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Independentie

News [1]
Opinion [2]
Business [3]
Sport [4]
Life [5]
Style [7]
Entertainment [8]
Travel [9]

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Shane Ross

January 2019

Categorically, let me state here that neither Simon nor any other minister has ever proposed 'Border' checks to me. Our focus is entirely on getting the backstop and Withdrawal Agreement over the line. Photo: Michelle Devane/PA

Shane Ross: 'Checkpoints, a googly and Leinster House's lunatic fringe'

God bless Drew Harris, our independent Garda Commissioner. God bless Josephine Fehily, chairwoman of the Policing Authority. God bless Ireland's road victims groups. Credible voices of sanity emerged from last week's political madness about whether gardai should be enforcing the law.

December 2017

Birth of a new era: Luas Cross City opens for passengers, with Shane Ross, Leo Varadkar and Paschal Donohoe. Photo: Julien Behal Photography

My Luas celebration with quango queens and mandarins whom I once lampooned

Whose gig was it anyway? "Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan," according to an old English proverb.

September 2017

Optimism: Ireland’s Lindsay Peat being tackled by Annaelle Deshaye of France during the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which took place in Ireland last month. Photo: Sportsfile

Making a pitch for sporting - and economic - success

What has happened to Irish sport in recent years?

July 2016

FURORE: If Theresa May is elected prime minister, her government will be negotiating a deal without an ounce of conviction. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

In five years' time we will wonder just what all the fuss was about

Last Friday, just a week after Britain's Brexit 'disaster', the UK stock market had enjoyed its best week since 2011. Bond yields hit record lows. Boris Johnson, the big winner, had been fatally wounded. The favourite to succeed David Cameron at Number 10 was not the man entitled to the spoils of war but a loser, Remain supporter and Home Secretary Theresa May. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was fighting for his political life. His crime: only lukewarm support for the Remain side. An earthquake was taking place. Those who had won were losing. Those who had lost were winning.

May 2016

Baptism of fire: Titan of the Left Mick Barry Photo: Mark Condren

The sky hasn't fallen in yet but better cool my jets

Last Tuesday in the Dail chamber, I was baptised by Mick the Trot. As a minister, my first task was to respond to the adjournment debate on the Luas strike. Both Ruth Pottinger and Mick Barry, titans of the Left, were billed to champion the Luas drivers' case.

LONG ROAD AHEAD: Commuters walk the Luas line to Dublin city centre amid strike action. Photo: Laura Hutton/Collins Photo Agency

First week in the asylum: I lost my licence, not my drive

Good grief, these public servants work round the clock. My mobile was buzzing last Sunday morning as the mandarins tried to contact their errant minister. I had been appointed the previous Friday and had gone AWOL on the Saturday. The wheels of the Transport department were working 24/7. The permanent Government wanted to deliver some of the department's dreaded "documents".

HONOUR: New transport minister Shane Ross with President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Photo: Colin Keegan

Finally face to face with those who suffered my most fierce criticism

It was my Joe McHugh moment.

SHARES: Bank of Ireland chairman Archie Kane at the bank’s AGM in UCD last week. Photo: Frank McGrath

It's time BoI directors put their money where their mouths are

Congratulations to Bank of Ireland governor Archie Kane. Congratulations to Bank of Ireland boss Richie Boucher. Congratulations to Bank of Ireland director Kent Atkinson. Congratulations to Bank of Ireland director Fiona Muldoon. Congratulations to Bank of Ireland directors...

April 2016

In the UK, the Brexit debate has become a battleground for the leadership of the Tory party. Pictured are London Mayor Boris Johnson and Prime Minister David Cameron. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

All eyes on Brexit as public tunes out of our own politics

A silent prayer this Sunday: Would RTE and all other media outlets give us a 'government formation'-free day ? The nation's eyes are glazing over with tortuous tales from the political battlefront. For 57 days, the media pack has been hanging around, queuing up to tell us in a variety of ingenious ways that nothing is happening. The nation is bored to tears.

‘Fine Gael was pulling out all the stops to hang on to power. Fianna Fail was less hungry’to Photo: Gerry Mooney

Prize was there on a plate but Martin has lost his appetite

It was Fianna Fail's turn to host lunch for the Independent Alliance.

IN DEMAND: Independent Alliance deputies Sean Canney, Shane Ross, Michael Fitzmaurice, Finian McGrath and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran at Leinster House. Photo: Tom Burke

Tasty eclairs all round as Enda's love bombs fall

Over the last two weeks, I have been buried in a bubble of love. Suddenly, all my political foes have become uncannily cuddly. Those who have been happy to hurl insults across the Dail floor have been welcoming me into Government Buildings. The past is forgiven and forgotten. We are now, supposedly, all in this big mess together. The narrative in the Department of the Taoiseach is being hammered home: it is our joint "responsibility" to bury the hatchet and form a government. Anyone who does not subscribe to this doctrine is betraying the people.

INVASION: Some Independents make Joan Burton look like a pussy cat: Photo: David Conachy

Even FG's election vows are looking ropey now

One of the great compensations for Fine Gael in the election they lost is that they will never have to keep Labour's promises. Nor will they be weeping any tears of nostalgia for Labour leader Joan Burton and her loquacious style of government. It has not taken Joan long to turn her fire on her former partners.

March 2016

HOW DID THAT ONE WORK OUT? Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, on Merrion Square, Dublin, in September 2013, during a Fine Gael unveiling of an online and mobile ad campaign inviting the public to guess how many people voted to elect the then Seanad. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Political reform lost in the fog of old-style horse-trading in smoke-filled back rooms

Thirty-five years ago, I was sitting beside Fianna Fail general secretary Seamus Brennan at a charity do in the Mansion House.

TAKING THE HOT SEAT: Newly elected Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail. Photo: Maxwells

Dail reform is important, but homelessness is bigger issue

Dail reform and new politics started life on an old note last Thursday.

February 2016

AWKWARD MOMENT: I came face-to-face on the hustings with Bernard Byrne of AIB. Photo: Mark Condren

Beating a path to (and from) the doorsteps

The location for my first canvass of this election was hand- picked. Advised by an old hand with local knowledge a few weeks ago, I headed for a specially selected comfort zone.

January 2016

WARHORSE: TD Joe Higgins explaining his decision not to sign off on the Banking Inquiry report. Photo: Sam Boal /Rollingnews.ie

Noble Joe signs off with an alternative banks report

There were two banking reports floating around Leinster House last week. One was written by the Irish establishment, the other by an incorrigible rebel.

Courage and conviction: Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Nobel Prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz in Davos

Nice job, but world knows we are on a slippery slope

Were the diners in Davos fiddling while the global economy burned?

APPOINTMENT: Joan Burton with newly-appointed Pensions Authority Chair David Begg. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Concerns over Joanie cronies Begg serious questions . . .

Poor John McNulty was supposed to have been Ireland's last crony. John took a hit for Fine Gael. His sacrifice was meant to pave the way for the end of political appointments. Or so we were led to believe. The coalition was humbled for a season, thanks to John. Enda and Joanie were apologetic, admitting mistakes had been made. John vanished, a fallen pawn in the patronage game. Last week we found out that his departure, far from ushering in the final chapter in the history of shameless shenanigans, had opened a gap for Joanie's cronies.

Guilty as charged: Whatever way it's dressed up, the evidence of political favouritism in the appointment of judges is overwhelming

It's JAABs for the boys - canvassing is 'mandatory'

Imagine you are a tired solicitor. You are struggling in a rural practice, barely making ends meet. You are facing the prospect of closure as your local town sinks into decline. Your future is bleak.

NO BOAT-ROCKERS: Frances Fitzgerald has defended the Policing Authority appointments. Photo: Frank McGrath

Ben the burglar can sleep easy after minister's political stunt

Ben the burglar had a great Christmas. He and Mrs Ben had escaped from the floods, spending Christmas week in their usual suite in the Ritz-Carlton in Tenerife.

December 2015

MY KINGDOM FOR A FIRST PREFERENCE: The late Jackie Healy-Rae and his son Michael were exposed to a few novel experiences while canvassing in Kerry. Photo: Don MacMonagle

A beginner's guide to losing votes out on the canvass

We are about to suffer from a rare outbreak of democracy. Time to buy walking boots in the New Year sales. In about a month, it will be back to pounding the pavements. TDs are rumoured to have bought thick protective clothing, not to protect them from the weather, but to shield them from the mob.

SAVING THE DAY: AIB chairman Richard Pym told shareholders at the Allied Irish Bank’s Extraordinary General Meeting in the RDS Concert Hall in Ballsbridge, Dublin, that the bank was repaying its debt to the State. Photo: Colm Mahady / Fennells

A grand day for 'Crocodile Dick', the grand-a-day man

'Tea or coffee?" asked the waiter behind the boilers at the AIB shareholders' funeral on Wednesday.

PAYING THE PRICE: Eugene McErlean, a former internal auditor at AIB, lost his job

Shane Ross: Whistleblower will yet again be the only casualty here

Barbara the banker was over the moon. A few weeks ago she landed a job in Ireland's Central Bank. She has just arrived in Dublin from Poland with her husband, Kamil, and their two children.

BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: Kieran O’Donnell along with his Inquiry colleagues must be exhausted by the banking saga which has declined from dull theatre into total chaos

Shane Ross: Bank Inquiry farce is devouring its members

The people were right. The politicians were wrong. Yet the moment the people decided that the politicians could not be trusted to hold parliamentary inquiries, the politicians bypassed their wishes and decided to hold one.

November 2015

Siren voice: Professor John McHale of the Fiscal Advisory Council has rather spilt the beans

The Coalition is exposed as gambling on tax windfalls

Is the Coalition cooking the books? I asked the woman from the Revenue mischievously.

No role to play: Finance Minister Michael Noonan says it is not for him to monitor what
is happening on the bank floor

Little people brace for yet another hit as banks off hook

Remember the Banking Inquiry? The big game changer that was set to sort out Irish bankers once and for all. It was destined to uproot the diseased banking culture. Ireland's little people would never again be bullied. A general election was even postponed to accommodate it.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook leaving Trinity College in Dublin

Cook arrives bearing gifts, but his visit stirs echoes

'Young people of Ireland, I love you," declared Pope John Paul to the youth of Ireland back in 1979 during a mass at Galway race course. Ireland's youth reciprocated. They loved their pontiff.

Hammer of the Gods: Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan launch An Garda Siochana's new anti-crime strategy, 'Operation Thor' Photo: Mark Condren

Burglar Ben rubs his hands as business is set to boom

Ben the Burglar sat back to watch RTE's Six One news last Monday evening. He was feeling a bit depressed. All day he had been hearing that Minister for Justice Frances FitzGerald was launching a package to put a stop to his gallop.

PACT: Brendan Ogle and other Right2Change enthusiasts are united in their loathing of Labour

Ragtag fantasy politburo still has every right to dream

I have a confession to make. I have spent decades in politics. I got a bad degree in history and politics. I specialised in the Russian Revolution. I have read the works of Karl Marx. And yet I haven’t a clue about the difference between a Marxist, a Stalinist or a Trot.

October 2015

IRON LADY: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager speaks during an interview with Reuters at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium

Taxing times ahead, thanks to Europe's new Iron Lady

An Iron Lady is on the warpath.

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