In
@POLITICOEurope
I highlight the sorry story of Ireland as Europe’s ultimate freeloader on security and defense🙁Spending 0.2 per cent of GDP, Britain covering its air defense, no undersea capabilities and 1 navy ship on patrol due to staff shortages..
In months antigen tests have gone from being dismissed as “snake oil” to being included in official Irish statistics. Ireland needs a full inquiry into the role, composition and scientific basis of the advice which underpinned Ireland’s pandemic response
Ireland's decision not to scale up low cost PCR testing is a deliberate attempt to make it difficult (and expensive) for Irish people to travel abroad and for people visiting Ireland. The gov could at least admit to this, rather than paying lip service to EU travel passport
Belgium is offering 2 free PCR tests to those not fully vaccinated this summer to enable them to enjoy holidays or attend events. Testing will be further ramped up to ensure everybody can enjoy some sort of summer. The comparison to Ireland is obvious
@MarkPaulTimes
Belgium has 2,650 ICU beds (750 created in 2020 to deal with Corona). Ireland has total ICU capacity of less than 500 with no clear figures on what extra capacity has been added since March 2020. This may partially explain Ireland's "obsessive catastrophizing"
@danobrien20
So Irish voters, now more than ever, want a European style society when it comes to housing and health, but American style personal and corporate tax rates, no property or water charges (both common in Europe) and earlier retirement. Sinn Fein is just a conduit of Irish delusion
Writing in today’s
@IrishTimes
@IrishTimesOpEd
Ireland’s system of mandatory hotel quarantine shows Ireland’s drift to the edge of EU decision making. EU membership comes with real responsibilities regardless of how much the Irish gov pretends otherwise.
In
@ForeignPolicy
I argue that with defense spending of 0.3% of GDP, no subsea capabilities, no ability to defend its basic sovereignty and outsourcing its air defense to Britain - Ireland (and the 75% of EU-US subsea cables in or near its waters)are now a major geopolitical risk
Funny how quickly the Covid pendulum shifts in Ireland from “the best in Europe” to Variant induced panic. Still no real serious analysis of how Ireland is doing relative to European peers. Just a constant focus on U.K. and the U.S. with the occasional drip from Australia
Belgium gets a bad press a lot of the time. But, their (volunteer enabled) datasets on COVID vaccinations, vaccine deliveries and many other metrics are putting a lot of other countries to shame. Well done
@jorisvaesen
+ ook bedankt voor de engelse versie!
My latest in
@IrishTimesOpEd
By allowing the parochialism of Ireland’s domestic politics to dominate its engagement in European affairs, Dublin has blundered badly. It may take us a generation in Brussels to repair this damage.
Happy to share with
@RTENewsAtOne
my view that
@EU_Commission
safe travel proposals should be adopted by Ireland as soon as possible. Half baked hotel quarantines are exacerbating Ireland's drift to the periphery of EU decision making. Listen here:
The longer mandatory hotel quarantine exists for EU citizens, the more our European partners will question Ireland's strategic awareness, political judgement and ability to deal with (and assess) risk.
2 weeks back in Ireland and Still waiting for any
@rte
piece on the forthcoming federal elections In Germany. Great to see us embrace our new found interest in Europe….
“We’re going to have to start building up surge capacity in ICU” - this, the view of the Irish Health Minister, 18 months after the start of the pandemic. The inability to scale up essential medical services is a sad reflection of Ireland’s abilities
Writing in
@POLITICOEurope
I argue that it's the Anglosphere saving Ukraine while the EU is saving itself. The reality is that it's the military support provided by the US and Britain, in particular, that’s protecting European democracy.
Priceless from
@PatLeahyIT
- Irish gov now realising a “mid ranking portfolio” is the best they can hope for. It’s like they’ve realised they have traded in a Ferrari and they will be lucky to get a Ford Focus in exchange!
Phil Hogan was a great Commissioner and the Irish policymaker with the most clearly articulated vision for Ireland's place in Europe. His loss is keenly felt in
@EPP_IE
@EPP
Most importantly of all he was a proud Kilkenny man.
@spignal
It's the result of a quintessential British imperialism in which the "colonial elites" were always a very important part. A key element of which was the "Anglicisation" through education (and religion). I write this as an Irishman!
Great to know that locking up a couple of dozen arrivals from Brussels over the past few weeks has played an important role in Ireland’s Covid success. Serious issue regarding democratic accountability and lack of data driving this ridiculous policy in the first place.
🛬 REMOVED from mandatory hotel quarantine list this evening, with immediate effect:
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇫🇷 France
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇺🇸 United States of America
This now means all EU arrivals are exempt from MHQ.
@VirginMediaNews
My latest in
@POLITICOEurope
. Ireland has to choose between immersing itself fully in the EU or taking a more peripheral position in Brussels and prioritizing existing arrangements with the UK. Soon, the space will no longer exist to do both.
As any Irish person will tell you — or indeed, as many failed French, Spanish and German leaders have learned — the greatest risk in dealing with Britain is underestimating its resolve and ability to adapt in times of crisis. My latest in
@POLITICOEurope
3. There is a very real possibility that Ireland is now caught in a bind of COVID induced panic which is veering dangerously towards having a disastrous impact on the return to normality
Ireland's focus on itself-"we have done better than almost any country in Europe” - continues to ignore a key reason behind the severity of Ireland's Covid-era restrictions. A low capacity, dysfunctional public healthcare system that is significantly behind western European norms
Policy uncertainty, flip flopping and a condescending decision making tone has cost thousands of jobs, made the loss of bereavement worse for the millions of Irish living abroad and generally weakened the resilience and well being of Irish society.
Ireland’s vaccination rate (38.9 doses per 100 pop) is now well being the EU average (44.1). And it’s been falling further behind for weeks. More ridiculous gov policy on international travel
Here we go again! Ireland the only country in Europe that is unable to manage a mass vaccination campaign, a return to indoor dining and the delta variant! Pity it hasn’t bothered to scale up testing, tracing or ICU bed capacity
@ConorRiordan2
@Care2much18
Great thread! But we should be the lowest in Western Europe (given the British mess). We're geographically separate enabling us to control borders easier compared to Continental Europe. Also our pop density is about 7, 5 and 5 times less than Dutch, Belgiums and Germans.
I get the feeling that a lot of EU states are beginning to understand that behind all the Irish rhetoric, the Paddy’s Day blarney and the superficial engagement - that Ireland’s heart rests very very far from Brussels.
1. Interesting that the gov/media cheerleading about the pace of Ireland's vaccination campaign/COVID levels have largely disappeared over the last few weeks. Now replaced by the doom and gloom of more threats. This is neither good public policy or strong political leadership
There is such a feeling of déjà vu this morning listening to the senior political correspondence clearly briefed on this new Covid variant and its impact on future openings. It was never right before and is still wrong so much at stake for businesses and staff.
Much of Western Europe now with lower or similar incidence rates, more of their populations partially vaccination, economies more open and travel less discouraged. All of course with significantly shorter lockdowns and less self induced, Catholic style angst
15 minutes into the main 9pm
@rtenews
and still not a single story from outside Ireland. Good to know nothing important happening outside the Emerald Isle…
Welcome to Ireland: Unable to defend our borders, unwilling to offer the real aid Ukraine desperately needs and utterly incapable of accepting those realities. And no, accepting refugees is not enough.
@ZelenskyyUa
is 100% correct on Ireland
11 Nov is a public holiday in Belgium. We remember all the Irish(north and south) who fought and died for a free Belgium. Many shared the belief that fighting in Flanders would also lead to a freer Ireland. Overwhelmed by later events, their stories also deserve to be remembered.
Foreign diplomats in Ireland and Irish abroad are perplexed by the obsessive catastrophizing about Covid in Ireland. Today's column looks at our lack of collective resilience and over-dramatisation of a real problem.
Seriously. The whole MHQ system is a worrying symbol of the Irish states inability to assess and deal with long term risk. Not to mention the sub-standard and flawed implementation.
Surely this isn't serious? "Prof Philip Nolan points to our “highly mobile” and multinational workforce as a potential factor. Up to 17 per cent of the workforce wasn’t born in Ireland and international travel is more significant than in other countries"
Mandatory hotel quarantine also illustrates how a borderless, low tax, Anglosphere Ireland will find it hard to have any real clout in the future of EU policymaking. This piece from February 2020 seems even more accurate now
Also fascinating this Christmas the Irish desperate for pre-Christmas breaks away - like escaping from Alcatraz - makes a nice change from the “don’t come home here if you live abroad” routine from the Irish gov last year….
If in doubt, just blame the non-Irish living in Ireland. That is not analytical modelling or even semi decent desktop analysis. It's public policy failure.
Guess which EU member states are still subject to mandatory hotel quarantine in Ireland? 14-day per 100k inhabitants
Sweden 577
Cyprus 521
Netherlands483
Latvia 431
Slovenia 359
France 335
Belgium 308
Good to see that for all the Irish blarney about becoming more European after Brexit - Ireland actually remains dominated by an obsessive desire to do better than Britain. Even in a pandemic.
The vaccine rollout is continuing at great pace.
Today we edged ahead of our nearest neighbours - a brilliant effort by everyone involved.
➡️Ireland: 72.4% of adults fully vaccinated
➡️UK: 72.1% of adults fully vaccinated
@spignal
This relative empowering of "local elites" resulted in rapid embrace of the meritocratic principle in Britain by immigrants from around the "Empire". Particularly from India and Asia, unfortunately the Caribbean not so much.
@Care2much18
I'm sorry but that is very, very simplistic. Here in Belgium every suspected case of COVID is reported as a "death" even if it is unlikely to be the cause. Also issues about population size, geography (people moving to France, Netherlands, Lux and Germany) not to mention Brussels
And compared to European peers, the ad hoc nature of Ireland’s approach is now clear. Vaccination rates lagging Western Europe, semi open hospitality and still implicit barriers to restoring connectivity
Ireland‘s reluctance to adopt EU Travel Passport ASAP to support aviation/tourism sectors needs also to be judged in the context of wider political objectives. Unfortunately, in the longterm Brexit has ensured that Ireland is......
Let’s face it: the Brits are in the middle of a post-imperial mid-life crisis that has nothing to do with Europe. Happy to share in the
@guardian
my latest op-Ed
The legacy of Ireland’s Covid “success” will linger long in the shadows of the tourism, hospitality, travel, mental health and many many other sectors….
When the global recession hits Ireland next year. When corporation tax receipts begin to decline, when interest rates hit 4%, when deficits rule. People will ask - did we really just blow 11 billion in an untargeted money drop where the rich benefit most?
Because there are obviously no other countries in Europe with a "highly mobile" and "multinational" workforce.....oh wait, in Germany at least 12% of the ENTIRE POPULATION were born outside Germany...
Great to see Belgium's vaccination efforts really picking up steam. A total of 4 vaccinations administered in Brussels yesterday (06/03). That's less vaccinations than health ministers in a country of 11 million people.
2/2 - 3. We hold the Irish media more to account in providing balanced and more strategic analysis. 4. We get back to basics and put in the bin all the media rubbish about Ireland being the most influential small country in the world. I think we all know where we stand now.
For an open economy with a long history of emigration, the sad reality is that we remain insular in outlook, biased in our view of Irishness and gloriously ignorant of those we say we value.
2. The reality is that Ireland's vaccination campaign has fallen behind their Western European counterparts. And Ireland is the only country (apart from the Britain) that is allowing variants to spread fear through public policy.
For those back in Ireland to visit family this summer it’s a really weird and mildly depressing place. Half the pop seem scared off indoor dining, big tourist hotels in Kilkenny with big dining rooms offering nothing but dining in tents instead….
1/2 - I hope 4 things arise from
#golfgate
1. The
@EU_Commission
achieves gender parity with the addition of an excellent Irish female Commissioner. 2. Irish people in Brussels come out from behind their croissants to make sure their voices are heard in Dublin....
Easily the worst piece of public planning in Ireland in recent years. The timelines, suggested fixes (basically more buses and half a metro line in 2034) make a mockery of Ireland's climate commitments and will place us further behind our European peers
Always happy to share with
@POLITICOEurope
my view that for President Macron to save his European dreams,
@MichelBarnier
must be the next French European Commissioner. It's obvious, no?
In
@POLITICOEurope
I argue that the EU should already be regretting trying to make farmers the scapegoats for climate change. Because Brussels is well on the way to losing rural Europe — and it only has itself to blame.
No matter where you stand on the corporate tax issue, the really sad thing from an Irish perspective is that the billions of euros gained in recent years has been largely flittered away…..
In the
@IrishTimes
today I argue that the never-talked-about implications of Ireland’s laissez faire thinking on Europe are finally being laid bare. On many policy issues Ireland is no longer viewed as a credible voice in Brussels.
Great analysis by
@danobrien20
on how Ireland’s 20th century history has resulted in a pessimistic societal bias today. I fear what Ireland’s response to Covid would have been if it had experienced a Belgian scale first wave.
Irish society views Covid in catastrophic terms compared to others. Today's
@businessposthq
column suggests that this is explained by 1) no living memory of national trauma, such as WWII, and 2) the absence of a libertarian tradition.
12 months after the rest of Europe antigen tests will finally play a key role in Ireland’s Covid response. The tragic nature of this pandemic cannot negate the need for public accountability of earlier, poor decisions
The economic costs of Coronavirus will extend well beyond the coming weeks.
@EPP
@EPPGroup
now need a coherent plan to put Europe at the forefront of the post-virus economic bounce back. This means Eurozone reform. Latest here
My full support goes to
#IwantWorkLifeBalance
to promote better work-life reconciliation, leave opportunities to care for family members & appropriate protection. It benefits families' work-life balance & EU economies in the short &long term.
#SocialRights
#SocialEurope
Ireland has no plan for the Eurozone except to say 'no' to every corporate tax/digital tax proposal. Yet, the Chief Economist in the ECB, the chair of the Eurogroup and the new Commissioner for Financial Services are all Irish. The modern EU in a nutshell.
.....caught in a bind between its obligations to the EU and Dublin’s desire to maintain the common travel area with the UK and a borderless Ireland. It is not guaranteed that all these issues can be successfully resolved in the long run given UK govs approach to Northern Ireland
Good to know that it will be all the pesky non-Irish hightailing it on their global travels - and not 40k GAA fans mingling with little protective measures - that will drive Irish Covid cases in the weeks to come!
It was a pleasure joining
@AJArabic
Al Jazeera to discuss the economic impacts of the Ukraine war on Europe and Africa. From energy to agriculture, the coming months (and possibly years) will strain the EU's system of economic governance and challenge existing norms
Brexit is like being in college in the late 1990s and eating spaghetti bolognese so many times that its now impossible to bear the thought, smell or taste of it. Not even cheese can save it.
The perfect counterpoint to Brexit Britain - Irish Minister
@CharlieFlanagan
@FineGael
@FineGaelBrux
welcoming 2,000 new Irish citizens "You are welcome, you are Irish, and you are also a person who comes with the richness of another culture which we look forward to sharing.”
Unsustainable then. Unsustainable now. Ireland is following a Californian model (there the median house price is900k) where economic success is matched by unprecedented levels of social inequality. At some point even the politicians might understand
The EU has succumbed to the panic of the coronavirus, to the inherent disarray of lockdowns and soaring unemployment. It has locked itself in to unattainable policy initiatives as drivers of economic recovery. My latest in
@POLITICOEurope
While the rest of Europe builds metros, digitises their economies and makes meaningful attempts to offset climate change, Ireland is still figuring out how to build houses that don’t cost a million quid.
Just to put the dreams of all Sinn Fein “economists” in context. In Belgium we have excellent healthcare, education, public transport and pre-after schoolcare. I pay average of 50 per cent tax on EVERY euro I earn. Water, house tax and VAT In addition.
Happy to provide comment to the
@FT
on Ireland's inexorable shift towards "supporting" global corporate tax reform. As ever in Ireland, pragmatism wins out and there really are bigger problems ahead for Ireland
For those of us who love trains (even the morning commute) - isn't it incredible how the public mood in Europe is so unconcerned about high-speed rail? My latest blog here:
To tackle climate change Europe needs to embrace high-speed rail | Martens Centre
At the Irish border with
@HSSde
Unfortunately there is no easy solution to this British Tory party brexit mess. Only Ireland picking up the pieces again
Mortifying for Irish people. That the outgoing Italian ambassador to Ireland organises an event highlighting the urgent need to invest in Dublin's public transport infrastructure says a lot about Irish attitudes to capital investment.
in Ireland the state has abdicated responsibility for many important health and education issues. All the subsequent “charity fundraising” doesn’t mean Irish people are more empathetic, it just means that in most other states, the gov provides these services as a public good
My latest with
@IrishTimes
-Rolling out massive public spending to prevent economic collapse is the easy part. The hard part for European politicians is about to begin. That's why it's the politics, not the pandemic, which risks killing Europe.
@MartensCentre
@EPP
@EPPGroup
…And that the projects that could make a real difference to Ireland’s attractiveness for business-transformative public transport, foreign language teaching in primary school, more public housing - all remain unfulfilled
Younger women have higher educational attainment than men, but a worse labour market position in later life. There are still real "motherhood penalties" We have a long way to go
@EPP_IE
@EPP
@EPPGroup
@mariannethyssen
forthcoming
@MartensCentre
research will give policy guidance