The past, we are told, is a foreign country.

Fifty years ago so much was different. The Everly Brothers were top of the charts, Spurs were league champions and a new broadcasting service called Teilifis Eireann was just turning on.

On the other hand, Tipperary held the Liam McCarthy cup and another Irish American was in the Oval Office……!

Tragically however, years of poor public policy left 1960s Ireland isolated, impoverished and ill-prepared for the challenges of a rapidly changing international marketplace.

Maybe the past isn’t such a foreign country after all. Read the full story

Restoring a sense of Justice is central to coming to terms with the crisis that has engulfed our community. People feel a deep sense of injustice.

The security of families has been torn away – the value of savings liquidated, the prospect of jobs dashed, the possession of the family home put in jeopardy – all as a result of actions in which people justifiably feel they played no part.

The failure of the systems which people were assured would protect them has aggravated the sense of injustice, and made all the keener because no one has been held accountable. Read the full story

It is long past time when Ireland should set out for itself a coherent Plan for Economic Recovery to confront this crisis. Just as 50 years ago Whitaker and Lemass cast aside failed policies, and challenged a narrow economic orthodoxy with a new Programme for Economic Expansion, so we must do so again today. Read the full story