Special Features

Media reporting on the Red C poll published last Friday largely concentrated on the levels of support indicated for the political forces contesting the impending General Election.

When the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg for one week every month, the last session which takes place on Thursday afternoon is always devoted to debates on human rights issues in different parts of the world.

If today’s opinion poll proves anything it is both the historical annihilation in store for Fianna Fáil at the polls and the volatility in support for the other parties as people actively seek out an alternative to this disastrous government.

“Everyone is really a hostage to the bond markets!’ This dramatic statement was made yesterday on Morning Ireland  by Tony Connolly, the Europe Correspondent of Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE.

Dublin’s Grafton Street has long been a major showpiece for what Ireland’s retailing business has to sell to the public in terms of consumer goods, from a needle, not so much to the proverbial anchor as to the €5,000 designer handbag.

When it comes to putting forward prescriptions for dragging their economic system out of its current mess, the breathtaking arrogance of members of the capitalist establishment never ceases to amaze.

Over the course of the last month, the breathtaking hypocrisy of the capitalist elites in Ireland and internationally has been glaringly exposed.

In about two weeks, a Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations will be held in New York to review progress in reaching the Milennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Business and media circles are agog at “the most significant development in philanthropy” for many decades. Forty US based billionaires have pledged to give half of their wealth to “charity” while living or on their death.

The “Giving Pledge” was initiated by two men said to be the richest in the world, Bill Gates founder of Microsoft, whose wealth is estimated to be about $40 billion and Warren Buffet coming in at $37 billion.

All citizens who value the need for publicly owned vital infrastructure would have experienced a shudder of fearful anticipation last month when the Minister for Finance established a Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities.