Sunday Independent Stupid Statement of the Week

Utter banality is the order of the day, but a few things worth noting. Among them is Shane Ross’s outrage at middle class people suffering bad economic times. I don’t need to tell you who wrote the following.

WHY am I not writing about the 100th anniversary of the Ulster Covenant? Because nothing turns off readers in the Republic like Northern Ireland. Likewise, Nordies care little about the doings of the Dail. Last week I felt the same.

That’s because I believe the main policy of the four major parties — and RTE — is to find “distractors” to divert public attention from the core problem of Irish politics: how to cut the huge public sector pay and pensions bill. That heavy health pay bill is the principal cause of the continuing crisis in the health service. And it resulted, however indirectly, in Roisin Shortall’s resignation.

A spectre is haunting the Sindo. The spectre of Ray McSharry

As to calls for the introduction of a wealth tax, I would say: What wealth?

I do not believe that there is substantial untapped wealth in this country which is untouched by taxation; some maybe, but not substantial when you take family homes into account or land assets for the farming industry.

Some things never change.

Or do they? Jody Corcoran is calling for the Labour Party to reclaim the red flag.

This from Declan Lynch about the closure of RTÉ’s London office made me want to puke.

So there is an ideological dimension to these cuts — arguably the promotion of the Irish language is now the core ideology of RTE, the one thing that is unchallenged and undiminished.

As I’m sure Eoghan Harris can tell us, this claim is stupid beyond all belief.