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Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘I have tried to be honest and frank including mistakes and regrets as well as triumphs' – Leo Varadkar set to publish memoir this September
He signed a six-figure book deal with Sandycove, an imprint of the publisher Penguin, last year following a bidding war for the rights to his autobiography that involved nine publishers. The former leader of Fine Gael, who resigned as both taoiseach and party leader in a shock announcement last April, said he has 'tried to be honest and frank' in his account. The book, which is titled Speaking My Mind, will be released on September 11. 'I served in government at one of the most interesting periods in history - the aftermath of the economic crash, Brexit, transformative referendums and the pandemic,' he said, sharing the cover of the book to social media earlier today. "The book is both personal and political and I hope it will give the reader new insights into that time. I have tried to be honest and frank including mistakes and regrets as well as triumphs.' Mr Varadkar was awarded the title of 'Hauser Leader' at Harvard University's Kennedy School's Centre for Public Leadership earlier this year, where he is currently guest lecturing. In a statement released by his publisher when he signed with them last year, Mr Varadkar said: 'I am really enjoying writing my story and I was keen to do so while it was still fresh in my head. It's as much a personal memoir as it is a book about political history. "There is so much people know already about my time at the top but there is almost as much that they don't. I have the freedom now to say things I could not while holding office and I have enough distance to reflect on the mistakes I made as much as what was achieved.' The former Fine Gael leader was elected to the Dáil in Dublin West in 2007 at the age of 28. He contested the party leadership election following the resignation of Enda Kenny in 2017 and was elected taoiseach that year at the age of 38. Mr Varadkar is one of a number of former taoisigh to publish his memoirs, including Brian Cowen and the late Albert Reynolds. In 2008, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern agreed a €400,000-plus publishing deal with Cornerstone Publishing, a subsidiary company of US publishers Random House.
Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: A gamble on the long game with China
It is a truism in the West that one of the national characteristics of the Chinese peoples is an abiding interest in the influence of luck on everyday lives. Destinies can be decided by the zodiac calendar; relations governed by computations of the personality and compatibility of 12 animal signs; decisions delayed because dates are inauspicious. Gambling is hugely popular and the games — Pai gow, or mahjong for example — can appear fiendishly complicated to untutored eyes. It is nearly 12 months since Mr He Xiangdong, China's ambassador to Ireland, took a sponsored page in the Irish Examiner to reflect on 45 years of diplomatic ties between China and Ireland. While he pressed all the normal cultural buttons — namechecking the GAA, Yeats, Joyce, Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Riverdance and Westlife — it was the burgeoning business relationship which formed the bedrock of his observations. In the 13 years since the then Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited Beijing to establish the 'Strategic Partnership for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation' China has become the world's second largest economy. Trade between the two countries in 2023 was estimated at just under €20bn, 4,200 times the level that existed in 1979. Irish exports have surged fivefold since that Enda Kenny visit, making the Republic one of four EU countries to maintain a trade surplus. Chinese investments in Ireland are around €10bn supporting thousands of jobs. Nearly 50,000 Chinese citizens study, work, and live here. Because this is now a major relationship, it is incumbent upon us to maintain a clear view about what China is attempting to achieve internationally and its potential consequences for us, and for our European partners. While we are reaping economic bounty, matters are much more complicated when we consider the new world order. The Chinese ambassador was keen to stress the importance of international law within a system centred on the United Nations. But this is difficult to reconcile with China's attitude towards the invasion of Ukraine and its steadfast help, alongside North Korea and Iran, for Vladimir Putin. On important occasions China's leader Xi Jinping has made supportive public statements and symbolic appearances alongside the Russian leader. The most recent of these was on Russia's VE Day at a time that European and American pressure was mounting for a ceasefire and negotiations to deliver a settlement. China has actively assisted Moscow to evade financial and economic sanctions. This matters because what happens with Ukraine, and the reaction of our faltering democracies to it, will establish the playbook by which the future conflict over Taiwan will be enacted if, and when, the People's Republic makes its move. In recreating another economic dependency, we risk making the same fatal error that handicapped us in 2014 when Crimea was annexed. On that occasion it was Europe's appetite for gas and oil which clouded judgements and heightened desire for shabby compromise. This time it is Chinese technology and innovation which is establishing itself in all our markets. The AI start-up DeepSeek, and the technology and EV giants Huawei and BYD are well-known global players. It is the leading nation for electric vehicles, solar panels and drones and is driving to the front in the robotics industry. But even more significant is the grip that China has on the supply and processing capacity for rare earth minerals which are the key component of tomorrow's industries and without which the chances of meeting net zero climate targets are precisely zero. China controls 69% of rare earth production and over 90% of global processing capacity. Part of its response to the Trump tariffs was to place new export controls on rare earth elements. This leverage is not down to luck despite Chinese belief in the importance of providence. It is a matter of calculation and strategy. Beijing is playing the long game. Europe and Ireland must not be gulled. It would be strange indeed to protest so volubly over Palestine and then at some stage in the future allow Taiwan to be taken over on the nod. Cork celebration of Rory Gallagher It may never be as big as Graceland but it is entirely appropriate that Ireland, and Cork in particular, should do more to celebrate the memory of Rory Gallagher, the guitar legend who sold 30m albums and influenced a generation of musicians. This summer is the 30th anniversary of his untimely death at the age of 47 when he contracted what was then a little-known infection — MRSA — three months after a liver transplant in Kings College Hospital, London. Cork Rocks for Rory will see photographic and original memorabilia exhibitions this June, as well as a city-wide walking trail that will commemorate the life and legacy of the blues and rock Fin Costello/Redferns Now his estate, working with Cork City Council and Cork City Libraries, is planning a series of events and activities as a rolling tribute to the man that the Lord Mayor, Dan Boyle, describes as Cork's 'finest cultural export across the world'. Cork Rocks for Rory will see photographic and original memorabilia exhibitions this June, as well as a city-wide walking trail that will commemorate the life and legacy of the blues and rock icon. Events taking place from June 14 include a display of Gallagher's first guitar. Exhibitions will include first recordings; never-before-seen images of the musician; a display of some of Gallagher's handwritten lyrics; selections from his personal vinyl and book collections, and a display of tour memorabilia, instruments, and amps. One of Gallagher's best known tracks was 'A Million Miles Away.' We can remember this summer that this is how far recognition of his talent and contribution has spread. Who is going to have the last word? There are very few people in this world who are more far-sighted than the Canadian Margaret Atwood whose coruscating observations of what has happened to Western society will be compulsory reading for the next century. Atwood, author of more than 70 books of prose and poetry, has won two Booker prizes and is feted for the insights provided in her landmark dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, and her portrayal of a world changed irrevocably by genetics, eco-terrorism, and technology, the compelling Oryx and Crake trilogy. She is famous for asserting that her plotlines are drawn from events which have taken place, or are possible within the current state of human knowledge and experience. So when, at the age of 85, she says that she cannot remember another point in her life 'when words themselves have felt under such threat' we should sit up and pay attention. In an acceptance speech for a 'freedom to publish prize' at the British Book Awards, she observed that political and religious polarisation, once on the wane, has increased alarmingly in the past decade. 'The world feels to me more like the 1930s and 40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years,' she said. The award for the book of the year went to Patriot by Alexei Navalny, the opponent of Vladimir Putin who was poisoned and died in an Arctic prison, or 'corrective colony', where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Margaret Atwood. Atwood commented tartly that she had never been imprisoned, although she may have to 'revise that statistic if I attempt to cross into the United States in the near future'. Authors and original thinkers have, perhaps, a more compelling case to be listened to than, say, the Belfast rappers Kneecap, who have been most recently drawn into controversy over artistic freedoms. Those with experience can often take advantage of their fame and knowledge to provide acute commentary and warning. The Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn may not be as well-read as he was when he won the Nobel Prize for The Gulag Archipelago, his devastating insight into Soviet Russia. But the predictions he provided in a series of lecture tours in 1975 and 1976 resonate alongside Atwood's critique. He thought that Europe, the US, and Britain were veering towards moral and spiritual bankruptcy. With it would disappear the world's one hope against tyranny and totalitarianism. Solzhenitsyn's Warning to the West is still available online. It repays the reading.
Irish Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Enda Kenny's life and times offer five lessons for today's politicians
For the first time in a long time, the smiley Mayo head of Enda Kenny adorned the front page of Thursday's The Irish Times, as the former taoiseach received what is surely an overdue honorary doctorate from DCU. Kenny, a youthful 74, looks like a man who is enjoying a good retirement. It's fair to say he earned it – a TD for 45 years, twice taoiseach, he was Fine Gael 's most successful-ever leader and led one of the most consequential governments in the country's history. Here are five lessons for politics and politicians from the life and times of Enda. 1: Stick at it Kenny's rise through the ranks was hardly meteoric. Elected a TD in a 1975 byelection caused by the death of his father, he became a junior minister after 11 years in the Dáil and a cabinet minister after 20. He ran for the leadership of his party unsuccessfully in 2001. It was only after Fine Gael was massacred at the 2002 election that Kenny finally secured the top job. With Bertie Ahern in his pomp, leading Fine Gael was a daunting task. But Kenny slaved away and rebuilt the party, leading it to the brink of power eight years later in the wake of the financial crash. He still had to withstand a challenge to his leadership from within the party, in 2010, just months before he would win the general election (an episode that demonstrated Fine Gael's then entertaining habit of trying to knife its own leader). Kenny beat off the challenge – testament to his grit, resilience and general bouncebackability. They're vital qualities for any would-be leader. 2: Get the right people Kenny was able to beat back the 2010 challenge largely due to the help of Phil Hogan , his enforcer in the party. Hogan would later be Kenny's nominee as European Commissioner, a gig regarded as probably the biggest plum in the political orchard. Reconstituting his front bench afterwards, Kenny brought back as finance spokesman the former party leader Michael Noonan , who would go on to play an indispensable role in the Fine Gael-Labour government. Kenny also resisted the temptation to exile the plotters, and so Richard Bruton, Leo Varadkar, Lucinda Creighton, Brian Hayes and Simon Coveney would all go on to play roles in government. Kenny surrounded himself with a group of able, hardworking and completely loyal staff and advisers – Andrew McDowell, Ciaran Conlon, Feargal Purcell, Mark Kenneally, Mark Mortell and others – who were central to his achievements. [ Enda Kenny to get special recognition gong at EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards Opens in new window ] 3: And get on with them Kenny is a nice man – and most people who meet him like him. That doesn't mean he isn't tough – you have to be tough to be taoiseach – but he made an effort to get on with people. In private, Kenny's staff at all levels speak warmly of him, even when they are acknowledging his mistakes or political failings. They like him. Even when the 2011-16 government, amid the depths of the bailout, was under the most extreme pressure as it implemented the Troika-mandated austerity programme, Kenny kept relations with his Labour counterpart Eamon Gilmore mostly on an even keel and kept a sense of coherence in his cabinet. He is by nature gregarious, but he had to work at leadership, too. READ MORE 4: Beware the easy option Most political decisions are not straightforward choices between the good option and the bad. Rather, they are choices between which is the lesser of two evils. In 2011, Kenny faced the question of whether Ireland should default on the gargantuan debts the banks had run up and which had been transferred to the State. Default was the option favoured by many politicians contemplating the alternative of years of austerity to fix the public finances. Gerry Adams said he would tell the IMF to go home and take their money with them. The Sunday Independent found itself in rare agreement with Adams: 'Default! Say the People!' shouted one front page. Some economists thought the debts were so huge that Ireland would end up defaulting anyway and might as well get it over with. Repaying the bailout was certainly painful and there are very legitimate arguments about how the burden was spread across society in tax increases, cuts to public spending and pay cuts. But on its own terms at least, the approach worked – as the public finances were fixed, the economy bounced back with astonishing vigour. Defaulting would have shut Ireland out from the bond markets, meaning that the gap between what Ireland was raising in taxes and spending on running the State would have needed to be closed overnight. That would have required adjustments of about one third of the total government budget, or €19 billion. But yeah, default, say the people. Kenny and his government did the wise and difficult thing. It turned out to be unpopular. But does anyone seriously now believe we should have defaulted in 2011? 5: Don't expect to be thanked Of course, the years of austerity were tough – and many of the measures were enormously unpopular. Fine Gael unwisely asked people to 'keep the recovery going' in the 2016 election, when many people weren't feeling any recovery at all – and got monstered by voters. Labour dumped its leader in a panic in 2014 but still lost nearly all its seats in 2016, and spent the next political cycle apologising in opposition for what it did in government. That did not turn out to be a wise tactic either. [ 'I have the freedom now to say things I could not while holding office': Leo Varadkar pens autobiography Opens in new window ] However you look at it, the Fine Gael-Labour government – albeit at great social and economic cost – restored the country's fortunes. That looked unlikely in 2011. Maybe virtue is its own reward. So the final lesson from Enda? Even when you get things right, don't expect to be thanked.
BreakingNews.ie
30-04-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Tax Appeals Commission received €417m quantum in appeals for two weeks of 2025
The Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) has received 15 tax appeals with a combined estimated quantum of €417 million in the first two weeks of 2025 - more than double the entire estimated quantum of €207 million in appeals received for 2024. Figures published in the 2024 TAC annual report show that the estimated €417 million in appeals is also €34 million more than the entire €383m quantum in appeals on hand at the end of 2024 at the TAC. Advertisement The surge in appeals during the first two weeks of the year has resulted in the Commission revising its 2025 targets, estimating now that there will be a €750 million quantum in appeals on hand at the end of this year. The figures show that the largest proportion of new appeals last year concerned disputed corporation tax at an estimated €94 million. The €383 million quantum in appeals on hand at the end of 2024 is down sharply from the €1.7 billion on hand at the end of 2021. The figures show that last year, the TAC closed out appeals valued at €355 million. Advertisement In a breakdown of the €355 million in appeals closed out, the figures show that €193 million of the cases were settled while €122 million in appeals were withdrawn by appellants. During 2024, the TAC issued 180 determinations concerning a quantum of €34 million. Of the €355 million closed out appeals, €193 million of the appeals concerned corporation tax. During 2024, 280 hearings affecting 507 appeals with a total quantum of €390m were scheduled over 456 days. The duration of the hearings ranged from a half day to three weeks. Advertisement In her report, chairperson, Marie-Claire Maney said that 'for the sixth year running the Commission closed more appeals than it received, reducing the number of appeals on hand from 1,141 to 711, notably a 38 per cent decrease'. She said: 'This marks the lowest number of appeals on hand since the establishment of the Commission. The appeals determined and closed have released back to the Exchequer or the economy €355 million in 2024.' Ireland Ireland will 'weather this storm', says Enda Kenny... Read More She added: 'The increasing complexity of the legal issues in appeals is a continued trend in 2024, with the impact of European Treaties and Directives to the fore.' During 2024 the Appeal Commissioners signed 11 cases stated to enable determinations to be appealed to the High Court. Of the 11 cases stated issued, eight were requested by appellants and three by the Revenue Commissioners. The report states that despite a request for a case stated, not all cases stated proceed to a hearing before the High Court due to settlement between the parties before or after filing of the case stated or a change in the decision of the party requesting the case stated to proceed to the High Court.
BreakingNews.ie
30-04-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Ireland will ‘weather this storm', says Enda Kenny amid US tariff fears
Younger generations should not 'be afraid' of economic uncertainty facing Europe due to US tariffs, former taoiseach Enda Kenny has said as he predicted Ireland will 'weather this storm'. Mr Kenny, a former leader of Fine Gael, made the remarks after being awarded an honorary doctorate by Dublin City University (DCU) on Wednesday. Advertisement The doctor of philosophy (honoris causa) is the highest award DCU can bestow. Mr Kenny became taoiseach in 2011, following the economic crash of late 2008 and the subsequent bailout and austerity measures which saw support for Fianna Fáil collapse. He held the role until 2017 and was credited at the DCU ceremony for taking a leading role in decisions which led to a faster-than-expected recovery from the economic hardship. The EU is currently attempting to negotiate with the US during a 90-day suspension of sweeping 20% tariffs imposed on exports from the bloc by President Donald Trump. Advertisement A lower 'baseline' 10% tariff remains in place. Enda Kenny arrives at Dublin City University (Brian Lawless/PA) Mr Trump's tariff regime has prompted significant concern over jobs, future investment and growth in Ireland. Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Mr Kenny said: 'The Government here have taken a very clear line on this – and Ireland will weather this storm. I have no doubt. 'Because if we're good at anything, it is about relationships with others. We are a member, and a central member, of the European Union, and clearly the geopolitics has now changed, and Europe will strengthen its position across all sectors. Advertisement 'While there are serious challenges here now, there are also immense opportunities. So for the young generation, I would say: Don't be afraid of this, because in previous times, previous generations faced with what were seemingly overwhelming problems – and yet you come through that. 'You moved from a position back in 2011 of being practically junk status to within a decade becoming one of the wealthiest countries in the world. US President Donald Trump and Enda Kenny in the Oval Office in 2017 (Niall Carson/PA) 'So you now face challenges of that nature – of a first world country. 'While the politics have certainly changed dramatically, Ireland as an entity, as a country and as a member of the European Union I have no doubt will look at the challenges that we face and make the right decisions in the interests of our people, the people of the European Union, and in our part that we have to play as a global player.' Advertisement Asked what advice he would give to the current Government based on his own previous interactions with Mr Trump, Mr Kenny said: 'I met President Trump in the Oval Office in 2017 and I reminded him that the waters that divide us were the waters that brought the Irish to freedom economically, and the Africans to slavery – and that [Saint] Patrick was an immigrant.' He noted some of America's leading companies are made up of people who were immigrants into the US, and added: 'Obviously, this president is very different, but his decisions are part of what the American people voted for – but maybe not to that extent. 'But in any event, you know Ireland as a political country, as part of the European Union, will play its part in leading into the future – and whatever that future holds, and whatever its challenges, you've got to meet them and make arrangements with the best interest of your people.' Former taoiseach Enda Kenny speaking at the graduation ceremony (Brian Lawless/PA) Meanwhile, Mr Kenny reiterated he has 'no intention whatsoever' of contesting the upcoming Irish presidential election. Advertisement 'I always enjoyed visiting Aras an Uachtarain – I never had an intention of seeking to become a tenant there. 'That requires a very particular personality, and for me, who had the privilege and the honour of being taoiseach twice, I would have no intention whatsoever of competing for the presidency.' Speaking at the conferring ceremony on Wednesday, DCU president Professor Daire Keogh said: 'Enda Kenny displayed steadfast leadership during a time of national economic crisis. 'Under his government, Ireland exited the bailout programme ahead of schedule and saw a strong economic rebound, while avoiding the social unrest seen in other European countries at that time. 'As a statesman, his keen diplomatic skills succeeded in gathering the strong support of our EU partners for Ireland's position during the Brexit negotiations, notably gaining consensus that a hard border in Ireland would threaten peace. This stance had a lasting impact, protecting Irish interests well beyond his term.'
