A country is not a business
Five stories from one day's news cycle in Ireland reveal the Ireland.Inc frame: socialised costs, private upside, externalities borne by the public.
xbard
Tagged: Ireland
xbard
The forest the State decided to manage for someone else
How Ireland's public forestry agency, Coillte, came to operate a Gresham House private forestry fund. The 1988 Act gated both access and financial upside.
xbard
Sold the view, extinguished the path
In April 2024 Fáilte Ireland announced that the Wild Atlantic Way generates €3 billion in annual tourism revenue. Six months later the State quietly removed …
xbard
The 25-Year Rule: How Long Real Change Actually Takes
Major systemic transitions take roughly 25 years from the moment the old arrangement begins serious decline to the moment the new one is consolidated. Applied …
xbard
The Evidence Nobody Brings Into The Room
In 2013 the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, was asked on live radio whether he could live on £53 …
xbard
Is anyone in there?
Someone you know is probably starting to lean on an AI. Not in the productivity sense, that's everywhere. In the confidant sense. Talking to it …
xbard
Every Reform, None Enacted!
Every election since 2007 has produced fresh pledges on political accountability. Registers of interest. Codes of conduct. Ethics commissions. Lobbying regulations. Whistleblower protections. Each arrived, …
xbard
Two Terms! No more!
Last Sunday, Hungarian voters answered a constitutional question Irish voters have never been asked. Should the chief executive of the country be allowed to serve …
xbard
Irish Minister Who Thinks the Problem Is the Coverage
Patrick O'Donovan, Minister for Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, went on Limerick's Live 95 today and said he would ask Coimisiún na Meán — Ireland's …
xbard
Ten Cent Off a Litre
On Saturday evening the government announced a €505m fuel support package in response to six days of nationwide protests. The measures include a 10c reduction …
xbard
Mirror, Mirror......
The most dangerous thing about Mythos is not what it might do. It is who/what it might see.
xbard
This Is Not Normal
You already know something is wrong. You've known for a while. The news cycle confirms it daily: climate collapse accelerating past every guardrail, genocide broadcast …
xbard