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Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
McAleese was ‘extremely generous' with time she gave to British, newly released UK papers show
Former president Mary McAleese was highly regarded for her political analysis and 'extremely generous' with her time to the British, newly released UK state files have shown. The former British ambassador to Ireland, Ivor Roberts, wrote a glowing report about a meeting with McAleese in 2001 where he described her as being 'at her frank and engaging best'. 'She does not shrink from political or religious engagement in private and occasionally in public too, in a way which occasionally lands her in trouble,' he wrote. 'She has, however, captured the affection of the Irish people which makes her fairly fireproof here and her warmth and bravery are widely (and rightly) admired. I've always found her an exceptionally good analyst of the political scene North and South and I hope to continue to draw on her experience. She is also extremely generous with her time.' READ MORE During the two-hour breakfast meeting, the president criticised the then Labour leader Ruairí Quinn, with Mr Roberts reporting that he had an 'absolute disaster' on The Late Late Show in a debate with Gerry Adams . 'He had failed to land a single punch on Adams and had come over in an unsympathetic and uncharismatic way, in marked contrast to the Sinn Féin President, who had attracted round after round of applause,' wrote Mr Roberts. She said that Mr Quinn had gifted Sinn Féin a seat in north Kerry, unless Dick Spring stood. 'McAleese said that she was in despair at the way that Adams had got off scot free at Quinn's hands.' When she questioned her children about their view of the debate afterwards, Mr Adams's only 'false note' was the mention of a socialist state. 'She had found herself, in frustration, shouting questions at the television which Quinn should have been putting to Adams,' wrote Mr Roberts. There was also a discussion of a State visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland, which Ms McAleese said would be warmly received. It would be another 10 years before the queen would visit Ireland. 'Beneath the antagonism to the British monarchy, the reality was that there was a keen interest in and affection for the monarchy which would be brought out during a state visit as had been shown in the enthusiastic reception of Prince Andrew at Kinsale a few weeks ago,' Mr Roberts reported her as saying.
Irish Times
19-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Mairead McGuinness leads in presidential election poll but public imagination yet to be caught
Fine Gael 's Mairead McGuinness leads the field in a list of potential presidential election candidates, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll, though the results show nobody has yet caught the public imagination. Asked who they would probably vote for in the presidential election, 14 per cent of respondents named Ms McGuinness, who secured her party's nomination this week after emerging as the only potential candidate. The two most popular choices in the poll were 'none of the names so far appeal to me' on 18 per cent, and 'not sure' on 20 per cent. Ms McGuinness is followed by Independent TD Catherine Connolly , who announced her campaign this week, on 9 per cent, and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald on 8 per cent. Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is on 5 per cent, while Taoiseach Micheál Martin was nominated by 4 per cent of respondents. Fianna Fáil is yet to put forward a candidate. Other potential candidates – including Conor McGregor, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, Éamon Ó Cuív, Fintan O'Toole, Frances Black, Gerry Adams, Mary Hanafin, Michelle O'Neill, Mike Ryan and Peter Casey – registered at between 1 and 3 per cent. A number of other potential candidates – including Declan Ganley, Peter Power, Seán Gallagher and Tom Clonan – all registered less than 1 per cent. [ Irish presidency poll reveals just how tuned out of the process people are ] [ Who is Mairead McGuinness, the early front-runner in the presidential race? Opens in new window ] Voters are almost evenly divided on whether they would like the next president to be a current or former politician, or someone from a non-political background. Among those who expressed a view, 43 per cent said they would prefer a politician, with 41 per cent saying they would like a non-politician. Six months after the Government was formed, voters were also asked about how they thought Ministers were performing. The top performer was Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe , with almost half of voters (48 per cent) saying he was doing a 'good job'. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) said he was doing a poor job, with a similar number stating they were 'not sure'. Mr Donohoe's numbers give him a 'net positive' rating of 22 points, putting him far ahead of most of his colleagues. The poll also asked voters their choices for the next leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. Mr Donohoe was the clear favourite to succeed Simon Harris as Fine Gael leader, with 29 per cent of all voters favouring him, ahead of 12 per cent for Helen McEntee and 8 per cent for Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Among Fine Gael voters, 50 per cent nominate Mr Donohoe as their choice. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan is the favourite choice of all voters to be the next leader of Fianna Fáil (16 per cent), narrowly ahead of Jack Chambers and Darragh O'Brien. Almost a third (32 per cent) of Fianna Fáil voters prefer Mr O'Callaghan. Pearse Doherty is regarded as the clear front-runner to be the next Sinn Féin leader, with the backing of 28 per cent of all voters, and 42 per cent among Sinn Féin voters. The worst performer in the poll was Minister for Housing James Browne , whom 59 per cent of voters said was doing a poor job and has a net negative rating of 44 points. Neither the Taoiseach nor the Tánaiste were included in the ministerial ratings, as their satisfaction ratings were recorded elsewhere in the poll , reported last Thursday. The poll was conducted among a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and upwards across 120 sampling points throughout all constituencies. The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A series is conducted through face-to-face sampling; personal in-home interviewing took place on July 14th and 15th. The number of interviews conducted was 1,200. The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.
Irish Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
State divests holdings in Israeli bonds, says Paschal Donohoe
The State has divested its holdings in Israeli bonds 'in the past number of weeks', Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has confirmed. He said the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (Isif) had €3.62 million invested in Israeli sovereign debt last year and 'escalating geopolitical tensions and conflict' in the Middle East posed an 'increased risk to assets with economic exposure to the region. 'And Isif's view is that following the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict in June of 2025, the current situation carried materially greater risk.' It determined 'the risk profile of a number of sovereign bond holdings in the region were no longer within its investment parameters. READ MORE [ Some of Iran's enriched uranium survived attacks, Israeli official says Opens in new window ] 'And following this determination, Isif divested its holdings, a sovereign debt issued by Jordan, Egypt and Israel.' The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) manages the fund which makes commercial investments for the benefit of the Irish economy. Speaking during finance questions in the Dáil late on Tuesday night Mr Donohoe said 'ISIF has complete independence in implementing its investment strategy' through an investment committee reporting to the NTMA's Board. Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said it was 'absolutely outrageous' that Isif invested in Israeli war bonds. He asked the Minister if he knew that 'Irish taxpayers' money was funding a genocide'. Mr Doherty said 'Israel doesn't hide behind this. They do not blush about this. They sell these bonds and advertise these bonds as 'support the war effort'. But we all know that it's not a war. We know it's genocide,' and 'it appears the investment increased during 2024, when it was at full tilt'. [ Gaza: More than 700 killed by Israeli army while collecting water since war began, say authorities Opens in new window ] The Minister replied that 'the key point to emphasise is that Isif made the decision to divest of these bonds, they're no longer hold them, and I understand this decision was made over the last number of weeks'. Mr Doherty said the State invested money 'and you can't wash your hands of this. You're the bloody Minister for Finance, and an organisation that falls under the remit of the department is investing in genocide, no ifs, no buts, no maybes.' Mr Donohoe said 'Isif independently decides what shares they are going to hold, what investments they're going to make, and they do so in a way that is completely independent of me'. He wanted to 'thoroughly refute any suggestion of complicity in the appalling violence that has been inflicted upon the people of Israel. I want to again make clear, my condemnation of what is happening, as the Government already has on many different occasions'. Mr Donohoe said 'these bonds are no longer owned by ISIF and they were sold'. Independent TD Catherine Connolly said she had received a parliamentary reply that Isif had €2.62 million in 2023 and 'as the genocide continued, worsened, this State invests more money in the bonds'. Mr Donohoe said 'I do not play a role in determining the investment decisions that Isif make'. These decisions are made 'independently of me', he said.
