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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0206/1233867922934.html
HARRY McGEE, Political Staff
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has appealed to the Irish people to use their “can do” spirit and deploy their sense of solidarity in the face of the economic challenges ahead.
In an unscripted address at a function in Dublin yesterday evening, he exhorted business leaders and the community at large to pull together so that the State could quickly revive the growth achieved in the past decade.
He also strongly defended the Government’s adherence to social partnership.
The Taoiseach, who was guest of honour at a Dublin Chamber of Commerce dinner, warned that the standard of living was likely to drop by 10-12 per cent in the coming years.
Speaking without notes for 17 minutes in a sometimes impassioned address, he directed his remarks at what he described as the sense of cohesive nature of the community. He received a standing ovation from the close to 300 guests.
The Irish people had the qualities required to meet the challenge posed in these difficult times, he said.
“The one thing that characterises their success is their self-belief. If we decide to wallow in the sea of doubt do not be surprised if we remain in the turbulent waters that we are in today.”
But he added that it would be difficult. “We owe it to the next generation. We have had some good times. We have had better times than previous generations and perhaps the next.
“The profound changes that are happening in the global economy mean that we won’t revert to the high rates of growth but we can revert to growth more quickly if we stick together as a community.”
Mr Cowen said he understood many people were finding it difficult to stay in the game, that Ireland had gone from a position of “unknown prosperity to suddenly survival stakes”.
Outlining the task that now faced the economy and Government, he said “jobs, jobs, jobs” had to be the priority in the coming years.
“We cannot say that suddenly we lost our entrepreneurial can-do spirit that has brought us to where we are today.”
Mr Cowen said Ireland needed to cut labour costs, invest in infrastructure, education and research and development.
His remarks came as more than 900 jobs were lost on both sides of the Border.
Mr Cowen said political leadership required a cohesive, rational and determined effort to get the country through the problem and “pull us through”.
On social partnership, he contended that its detractors did not understand its importance and that all the sides in the process understood the full scale of the problem.
Some people regarded leadership as operating in a vacuum and deciding to govern by fiat, he said, adding that that was not the best way to lead in a modern democracy.
He also defended the decision by Government to stay with the social partnership process when others were urging it to take earlier decision on the economy.
“I decided that I would use that month of January for that purpose and I am glad I did.
“I don’t believe for a moment that the idea that that is somehow a prevarication or abdication of responsibility. I don’t accept that.
“We must work together. Without working together we will not get through it, such is the scale of the challenge we face.”
Mr Cowen said the country must now go back to basic living, saying that the hubris of the past – that Irish people could do it all themselves – had come crashing down.
“That sort of arrogance has no place if Ireland is to forge ahead again,” he said.
Mr Cowen said he spoke extemporaneously because he wanted to stare the business community in the eye while spelling out the situation.
He said Ireland should recognise the solidarity that the European Union had brought, adding: “Our future is in Europe for all its faults.”
Arriving at the event, he indicated that preparations for the recapitalise Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland were well advanced.
According to some financial sources, all that remains to be finalised are certain “technical” aspects of the recapitalisation transactions.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0206/1233867922058.html
MARTIN WALL, Industry Correspondent
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
MANAGEMENT AT the ESB is expected to tell trade unions next week that the company’s pension fund is facing an estimated deficit of up to €1.5 billion.
It is understood that among the proposals that will be put forward for dealing with the problem is the closure of the existing defined benefit pension scheme for new staff and the introduction of new pension arrangements.
A valuation to determine the exact nature of the pension fund deficit is currently under way.
However, it is understood that estimates suggest that the deficit is between €1.3 billion and €1.5 billion.
Separately, it emerged last night that the chief executive of the ESB, Padraig McManus, is to take a 10 per cent pay cut.
Mr McManus currently has a salary of €467,000 with the possibility of an additional 25 per cent in bonus payments.
Meanwhile, the company is understood to believe that it is neither feasible nor practical to rescind a controversial 3.5 per cent increase in pay awarded to the ESB’s 8,000 staff under the terms of the wage agreement reached last September.
This pay increase has been strongly criticised by Government Ministers over recent days.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley said that there was widespread concern in Government at the increase.
“It is seen as inappropriate and it is seen as sending the wrong signal at this time,” he said.
However The Irish Timesunderstands that the Government was informed of the decision to pay the increases due under the national agreement by the board of the ESB on December 17th last.
It is understood that the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources was briefed on the decision before the money was paid out to staff and that no objection was raised at the time.
It is the norm for decisions of the board of the ESB to be relayed to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The secretary of the ESB group of unions David Naughton yesterday defended the pay increases paid to staff at the company.
He said that the ESB was a commercial semi-State company and considered to be part of the private sector.
He said that the ESB was a profitable company and that other firms in similar situations had also paid the increases.
Trade unions yesterday strongly criticised the Government over its comments on the ESB pay rise.
The craft union TEEU said that this was the latest step in a deliberate strategy of making ordinary working people pay for the economic crisis created by over a decade of mismanagement of the economy.
TEEU general secretary designate Eamon Devoy said: “The only sin committed by ESB workers is that they accepted a pay increase negotiated through the social partnership process last year.
“If the increase is taken off them it can be taken off every other worker in the country as well. The agreement has an inability-to-pay clause which employers can avail of if justified.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0206/1233867922420.html
ELAINE EDWARDS and GENEVIEVE CARBERY
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
THIS IS the coldest winter experienced in Dublin for 18 years, Met Éireann has said.
Meteorologist Gerry Murphy said the Casement Aerodrome weather station had recorded its coldest December and January since 1991, and the coldest December and January since 1997 had been recorded at weather stations at Cork airport and in Birr, Co Offaly. However, there was nothing unusual about the current bout of sleet, snow and general wintry weather in February.
Cold air from Siberia caused much of the recent heavy snowfalls in Britain and in the east of Ireland, Mr Murphy told The Irish Times.
He said February was still part of the winter season in meteorological terms.
“This winter we have had quite a few nights with sharp frost and it’s been a while since the Dublin region has had such significant falls of snow. It’s unusual in that sense, but on the other hand it’s winter weather.”
Yesterday parts of the country experienced heavy wintry showers of sleet and snow, causing traffic delays and the closure of Dublin airport.
“The places that are getting most of them are Donegal and Mayo in the north and west, and then east Ulster, east Antrim and right down the east coast and in as far as parts of Kildare, Tipperary and Waterford,” Mr Murphy said.
In contrast, west Munster and a good part of Connacht were “dry and bright with lovely sunshine”.
The weather conditions hampered the rescue of a woman who got into difficulty at Howth Head yesterday. She was transferred to a lifeboat in “challenging conditions” of extreme cold, poor visibility and rough sea, the RNLI said.
The Coast Guard helicopter was unavailable due to conditions.
The woman was in a stable condition in hospital last night.
Dublin bus services were disrupted yesterday, particularly on the south side and on the outskirts of the city. The 46A was not entering Stillorgan village.
Students at University College Dublin had to go home early yesterday as all buildings in the Belfield campus were closed at 5pm due to weather conditions.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0206/1233867922941.html
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
THE COLD weather is expected to continue for the next few days as motorists are being warned of a “hard freeze” and roads “like sheets of ice”, particularly in Leinster.
The heavy snowfall yesterday, especially over Dublin, led to the closure of Dublin Airport for some seven hours, traffic jams, curtailment of bus services and the cancellation of sporting fixtures.
With air temperatures expected to reach minus four or five degrees last night, roads were expected to be very hazardous this morning, said Vincent O’Shea of Met Éireann.
The heavy snow seen in Dublin yesterday is expected to move northwards to Donegal, Mayo and the northwest, according to Mr O’Shea
Outside the northwest it is expected to be bright and dry, but there will be “no let up in the cold snap”, hesaid.
Early next week will stay cold but the frost and snow will not be as severe as over the last few days and there will be one or two rogue showers.
Dublin Airport is expected to operate as normal this morning following the cancellation of some 200 flights in and out of the airport yesterday due to heavy snow. This accounted for around half of the airport’s normal traffic. Siobhan Moore of the Dublin Airport Authority said while the runway could freeze today they were “well used” to dealing with such a situation.
Despite severe road conditions over much of Dublin yesterday, the number of collisions was low, Nicola Hudson of AA Roadwatch said.
Motorists seemed to be heeding warnings to be careful and use dipped headlights, she said.
“Some of the complaints we got in were that people were driving too slowly. But you can’t be too careful,” she added.
In Dublin, snowfall yesterday afternoon which turned to slush caused severe traffic disruption in Blackrock, Dundrum and Sandyford at the M50. Some roads were impassable at Rathfarnham and Stepaside.
Heavy snowfall in the city centre also meant a slow rush hour. South Dublin County Council said it had gritted the equivalent of some 2,500km of road since the cold snap began on Monday.
The continued winter weather looks set to affect some of the weekend’s sporting events.
An assessment was to take place early this morning to decide if Sunday’s race meeting at Leopardstown would take place due to snow and rain. Snow was still falling at the lunchtime assessment yesterday when the track was unfit for racing.
“It just depends how quickly things clear up but at the moment, it wouldn’t look terrific,” Irish Turf Club press officer Cliff Noone said yesterday.
Tomorrow’s racing at Naas was cancelled yesterday due to waterlogging and snow.
However, it is “highly unlikely” the Ireland vs France Six Nations rugby match at Croke Park tomorrow will be cancelled, an IRFU spokeswoman said. However, inspections for some of the smaller rugby matches will take place this morning.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0206/1233867922434.html
GENEVIEVE CARBERY and DAN KEENAN
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
A TEAM of boxers, members of a youth parliament, skiers, sunseekers, daytrippers, tourists and businessmen were among the thousands of disappointed passengers due to fly out of Dublin airport yesterday.
More than 200 flights in and out of Dublin were cancelled yesterday due to heavy snowfall as the runway was closed following a friction test.
The queues of over a thousand passengers almost formed a circle around the whole of the airport’s departure hall yesterday afternoon. Travellers queued for hours to get refunds, rebook flights and find out if their flight would be rescheduled.
Others phoned friends, used laptops and queued for the internet terminals hoping to get on the Ryanair and Aer Lingus websites. A number of deadlines for the runway to reopen came and went between 1pm and 7.30pm. Airport authorities had hoped the weather would clear and the runway could be cleared of snow and de-iced yesterday afternoon.
The airport did not reopen until about 7.45pm last night. However only a handful of aircraft landed or took off yesterday evening as Aer Lingus and Ryanair had already cancelled most flights. While the runway was ready earlier, banks of snow had formed at the piers and proved to be an obstacle to the aircraft, Siobhán Moore of the Dublin Airport Authority said.
The airport is expected to run to a normal schedule today according to the DAA. Ryanair and Aer Lingus are not planning to add extra flights today.
Many travellers had been on aircraft ready to take off when the airport was closed. “We were on the plane at 11.45 and got off the plane at three,” said Margaret Trodden an Aer Lingus passenger who was due to fly to Florida to meet friends yesterday morning.
While she queued for hours to see if she could rebook, her husband Seán was at the carousel trying to get the luggage. She said some people on the aircraft who had access to the internet knew the airport was closed before passengers on board were informed. John Mansell travelling on a midday Ryanair flight to Bristol said he could see the snow piling up as he sat on the delayed aircraft. “I knew there was no way we were going anywhere.”
He was annoyed that people had to queue for so long to rebook a flight.”You can book online but realistically how many people can go online here?” he added.
One Swedish passenger who sat on an aircraft for two hours was very annoyed. Sylvia Johnson was due to go on the Ryanair flight to Gothenburg and was hoping after a two-hour queue to book a flight for today. She did not think the snow was that bad, noting that in Sweden it would be heavier and the airport would be open.
While many passengers said they understood the weather could not be controlled, they were very disappointed. Among those was a group of 17 boxers from Ardboyne Holycross due to go to Washington to fight at the weekend.
Some 19 students representing Ireland in the young peoples parliament in Strasbourg were also disappointed. They had been chosen out of 2,000 entrants.
Another group of travellers managed to make alternative arrangements to go on their holiday. Róisín OMeara from Tipperary was determined not to lose out on her skiing trip to Salzburg. She had booked a flight from Shannon to Stansted and on to Austria for this morning.
George Best Belfast City Airport was also closed for a time yesterday morning.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19043
John Sweeney.
By Ray O'Hanlon
February 4, 2009 The leading women contenders for the U.S. ambassadorship to Ireland include Caroline Kennedy and Carol Wheeler - but the men are in the frame too.
And leading the male half of the race this week is triumphant Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
Also in the frame is AFL/CIO chief John Sweeney, whose name has surfaced in an Irish Times report.
But Rooney seems to have the edge and while he has not openly embraced the idea of being ambassador, he has not dismissed the idea.
In an interview with Pittsburgh TV station KDKA, a CBS affiliate, Rooney said he was open to the idea of being ambassador if President Barack Obama asked him.
Rooney was a significant Obama backer in the election campaign and his first words when interviewed after his team's Super Bowl win in Tampa might well have been a message of sorts: "I would like to thank President Barack Obama," said the 76-year-old businessman.
Rooney is clearly an Obama fan as well as his own team's number one follower.
"I like him, I know what he's doing and I want to support him. What I'm talking about is his administration. I'd do anything that he asked," Rooney told KDKA.
"I did not do this with the idea of getting anything," Rooney said of his support for Obama.
"I'm not looking for anything. If he thinks I can help him anywhere, if he calls me, obviously, I'm going to say that I'll do anything I can for you, and I would. It would be an honor to work for him, you know."
The station reported that Anne Mullin Burnham, founding editor of Diplomatic Dossier Magazine is thinking that would be a terrific choice.
"I think it would be an inspired appointment from the point of view of both countries. Every country that welcomes a U.S. ambassador wants to have somebody with that magic thing called access," Irish-born Mullin Burnham said.
A Rooney move to the Phoenix Park also won the enthusiastic backing of Jim Lamb, president of the Ireland Institute in Pittsburgh.
"Mr. Rooney has done so much for Ireland that he would be in my estimation the ideal person," said Lamb of the man who co-founded the American-Ireland Fund.
During the interview, KDKA reporter Jon Delano asked Rooney if he would like to be ambassador to Ireland.
"It would be interesting. It would be interesting, I must admit," Rooney replied.
"I have the credentials. There's no doubt about that," he responded.
The station reported on its website that the Irish Times in Dublin was reporting that Rooney was heading the list to become ambassador to Ireland, "speculation repeated in the Irish Echo."
John Sweeney's chances of being ambassador would also be viewed as being strong given AFL/CIO backing for the Obama campaign.
The announcement as to who will succeed former ambassador Thomas Foley is expected around St. Patrick's Day.
This story appeared in the issue of February 4-10, 2009
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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19038
By Máirtín Ó Muilleoir
February 4, 2009 A leading Irish American expert on the Middle East has told the Irish Echo that veteran peace negotiator, Senator George Mitchell, has "the gravitas and patience to pull off" a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
And Professor Brendan O'Leary, who is a director of the program covering ethnic conflict at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, says lessons learned by the former Maine senator in the Irish peace process will be applied in his new role as President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East.
"It's sometimes said he doesn't insist on preconditions before negotiations begin, but that's not true," said O'Leary of Mitchell.
In Northern Ireland, he did establish a commitment to democratic principles and exclusively peaceful means to resolve differences. I imagine he will try the same strategy in the Middle East.
"He won't say that Hamas has to recognize Israel before it begins negotiations, but he will say there has to be a set of ceasefires in place and a commitment to resolve differences peacefully."
A native of County Cork, O'Leary is a world authority on conflict resolution and has spent the last five years as an advisor to the government of Iraqi Kurdistan.
In Ireland, he is best known for his work on the architecture of the Good Friday agreement and for fighting for the reform of policing in Northern Ireland - this after the refusal to reform the old RUC seemed set to derail the peace process.
O'Leary's latest book, "How To Get Out of Iraq With Integrity," was published last week by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
In it, O'Leary argues for an orderly and judicious U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, though one starting right now.
"There is no reason why America's withdrawal from Iraq should be as dishonest as its intervention has been judged to be," he said
He also argues that Iran can be a partner for peace with the U.S. and that its interests were well-served by the toppling of Tehran's arch-enemy, Saddam Hussein.
O'Leary believes Senator Mitchell will bring this kind of wider view to his Middle East role.
"I wish him well," he said.
"He has the right experience, right type of personality and doesn't believe in excluding people. He has an extraordinarily difficult task ahead of him, but he is one of the few American policy makers with the gravitas and patience to pull this off."
An expanded interview with Professor O'Leary can be read on the Irish Echo's website at www.irishecho.com.
This story appeared in the issue of February 4-10, 2009
To write a letter to the editor, click . Please include your name, address and a day-time phone number for verification.