Why is there a €26 billion hole in the public finances and how do we fix it?

7th December 2006. Budget day. Brian Cowen, then Minister for Finance stands up in the Dáil and declares "The public finances have never been in better shape." We had a budget surplus of 2.3% of GDP and everything was rosy in the garden. What the hell went wrong?

The Victim Culture - What "Henrygate" tells us about the national psyche

It's the incident that's got the nation talking. And talking. And talking. It's gotten to the stage now where if I hear another word about Thierry Henry I'm going to slap the offender across the face. Twice. Because if I'm going to lose my cool, I'm not going to lose my sense of irony.