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"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation." Edmund Burke
The new figures from @EU_Eurostat on government accounts show Ireland's defence spending was unchanged between 2021 and 2024. Given cumulative inflation of 25% over that time budget was actually down by a quarter.
Compare defence budgets of other small EU countries.
* All have increased in real terms.
* All spent more than Ireland in 2024, including the much smaller and less prosperous Baltics.
* Neutral Austria spent four times more than Ireland in 2024.
* Finland, with a near identical population spent five times more, €4.3bn.
Increasingly it appears as if the Irish state does not have the capacity for change when it comes to many things, including its first duty to its citizens of providing for their security.
The new figures from @EU_Eurostat on government accounts show Ireland's defence spending was unchanged between 2021 and 2024. Given cumulative inflation of 25% over that time budget was actually down by a quarter.
Compare defence budgets of other small EU countries.
* All have increased in real terms.
* All spent more than Ireland in 2024, including the much smaller and less prosperous Baltics.
* Neutral Austria spent four times more than Ireland in 2024.
* Finland, with a near identical population spent five times more, €4.3bn.
Increasingly it appears as if the Irish state does not have the capacity for change when it comes to many things, including its first duty to its citizens of providing for their security.
⚠️Ireland continues to “languish” at the bottom of 🇪🇺 table for defence expenditure, despite much-heralded increases in budgets by the last two governments.
⚠️New figures show 🇮🇪 defence budget remains “stuck” at 0.2% of GDP, or 0.3% of GNP irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4183…
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Enjoying the wonderful Cedar Tree for the last time. The restaurant - Lebanese, one of the world’s great cuisines - is closing after four decades serving fantastic food. 🙏🏻
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
Fukuyama: That is part of what we see in today’s extreme right and extreme left. The world of 2026 is not comparable to 1930s Germany, yet many people still say things have never been worse. I think that reflects an unfulfilled desire for struggle and a grander vision of the future. 6X
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
Fukuyama: If people no longer have to struggle for democracy and equality because earlier generations already won those battles, they may start struggling against equality itself simply because they still want something to fight for. 5/
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
Fukuyama: But equal recognition is not enough for everyone. Some people want superior recognition — status, pride and the feeling that they are above others. A successful society needs ambition, but that same desire can also destabilize liberal democracy. 4/
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
Fukuyama: People are not always satisfied with peace and prosperity. They also want struggle, recognition and a sense of striving for something higher. That helps explain why extremist politics can grow even when society is not in crisis — Intelligence Squared. 2/
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Politics professor @AnMailleach writing on the most salient issues for voters in today's Sunday Indepenent.
As usual, just a handful of matters concern the Irish electorate. Issues that get lots of media/political attention, such as Gaza and united Ireland, barely register with people.
From today's Ireland Thinks poll
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This is well worth a listen. Whether Europe is dominated and dictated to in the 21st century will depend a great deal on how effectively it exercises its economic power vis a vis China.
🇨🇳🇪🇺Want a closer look at EU-China relations? Wondering what Brussels can do to level the playing field?
As I head to China, here’s my conversation with Soumaya Keynes on the FT’s The Economics Show 👇
ft.com/content/8e499c…
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As predicted, Budget largesse didn't move the electoral dial. Again.
Maybe government should try an actual tax cut next year. It's been more than two decades since a government has significantly cut personal taxes.
Then abolish USC in the pre-election budget. The evidence says that chunky tax cuts close to elections do affect outcomes.
Maybe government should try an actual tax cut next year. It's been more than two decades since a government has significantly cut personal taxes.
Then abolish USC in the pre-election budget. The evidence says that chunky tax cuts close to elections do affect outcomes.
POLL/POBALBHREITH: Dáil Éireann
SF: 22% (+1)
FF: 15% (+1)
FG: 15% (-3)
SD: 9% (-2)
INDIRL: 8% (+3)
AÚ: 8% (+1)
PBP: 4% (+1)
LP: 4%
GP: 3%
INDs & Others: 11% (-2)
Via Red C / Sunday Business Post
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
When Ireland joined Nato's Partnership for Peace a quarter of a century ago the neutrality fetishists claimed it amounted to the end of neutrality. It never arose in national discourse again. Exactly the same will happen in relation to the triple lock.
Former soldier Declan ndent.
Former soldier Declan ndent.
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John Banville on the role of artists in public discourse in today's Sunday Independent.
Has he been on RTE's late late show recently?
Has he been on RTE's late late show recently?
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Good analysis of Britain’s statist drift over the past decade.
2016 was the year that politics changed.
Brexit. Trump’s election. And George Osborne left the Treasury, and the Conservative Party deemed that deficit reduction no longer mattered, yet it was not so.
edrith.co.uk/p/the-2016-gam…
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
No one has ever been held to account for Robert McCartney's murder, but a new documentary shows that his sisters are still campaigning for justice 21 years later.
bbc.in/4z6O8Ay
bbc.in/4z6O8Ay
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The Biden administration threatened to shut Russia’s embassy in Washington if its hybrid warfare in Europe lead to casualties.
Well worth reading.
Well worth reading.
In my new piece for @TheAtlantic yesterday on Trump’s Russia - Ukraine negotiations I have a short section on how to deter Putin from escalating its shadow war against Europe. Three concrete ideas that may work— threaten to place air defense in western Ukraine, extend Ukraine’s ssia, and in the event of a mass casualty event in Europe, designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The last one we used successfully in 2024. All of these, if communicated privately, may given Putin pause. theatlantic.com/international/…
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Americans not only overwhelmingly support Ukraine over Russia, 70% now disapprove of tariffs. Good reason to believe that whoever is next president will tack back to policies voters actually want. US allies will benefit too.
What's NOT causing riots in France. A coda from today's The Currency column.
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Pessimism and even catastrophism have become the zeitgeist of the western world. As this article correctly says, the French has been ahead of the posse on the trend.
I've been in France since 2002 and have never seen the streets so violent nor the politics so extreme. From the sacking of the supermarket on my street to the prospect of Présidente Le Pen, here's me @FT including thoughts from 2 French Nobel laureates as.ft.com/r/addcad57-0f9…
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When Ireland joined Nato's Partnership for Peace a quarter of a century ago the neutrality fetishists claimed it amounted to the end of neutrality. It never arose in national discourse again. Exactly the same will happen in relation to the triple lock.
Former soldier Declan ndent.
Former soldier Declan ndent.
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
While Americans are facing lower gas prices this winter compared to last, European gas prices are now THREE times higher than a year ago.
While there was an overreaction to energy price movements after the US opened a Pandora's box in the Middle East in February, if anything on to what's happening now. To paraphrase a US Treasury secretary - 'Our war, your problem'.
While there was an overreaction to energy price movements after the US opened a Pandora's box in the Middle East in February, if anything on to what's happening now. To paraphrase a US Treasury secretary - 'Our war, your problem'.
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Dan O'Brien retweeted
What's NOT causing riots in France. A coda from today's The Currency column.
Discussed the myth of widespread Putin-admiration among MAGA supporters in today's @thecurrency column based on polling from last week. This week's poll shows even loss support for Russia V Ukraine in the US.
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