The Irish Independent's View: TDs take a break but big challenges await when they return to Dáil
But if government TDs had been hoping to get out through the gap and into the wide blue yonder without too much fuss, they had another thing coming. No amount of factor 50 would have saved them from the scorching that the opposition had prepared.
They were accused of being 'epic wasters' by Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. The Coalition splashed the cash to buy votes last year, but now is saying once-off payments are a bad idea. She claimed public spending is up 50pc in a few short years.
Ireland has, she said, 'a housing crisis, record homelessness, threadbare disability services, a cost-of-living crisis and energy and water infrastructure that is crumbling'.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín also said people around the country will look to mark the Government's 'report card' on the Dáil's last day. The 10,000 homes promised by the Government 'never materialised', he said, adding that the only thing that is more affordable at the moment is cocaine.
'Criminals are doing a better job in creating a functional market for an illegal drug than you are in terms of housing,' Mr Tóibín said.
We will get through this one too
Tánaiste Simon Harris hit back, saying the county has reached record levels of employment and an economy that's running budget surpluses. But speaking on RTÉ, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it was important to be honest. The impact on job creation and levels of employment within the economy would be worse if Donald Trump imposes 30pc tariffs.
'This is a big challenge, we need to have a moment of recognition of that, but we have faced challenges before and we will get through this one too,' he said.
Mr Donohoe has had to maintain a fine line between being upbeat or unduly pessimistic, but he is right to remind us that we have come through adversity before and emerged the stronger.
All indicators suggest that by the time the Dáil recess ends, we may once again be facing a tough road ahead. But as pointed out by Pythagoras – the man who developed the theory of proportions – 'in this theatre of man's life, it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers-on'.
However, coping with Mr Trump's capriciousness would tax the energies of Hercules. He even managed to take the fizz out of the world's most famous brand, Coca-Cola, with his announcement that it was going to sweeten its signature drink with cane sugar in the US. Caught on the hop, a statement said it 'appreciated Mr Trump's enthusiasm' and that 'more details will follow'.
But – just like governments around the world – the soft-drinks firm was clearly clueless, trying to put a brave face on it, pondering if it is 'the real thing'.
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This letter stated that: 'There was a miscarriage of justice in the case of Gerard Conlon and all of the Guildford Four…' The then prime minister goes on to acknowledge 'the trauma that the conviction caused the Conlon and Maguire families and the stigma which wrongly attaches to them to this day' and unreservedly apologises when he says 'I am very sorry that they were subject to such an ordeal and injustice. That is why I'm making this apology: they deserve to be publicly and completely exonerated.' While it came 16 years after our release, Mr Blair's apology meant a great deal to me and my family and many others. I hope this is what will be remembered and not some internal correspondence which suggests a government nervous about making such a public apology. – Yours ,etc. PADDY ARMSTRONG, (Guildford Four) Clontarf, Dublin 3. Women's GAA and referees Sir, – Having watched many of the games in the women's championship this year it's impossible not to pull your hair out at the constant referees' decisions on what is a foul. If a player breathes on an opposition player the referee blows the whistle. While we all acknowledge the contribution referees make to our Gaelic games it seems they are instructed not to allow any tackling at all in the women's game. If the same was applied to the men's game, the games would be a farce. I watched the women's semi-finals and it was infuriating to see the constant stoppages for what were perceived to be fouls. I hope the final between Meath and Dublin will not be marred by these constant stoppages for innocuous 'fouls'; where even the advantage rule is not applied. It's ruining the women's game and you can see the frustration among the players. It's a great competition. 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The housing crisis Sir, – The article by John McManus (' We need to face reality that housing cannot be solved, ' July 23rd) sets out the issue central to the so-called housing crisis faced by the Government. The population of this country is racing ahead of any possibility of either the private or public sectors building enough units to house all over the coming decade. He goes on to suggest that official estimates of the population are 'wildly underestimated' at 5.45 million in 2023. With the brokers Davy expecting the population to hit some 5.9 million by 2030, the task of meeting the demand for accommodation ( estimated by Davy at 120,000 units per annum) is entirely beyond us. It's time the Government came clean with the reality of the challenge being faced and accepted that housing production cannot keep pace with population growth. The only alternative is to control migration, thus cooling the housing market. In that regard it may well be that the Trump tariffs will actually do us a favour through us being forced to press the pause button on foreign direct investment (FDI) and the obsession with jobs growth. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL GILMARTIN, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Pearl clutchers Sir, – To say, as Stephen Wall does (Letters, July 24th), that the new 22-storey College Square tower on Tara Street has a 'catastrophic impact on the historic urban landscape' seems pearl-clutching in the extreme. The tower is more of a harbinger of a future Dublin when its current detractors (and supporters) will have left the stage. The edifice is tall, imposing, majestic even. Please can we have more of this type of thing? – Yours, etc, BRIAN AHERN, Clonsilla, Dublin.
