Welcome to this week’s IT Sunday, a selection of the best Irish Times journalism for our subscribers.
This week saw a flurry of activity from central banks, with the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England all increasing interest rates and giving their opinions on what to do next. It looks like 2022 is the year that the world called time on central bankers, revealing a disturbing lack of competence at the heart of our economic system. Will next year be the year when those bankers fall to earth, asks David McWilliams.
After the great Irish banking and property crash of 2008, the instruction from Brussels, Washington and Frankfurt was: do penance and give up your oul’ sins. It was the old ritual of redemption through suffering, religion dressed up as economics. And it was pernicious nonsense. The worst suffering was imposed on people who had contributed least to the disaster. The sinners got three Hail Marys; the innocent had to stay on their knees for five years. Leo Varadkar was, as minister for transport at that time, a full member of the Fine Gael-Labour government. It seems a pity that he didn’t “wonder” at the time about the pain he was helping to inflict on Irish people, writes Fintan O’Toole of the man who became Taoiseach for a second time this weekend.
New data from the Central Statistics Office this week showed inheritances, which average close to €100,000 in the State, are the key way in which wealth is passed between generations. In Smart Money, Cliff Taylor examines the data which shows the rich in Ireland are getting richer. He writes that the issue of taxing wealth and increasing the tax take on inheritance in Ireland looms large – but will not be relished by politicians.
Ballroom Blitz review: Adam Clayton’s celebration of Irish showbands hints at the burden of being in U2
Our Little Secret: Awkward! Lindsay Lohan’s Christmas flick may as well be AI generated
Edwardian three-bed with potential to extend in Sandymount for €1.295m
‘My wife, who I love and adore, has emotionally abandoned our relationship’
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As the World Cup draws to a close this weekend, Ken Early writes one his last Qatar letters. If capitalism was a country, Doha would be its capital, he says, as “in this gleaming setting for a one-city World Cup, an unsettling air of fakeness pervades everything. . . .Doha is the kind of place we are condemned to produce when money and lives are no object.”
Meanwhile, the focus of Naomi O’Leary’s Europe Letter this week was the Qatargate scandal which is causing upheaval in the European Parliament, with legislation paused or reconsidered as it suddenly falls under suspicion, and the institution’s relaxed reporting rules for lobby meetings and the declaration of expenses suddenly drawn into sharp focus. A proposed liberalisation of visas for Qatar and Kuwait has been knocked back to committee stage. While Qatar has denied any wrongdoing, MEPs have also sought to delay an “open skies” deal that would grant the state-owned airline Qatar Airways access to the EU market, until improper influence is ruled out.
This Christmas, if devices are on that festive list, it is inevitable there will be software updates to install before they can be used. Ciara O’Brien, however, has tips on how to avoid all the hassle in advance of the big day, and how to set up parental controls on any new devices the children and teens may be receiving from Santa.
Speaking of the Christmas, if you’re looking for a last-minute table for a meal or a snack, Corinna Hardgrave has great tips on where to go for festive food when you don’t have a reservation.
In Tell Me About It, a reader says they “fell for a woman who’s now gone from my life. How can I stop imagining a future together?” Trish Murphy offers her advice on the situation, which you can read here.
And finally, in her column, Roe McDermott offers advice to a reader who said the man they like is playing games and “I never seem to win”. Click here for Roe’s response.
As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com and there are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.
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