Conor Skehan

Irish households are facing an energy crisis. Stock image

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Inflated optimism of Irish economic forecasts will make situation worse

Finally, we are beginning to hear the truth. That phrase of denial, “cost-of-living increases”, is at last being replaced by the word “inflation”.

View of the middle lake from the top of Torc Mountain in Killarney National Park. Stock photo

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Why we’re in danger of no longer being the land of a hundred thousand welcomes

The August bank holiday weekend is when many of us become tourists in our own country. Indeed this year, 30pc of businesses report having more domestic visitors compared to a normal, pre-Covid year. So it’s a good time for us to reflect on an economic activity that is important, if not vital, for many communities — often in areas with few other opportunities.

Huge protests have taken place in Sri Lanka, triggered by its economic collapse. Picture by Eranga Jayawardena/AP

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Ignorance about agriculture puts lives at risk from hunger

Last Sunday, the fields of Kilkenny were at a mid-harvest standstill, emptied to watch the hurling final. Like all of Europe we’ve had over 6,000 harvests with this year promising above the five-year average yields for all crops.

An artist's impression of the planned Metro North station at Tara Street. Picture by Julian Behal Photography

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Is the shiny new MetroLink doomed before it even begins?

With MetroLink in the news, the €9.5b n price tag will mean that c ost-b enefit assessment will become a talking point again, because this is how huge public expenditure projects are justified.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Rishi Sunak sank Boris Johnson with a timely reminder to keep trying for a better democracy

Expecting government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously are “standards worth fighting for, and that is why I am resigning” — those are the words of former UK chancellor Rishi Sunak, in opening the salvo that last week precipitated the resignation of Boris Johnson.

The herd-like behaviour of Irish official media was on display in their disgraceful treatment of Kevin Myers

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion In public service broadcasting: what constitutes ‘the public good’, and who decides this?

It would be a pity if the RTÉ licence fee and its collection dominate discussion about the imminent, if overdue, publication of the Future of Media Commission report.

A picket at the entrance to Waverley Station in Edinburgh, Scotland, as train services in the UK continue to be disrupted in a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Picture by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Cynical activists will be the only winners in our winter of discontent

Inflation always leads to industrial unrest. In the UK, France, Italy and Spain, strikes are already happening in transport sectors. Soon, these will be followed by unrest in other large-payroll public services.

A significant proportion of young people say they avoid news because it makes them anxious

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Not all bad news in blizzard of data, but our media needs to take a hard look at itself

TikTok — for news? Did anyone ever imagine that a Chinese site mostly used for short video clips of stunts, tricks and dances, would become recognised as a part of a growing trend for younger people to get news from ‘side-door’ sources?

There are 245,000 students enrolled in Irish third-level institutions

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Most people over 40 should be cautious about giving advice to the young

This week, in more than 63,000 Irish households, someone is sitting the Leaving Certificate.

Politicians need to catch up with the crowd wisdom of the Irish public. Stock image by Marcos Calvo Mesa

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Policymakers all at sea ahead of our looming inflation storm

Concern about inflation is finally entering the political and public mainstream — though most politicians and the media still prefer to call it a ‘cost of living’ issue. If the past is any guide, we can soon expect to hear the term ‘imported inflation’ used as an excuse for continuing to delay decisive action to deal with this critical challenge.

John FitzGerald of The Pen Corner, which last week closed its doors, helps loyal customer Tom McKeon from Dublin. Picture by Steve Humphreys

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Loss of specialist shops shows writing is on the wall for urban diversity

What can a pen shop teach a city? The answer is that the loss of a tiny specialist shop can be a warning that the planning and operation of a city has deep problems which, if unheeded, can lead to urban failure in a very short time. The Pen Corner in central Dublin closed last week after 94 years of trading.

Pets have become accustomed to having their owners at home full-time. Photo: Ekaterina Martynova

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Employers who cultivate a pet-friendly environment stand to attract best talent

The world of work is not changing by gradual transitions. Instead, people who study describe the changes that our world is experiencing as a ‘step-change’. We are living through a period where a number of factors are colliding and driving changes to the world of work that is arguably as big as what happened after the First World War, when traditional certainties such as hats and horses disappeared overnight.

Over the next 10 years, around 500,000 new occupiers will start families and want new homes to own or rent

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Why house prices will rise at slower pace for two more years

Behind complaints to the contrary, it appears that, by international standards, Ireland is better than most at dealing with an unfolding international crisis in housing.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Fix for planning is a daunting task — but an urgent one

An Bord Pleanála is in the news again. Its second-highest official has temporarily stepped aside over claims of impropriety in his personal declarations to the planning authority. Paul Hyde, deputy chairman, has said the allegations against him are groundless. However, he has acknowledged an undeclared conflict of interest.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion ‘Not in my back yard’ objectors often destroy places they love

South County Dublin contains Ireland’s biggest concentration of skirmishes between locals and developers, in places such as Dundrum and Cabinteely. Each involves large residential developments that include multi-storey structures up to 11 storeys in height.

Bodies of civilians who Ukrainian officials say were killed by Russian troops and buried in mass graves. Picture by Valentyn Ogirenko

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Reality of our world is distorted by a powerful web of lies

Could anything more clearly show that we live in a world of two halves? Since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have seen the unrelenting real-world horror of war juxtaposed daily with the online world of Russian-driven lies and misdirection.

Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko/via Reuters

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Opinions, facts and the deadly consequences of confusing them

Many of the problems that beset the world would be lessened if there was a better understanding of the difference between facts and opinions. An opinion is a judg ment or a view point, it is not a fact.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Banning cars may please the green lobby, but it’s killing our town centres

Last Saturday, a 150-year-old pharmacy at the heart of a Dublin village ceased trading. A coffee shop will replace it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of his security council outside Moscow last week. Picture by Mikhail Klimentyev

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Our open society is vulnerable to manipulation by so-called saviours

The EU’s latest survey of p ublic o pinion in Ireland, the Eurobarometer, finds that a significant majority of Irish people (71pc) believe things are going in the right direction, up from 64pc in 2021. This finding is in stark contrast to the EU average where only 36pc believe they are going in the right direction.

People are now living longer, more active lives

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Moving closer to EU norms with wise move on pensions

Too many people in Ireland make too little provision for their old age. Last week the Cabinet started to address this by approving a scheme that will automatically make contributions to a personal pension.

Ukrainian refugees board a train for Krakow at Przemysl Glowny railway station in Poland last Thursday after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Picture by Hannah McKay

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Influx of Ukrainian war refugees adds complex challenge to housing issue

After years of turmoil, it is ironic how Irish housing supply has finally turned a major corner at exactly the same time as new demands arise that challenge this achievement.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Waves of change will follow war, and we must ride them out

We have been exposed to waves of war and violence every day for the past month. In the coming weeks, as more refugees begin to arrive in homes all over Ireland, the war will begin to seem less distant.

An anti-health cuts picket outside Leinster House as then Finance Minister Ray MacSharry discloses the Budget plans for 1988. Picture by Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Remain focused and flexible and we’ll ride out storm of inflation

Conjuring uses misdirection — attracting the attention elsewhere so that we fail to notice the big change right before our eyes. The headline-grabbing Ukraine war is just such a misdirection. While everyone is understandably distressed and distracted by the war, a big and growing surge of job-wrecking inflation is about to begin all over the world.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Picture by Tim Shaffer/Reuters

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Russian memories of past glories are so easily manipulated by the unscrupulous

‘Perestroika’ and ‘Glasnost’ are now largely forgotten Russian terms for ‘reform’ and ‘openness’. They were used as rallying slogans by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his followers, as they sought in the late 1980s to reform the USSR.

Minister for Transport, Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan. Picture by Mark Condren

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion We send out a powerful message of hope every time we compromise

There is hope.

Inflation inexorably leads to increases in interest rates, loss of competitiveness, economic contraction, unemployment and social unrest

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion We’ve seen inflation before, and it always spells trouble

‘Cost of living increases’ is a new code phrase; it actually means ‘inflation’. For older readers and policy-makers alike, the return of this phrase is deeply worrying.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion The debate on how we provide homes has one foot in the 1980s

Jack Byrne was the hero of RTÉ One’s Prime Time last Tuesday night — though probably not in the way the show intended.

Working from anywhere could change almost everything about everyone

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion The future of work demands a radical reform of childcare

One of the biggest consequences of the ending of Covid restrictions will be how WFH (‘working from home’) will be overtaken by WFA (‘working from anywhere’). WFA will have a number of consequences for the future of work, the economy, and for society as a whole.

The Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion Legal reform delayed is true justice denied

Garda investigations continue into whether Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar broke the law by allegedly leaking a draft agreement of the GP pay deal in April 2019. By contrast, ‘Golfgate’, which took place in August 2020, is already before the courts.

Premium

Conor Skehan Opinion A civil service that is unable to adapt dooms a country to failure

There is public bewilderment about the pay of the most senior civil servants and also about recent announcements about reduced public service working hours. None of this is helped by the emergence of opinionated social media participation by senior officials.