Search Results for 'Albert Reynolds'

On August 28, the St Vincent de Paul reported a 20 per cent increase in calls for “back to school help”. The same day, the man presiding over the housing crisis, Minister Eoghan Murphy, announced the election date for the most lucrative Irish political post - the presidency - with a salary of €325,507 plus untold expenses.

The sight of the politicians gathering for their annual ‘think-ins’ is one of the signs the summer is over. As with the country as a whole, the Government has had a generally good summer with a post-referendum boost and generally strong economic performance to buoy it. However, the autumn will bring its challenges and it may not all be plain sailing.

I am writing this column in the week of the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998.

I know, readers, that you are probably fed up with talk of the weather, but we simply have to talk more about it!

The first six months of 2017 have been hectic to say the least - a change of taoiseach, arguments which have severely tested the stability of the government and brought us to the brink of a general election more than once, a UK general election, and the collapse of the Stormont Assembly.

Well, so many awful things have happened since we last spoke together, and yet so many hopeful, optimistic things have also happened. So, let us put them all in context.

Why should we study history? Well, frankly, history is the study of human nature, and history most definitely repeats itself. History can teach us lessons so that we are forearmed when facing situations, better informed when planning to proceed. The history of the long campaign to establish the Regional Technical College (RTC, now the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT) campus in Mayo contains, I believe, guidance on how the Castlebar based college can be rescued from those who oppose its survival.

I am writing about the above topic this week because recently we have had the obvious race beginning between the successors to Enda Kenny.

I am writing about the above topic this week because recently we have had the obvious race beginning between the successors to Enda Kenny.