaney, once told a gathering that I attended at Magee university that for too long and too often we speak of the others or the other side and that what we need to do is to get to a place of through-otherness. The Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers is a good place to start." p

    • Troubles prompted coming of age in Irish media outlets

      After a week of very good news from Northern Ireland, Conor Brady reflects on bleaker times and the role the media played p

    • This Week They Said

      I believe that Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace, a time when hate will no longer rule. How good it will be to be part of a wonderful healing in our province. - The North's new First Minister, Rev Ian Paisley, on taking office. p
    An Irishmans DiaryBack to Top

    • An Irishman's Diary

      This month marks a significant anniversary for science and society: just 100 years ago, the first clear evidence that our planet is over a billion years old was uncovered. The discovery was a great relief for scientists as it resolved a bitter dispute between several scientific disciplines. However, it was a blow for religion, as it scotched estimates of the age of the earth based on sacred texts. p
    Martyn Turner's CartoonBack to Top

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