Daft Property - Irish Property News

'Returning to the spirit of Tiger Ireland is pointless. Only a completely new political movement can tackle the challenges'... DECLAN KIBERD : The UDC professor of English outlines what he believes needs to be done to fix Ireland NOBODY KNOWS what will happen next – not even our leaders. We walk as a community in darkness down a strangely unfamiliar road, into a new landscape for which there are no maps. Except, possibly, newspapers. Their sales may be in decline, but you can bet your life that more people are reading a newspaper, and in greater detail, every day. If you call into an office still lucky enough to be in business, you are likely to find people reading the morning paper. Four or five years ago, these readers would have been rushed off their feet with work to do and would have managed to glance at headlines only at the end of a fantastic day. The unwelcome increase in “free time” is but one reason for this heightened interest in current affairs. Another is the fact...

No Sniptoeing through the tulips for Brian's gang... Colm McCarthy was laid-back, but serving up his menu to a queasy public is going to strain Ministers’ stomachs... AFTER YEARS of high living, our political leaders arrived at the Café From Hell yesterday and were forced to confront a menu of the most foul and indigestible choices. The Taoiseach and his Ministers will have recoiled from the bill of fare, but they also know that if they don’t order and dispatch an ample sufficiency, the consequences for them and the rest of the country could be catastrophic. There’ll be no Sniptoeing through the tulips for Brian and the gang after the steaming mess of cuts that Colm McCarthy served up to their sophisticated noses. What’s worse, when they’ve properly perused what’s on offer, they’ll have to dish out McCarthy’s recommendations to an already queasy public. Will the Government have the stomach to do it? Brian Lenihan – the man who has to send out the plates – appealed for calm after th...

Pressure on Cowen as millions go to waste... Millions of euro of taxpayers' money has been lost by state bodies and agencies, the report from spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) said. In his first report, new C&AG John Buckley starkly uncovered the extent of the Government's failure to properly control its dwindling finances. It was published as ministers prepare to slash public services in next month's budget, which has been brought forward by six weeks, in a bid to combat the deepening economic downturn. The report revealed that the tax authorities had to make an embarrassing settlement of €1.7m to themselves for unpaid taxes, after failing to tax travel benefits awarded to their own staff. Mr Buckley's report exposed many of the same inadequacies as his predecessor, as he raised direct and specific concerns. He identified: "Shortcomings in the management of the State's financial resources". "Questions as to the eff...