For all the years I have lived in Dublin, I never knew that the Iveagh Gardens existed until last week. What brought me there was to hear Paloma Faith in concert and what a night!

Iveagh Gardens is like a hidden pearl nestled at the back of the Concert Hall and stretching across to Harcourt Street. It is a designer setting for a concert. The performance opened with Candi Staton who won her first Grammy in 1971!. Cut out of the same mould as Tina Turner, she belted out old Elvis Presley classics as well as her own successes. She was some supporting act to have, and Paloma Faith had the good grace to recognise it. Continue Reading

I am speaking next week in the MacGill summer school on:

“Building a Republic that Reflects the Ideals and Ambitions of its Founders”

It is a challenging topic that questions the foundations on which our politics should be based. It also raises historic questions:

• Did the founders share common ideals beyond the pursuit of Independence?
• Did the declaration of a Republic change the way we approached things?
• Are there fault lines in the republic, that has been built, which created the disaster we are now experiencing?
• Do we have a common set of ideals and ambition as we seek to confront this crisis?
• Can we seek to confront it without such a common purpose?

If you have ideas on the subject, I would be delighted to receive them. My email is richard.bruton@oir.ie

The OECD Report on employment paints an alarming picture of Ireland’s jobs crisis and shows that the Government’s strategy for jobs is failing dismally.

The key findings of the OECD report are that:

• Unlike other countries, axing jobs is the only option adopted by employers in Ireland. But other governments have been able to promote flexible working options to reduce the impact on unemployment;
• Not only has unemployment surged in Ireland, but people are getting stuck on welfare. Almost 40% of the unemployed now deemed to be long-term unemployed, with high risk they will never be reabsorbed into work;
• The likely economic recovery will be too feeble to address the problem of rising unemployment. Continue Reading