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BREXIT TALKS ARE proceeding on to the next stage, and despite progress moving at a snail’s pace, the reality that Ireland is losing a close ally dawned on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this morning.
In Brussels this morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar somberly acknowledged that Ireland will miss their support on key issues.
I have to say that once again I am going to miss the United Kingdom when they leave the European Union.
Varadkar said Theresa May intervened on a proposal from the French president Emmanuel Macron on taxing hi-tech companies at EU level. The Irish government has previously said it opposes any such changes, obviously due to the high number of tech companies based here.
The Taoiseach said the UK are on the same page as Ireland when it comes to taxing digital revenues and tech companies.
She made some very strong interventions on digital tax and digital Europe which are very much in line with our thinking.
We were successful in writing into the conclusions the concept that any change to the taxation of digital companies should be done on a global basis. That we have to have a global level playing field using the OECD. And we shouldn’t being in a tax proposal in the EU that just disadvantages ourselves in relation to the third countries.
But once the UK close the door on the EU, Ireland could find itself isolated.
Which is why Varadkar’s mini-summit meeting with Scandinavian and Baltic leaders was notable yesterday with the Taoiseach making moves to form new allies.
At a working dinner last night, UK Prime Minister Theresa May made a personal appeal to EU leaders for the Brexit talks to move on to the subject of trade – despite EU negotiators previously indicating that specific solutions on EU citizens’ rights and the issue of the border with Northern Ireland must be dealt with first.
Detail is still needed
Again, the Taoiseach welcomed the “positive language” used by May. He said her position had strengthened on the issue of having no physical infrastructure on the border with Northern Ireland.
However, he reiterated there now needs to be real solutions as to how this will be achieved.
“The sentiment and the language must be backed up with detail,” he said.
He denied that we are closer to the cliff edge when it comes to Brexit.
I have to say, we are a long way from that.
May is in a tight bind at the moment, with EU leaders in Brussels well aware that she is in a precarious political position back home. Reports last night suggested she was making the case that she had to return to Britain and show to her detractors that she had made some sort of progress.
Here appeal over dinner last night appeared to pay off.
The President of the European Council confirmed today that Brexit talks will proceed to the “second phase”.
In a press conference today, she welcomed the movement on the negotiations and said the UK still wants a “deep and special partnership” with the EU after Brexit.
“We still have some way to go,” she admitted, but added they are “in touching distance of a deal”.
The prime minister mentioned Northern Ireland in her speech, again committing to no physical border, adding that both sides have agreed to deliver this with a “flexible and imaginative approach”. But again, no clear detail as to how this will be achieved.
She said the Belfast Agreement must be “at the heart” of their talks, stating that “it is too important” to neglect it.
On the issue of the Brexit bill – which has many in the UK concerned – May said she has given reassurances to the current budget plan, stating she will go through it line by line.
If there are particular EU projects the UK would like to remain a part of, she said they would cover the costs associated with remaining within them, highlighting such projects in as science and research and justice.
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Angela Kerins, the reason I no longer donate money to charity.
@David Oppenshore: Well said sir. Money only going to pay CEO salary and outrageous expenses.
No charity, sporting or other such organisation should be given public money unless they first waive any ‘rights’ to protect themselves from public scrutiny of their finances. They can carry on freely without that money if they chose. Take it or leave it.
@Sega Yolo: totally agree
@Sega Yolo: perfectly said.
Imagine that. Kerins took home a ludicrous salary whilst miserably mismanaging the running of a charity and somehow is managing to outdo herself and create a lasting damage on the public’s ability to hold future disasters to account…
Just when you think you know the limits of someone’s toxicity to society, she goes and out does herself once more without even being in the room.
The Irish charity industry is destroyed by the greed of the few!
Vote with your feet,
Don’t give a penny to them!
@Niall Power: will never give a penny to any charity that pays their CEO and subordinates excessive salaries.
The pac committee full of incompetent politicians is not fit for purpose. The questioning of the fai officials the other day was very weak, pure amateurish, they really didn’t know their brief, what questions to ask.
@Adrian: they could have asked what day it was and still not received a straight answer.
@Dave O’Keeffe: they’re not legal experts, they were afraid to ask the questions the other day because of the potential legal repercussions, hence the farce that it was. They need legal experts on those committees, they should be able to come to some arrangement without turning them into tribunals. A bunch of incompetent politicians protecting their own interests, paying themselves 15k fees while asking stupid questions like “how many bank accounts do you have?”, turns the whole process into a joke and achieves nothing.
@Adrian: the questions were 100%. The problem was the FAI officials refused to answer. Nothing the pac can do about that.
@Adrian: They were told what they could ask “legally”. The law seems to protect the wealthy wrongdoers.
People in high positions have to be held accountable in public. However I struggle with the idea of giving the likes of Ruth Coppinger and others the power to carry out public investigations and give them compellabilty. If that became the case I could see people’s good name and reputation coming second to political point scoring.
Totally irrelevant nothing to do with FAI. The FAI is not a charity – it is a business and why they kept quoting the Kerins case is s mystery to me.
Looking at some of the motley members of various committees one would have to be dubious. Some are up to the task but many others fail miserably. Some are rude, arrogant, ill-informed and totally oblivious to their briefs. If they are that determined to cross the line then they should be open to full retribution in the courts. The verdict in the Angela Kearns case was spot on!!
@Chris Gaffney: I don’t know about that, why should good TDs and Senators who ask the difficult questions be muzzled by a ruling like that? I do get that there are some clowns on these committees, and they say things for headlines and there 30 seconds on sixone so the voters back home can see them sticking up to the dubs, but the real nature of these committees should be open, honest and sometimes difficult conversations with people like Delaney.
Lawmakers unhappy that the have to work within the law, my heart goes out to them.
Even if there was no Kerins ruling the public voted to reduce the powers of the committee so they are limited from the offset .
Kerins is looking for and going to get a multi million damages award for her suffering at PAC ..this is the biggest joke of all.
Delaney puffed and bluffed and ran circles round the PAC the Kearins judgment rules thst the PAC cannor go outside its remit or in other words tits terms of reference. Once the PAC keep within its remit lile asking questions on the €1000 loan then it would not fall foul on the Supreme Courts judgement.
Who can afford to bring a case to the High Court or Supreme Court ?
The Courts and Judges are only there to interpret the Law and ensure it is upheld. They do no make law.
If the PAC feel that the ‘Laws’ of our land are not sufficient, then it is up to them as legislators to change the ‘Laws’, so that their tongues are not tied when questioning individuals and agencies about their conduct. They have no one to blame but themselves for the situation the PAC finds themselves in.
1/ The Kerins issue is not case law yet, is awaiting determination on appeal, & is not relevant. Mr. D used the pending determination to ward off awkward questions, left them hanging out there, & thereby damaged his public standing.
2/ The committee did not need to subject anyone, including Mr. Delaney, to interrogation on their income or expenses, & just stay on track about the application of public funds & FAI corporate management. The investigative journalists have put these questions out, the public are expecting the FAI to provide the answers.
3/ Sport Ireland can with hold funding, insist on a forensic audit of the FAI accounts for the years when public funding was drawn down, & require appropriate governance structures, in accordance with the separate reviews already commissioned.
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