70,000 retail jobs face axe in 2009

The economic crisis will significantly worsen in the New Year, with a shocking 70,000 jobs now expected to be lost in the beleaguered retail sector alone.

Retail forms a huge part of the economy with almost 30,000 wholesale and retail businesses in the country.

The sector employs around 200,000 people -- over 9 per cent of all jobs -- and accounts for close to a quarter of consumer spending.

In the New Year, it is widely anticipated that a third of such businesses will close, an unprecedented development which will lead to up to 70,000 job losses.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/70000-retail-jobs-face-axe-in-new-year-1586826.html

Over €6.5m paid in just five years of deportations

The Department of Justice spent over €150,000 chartering a flight for a sole Ghanian failed asylum seeker earlier this year, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

Four years earlier, the department spent over €50,000 deporting a lone Gambian asylum seeker. The cost of flying one Romanian home came to just €1,000 in the same year. In total, the justice department has spent almost €6.5m deporting 1,493 failed asylum seekers over the past five years.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2008/dec/21/over-65m-paid-in-just-five-years-of-deportations/

Major concerns raised over asylum seekers leaving infants alone in state-run centres

MAJOR concerns have been raised about asylum seekers leaving infants and young children alone in rooms at state reception centres without any supervision.

The fears are outlined in a series of inspection reports into reception centres, operated on behalf of the Department of Justice by private contractors.

The reports show that the practice of leaving children, some of whom are just a few months old, alone in their room is widespread at the asylum-seeker complexes.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2008/dec/21/major-concerns-raised-over-asylum-seekers-leaving-/

One in three prisoners not Irish

Almost one third of people sent to prison in 2007 were not born in Ireland.

According to the latest report from the Irish Prison Service, more than 11,000 were convicted of an offence last year.

On average there are 3,321 offenders behind bars on any given day, an increase of 4.1%.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1219/prison.html

120,000 more jobs will go, warns ESRI

The Irish economy will shed almost 120,000 jobs in 2009 and 50,000 people will emigrate, an economic forecast warned yesterday.

The ESRI also believes the Government will be hard-pressed to pay the 3.5pc wage rise due in September under the national pay agreement.

In a Quarterly Economic Commentary, it said GNP will shrink by 4.6pc next year on top of an anticipated 2.6pc contraction for 2008.

"We now expect that average employment will fall by 117,000 in 2009," said the report.

"A fall in employment of that size will be consistent with net outward migration of 50,000, with the unemployment rate averaging 9.4pc."

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/120000-more-jobs-will-go-warns-esri-1580693.html

Recession sees racism rise as minorities are targeted

THE recession has seen an increase in the discrimination and targeting of minorities, the outgoing state-funded authority on racism has said.

Delivering its final report ahead of disbanding, the National Consultative Committee on Racism (NCCRI) said it was “dismayed” at the Government’s weakening support for groups battling discrimination.

The Government cut the NCCRI’s budget by 100% in the budget, which has forced the group to close its doors. Its role is to be merged into the office of Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan.

The group’s director, Philip Watt, said it was a time to actually increase resources to combat discrimination.

“There has been a significant hardening of attitudes to Travellers and people of colour,” he said saying this was due to the recession.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=80363-qqqx=1.asp

Sign the No2Lisbon re-vote Petition

We petition the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who holds the power to stop a referendum if it is deemed unconstitutional or undemocratic. We feel that to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty fulfils these requisites and as such, as the elected President of the Irish state we ask her to use her legislative powers and influence on this matter…

http://www.petitiononline.com/LisbonNO/petition.html

Cowen confident of 'Yes' vote for Lisbon re-run

Taoiseach Brian Cowen last night said he was "confident" the planned second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be successful.

But Mr Cowen said the Government would have to take it "step by step" and stressed he was not yet in position to formally call a second poll by next October.

Following an EU summit, at which he secured concessions on four major issues of concern for the Irish people, Mr Cowen is on track to run Lisbon II.

"On the basis of the agreement today, and on condition of our being able to satisfactorily put guarantees in place, I have said that I would be prepared to return to the public to put a new package and to seek their approval to it," he said.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cowen-confident-of-yes-vote-for-lisbon-rerun-1573730.html

"Govt betraying Irish people"

Libertas president Declan Ganley is accusing the Irish Government of betraying the Irish people by planning to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Under a plan being discussed by EU leaders in Brussels, the Government will hold another referendum before the end of next October in an effort to overturn last June's 'no' vote.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhsnauausnid/

Barroso 'convinced' Irish Lisbon demands can be met

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today he was “convinced” the EC can satisfy the Irish electorate's concerns over the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking ahead of this week’s crucial European Council summit on Thursday and Friday, Mr Barroso said the meeting must find a way of enabling Ireland to reverse the No vote on the treaty last June.

“I am convinced that we can respond to [Brian Cowen’s] national concerns while finding a European solution”, Mr Barroso told a news conference in Brussels.

Mr Cowen last week met key European leaders and Mr Barroso to discuss the Lisbon treaty.

Charlie McCreevy talks sense

LIBERTAS chief Declan Ganley outmanoeuvred all the political parties on the Lisbon Treaty campaign and won the argument, European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has claimed.

In a veiled criticism of the tactics and performance of Fianna Fail and other pro-treaty parties, Mr McCreevy said the Libertas founder had been listened to more than anybody else and was "singularly successful" in getting people to vote 'No'.

The referendum turnout also suggested that a "considerable segment" of the 53pc who voted were those who failed to vote in last year's general election, the European Commissioner said.

"So, therefore, people did take the issue very seriously. So, that has to be respected," he said.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ganley-won-lisbon-debate-says-mccreevy-1563001.html

10 held in human trafficking raids

A total of ten people have been arrested in a major operation targeting human trafficking.

Four women and three men were arrested following raids on nine brothels and six other locations across Ireland.

This afternoon, another man was arrested by the PSNI in Co Down and a man and a woman were detained by police in Wales.

The four women and three men being held in the Republic are suspected of committing a number of offences including organising and managing prostitution.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1203/trafficking.html

Ireland now only EU state to reject Lisbon treaty

The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled that the European Union's reform treaty conforms with Czech law, allowing parliament to proceed with ratification. Ireland is now the only member state which has rejected the treaty.

The lack of Czech ratification so far has raised doubts in the EU about the likely performance of the 6-month Czech EU presidency, starting in January.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1126/breaking23.htm

Refusal to declare Lisbon dead 'treason'

REFUSING TO declare the Lisbon Treaty dead was an "act of treason the likes of which has not been seen since the Act of Union", an Oireachtas subcommittee on Europe was told yesterday.

In a brief presentation that ended in a shouting match and a walk-out, Richard Greene, chairman of anti-Lisbon group Cóir, said the sole objective of the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in Europe was "to attempt to overturn the democratic wishes of the majority of the Irish people who voted No" to the treaty.

The subcommittee was set up to examine the result of the Lisbon Treaty referendum and to suggest ways forward for Ireland in the aftermath of the No vote.

Mr Greene said the "brazen effrontery and blatant denial of the result shows the contempt in which the political parties hold the people.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1121/1227137525422.html

Each TD to cost taxpayer €276k next year

EVERY single TD will cost the taxpayer more than €276,000 to fund next year, official figures have revealed.

On average, each of the 166 TDs will receive €110,000 in basic salary in 2009, an increase of €2,400 on this year’s figure.

This is because the TDs received two separate salary hikes this year, despite the country’s slide into recession and the Government urging pay restraint.

In addition to basic salary, TDs will qualify for an average of €23,800 apiece in travel expenses next year.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=77856-qqqx=1.asp

Romanian and Bulgarian work restrictions to stay

THE GOVERNMENT is expected to impose work restrictions for Eeropean Union citizens from Romania and Bulgaria for at least another three years due to rising unemployment levels in the State.

This is despite lobbying by the Romanian and Bulgarian governments, which say the move is discriminatory and treats them as second-class EU members.

The European Commission has also encouraged member states to lift labour restrictions against the two member states.

The Government decided to impose a two-year work permit requirements on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals when the two countries joined the EU in January 2007.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1117/1226700658673.html

Czech president: I cannot accept Martin’s hypocrisy

OUTSPOKEN Czech president Vaclav Klaus branded Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin (pictured) a “hypocrite” last night as a war of words between the two men raged.

The maverick leader’s parting shot at the end of an extraordinary three-day visit was in response to an earlier radio rebuke by Mr Martin in which he attacked eurosceptic comments by Mr Klaus as “ridiculous and inappropriate”.

Mr Martin’s undiplomatic language was initially provoked by the president’s high-profile backing of Libertas chief Declan Ganley, who Mr Klaus compared to a dissident fighting Soviet oppression.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=77345-qqqx=1.asp

Some EU parliaments saw Ireland's rejection of Lisbon as 'disappointing'

A DETAILED survey of all 27 parliaments in the European Union shows that some regard Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty as a "deep disappointment" and as having created a backlash.

The Bulgarian parliament states that it is "disappointed" with the Irish outcome, as do the parliaments of Slovakia and Slovenia.

The response from the German Bundestag says Ireland's rejection will create a backlash for EU reform, while stressing that ratification must continue.

Greece states that its parliament ratified the treaty by a large majority. "[We must conclude] that we all, not only our Irish colleagues, failed to provide the necessary information on the treaty's benefits and [failed] to widen the public discourse."

The Latvian assembly says ratification is not an option but a necessity, and Lithuania says that members of its parliament have expressed their regret about the Irish outcome at various meetings.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1106/1225893546475.html

Barnardos study on Irish childrens future

In the future, children will be mobile and will most likely live in another EU country at some stage, the report finds. They are also expected to be more self-reliant, changing jobs many times until they finish work at aged 70.

They will be drawn to business and creative careers rather than traditional professions like teaching , it is predicted.

Family life will be one of the slowest areas of change. Most children will be born to parents in their 30s living in suburbia and will be either an only child or have only one or two siblings.

However children born to lone parents, to a large family of low income or in a deprived area are likely to have limited educational and job opportunities.

Children at risk of poverty will most likely leave school early with minimal qualifications and low literacy and numeracy skills, the report finds.

The outlook for the health of tomorrow's children is grim as they are predicted to overeat, and to lack exercise.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1105/1225523373269.html

EC to take on Ireland over borrowings

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said the Government would work constructively with the EU Commission when it begins formal proceedings against Ireland over the high level of borrowing in next year's Budget.

Economic Affairs Commissioner Joacin Almunia said today that he intended opening an excessive deficit procedure against Ireland.

The Government will be expected to say how it will cut borrowing levels over the next three years.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1103/eucommission.html

Libertas registered as political party

The leader of Libertas, Declan Ganley, has said a report in last Saturday's Irish Times that his party has been registered as a European political party is substantially correct.

On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the possibility of establishing Libertas as a pan-European organisation was being looked at, with the possibility of running candidates in many EU member states in the June 2009 European elections.

He said it would provide an opportunity across the EU to provide a proxy referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1103/libertas.html

Immigrants urged to participate in politics

A campaign is being launched today which it is claimed could see tens of thousands of members of ethnic communities register to vote in next year's local elections.

The campaign, organised by the Africa Centre and New Community Partnership, is part of a wider campaign which includes voter education, and also a call to engage and participate in the 2009 local elections, be it as a voter or a candidate.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1103/voting.html

Government will agree to Lisbon re-run

The Irish government will give a general commitment to attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty when the European Council meets in early December, but will resist pressure from European leaders seeking a date for a second Irish referendum.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is likely to give a commitment to attempt a ratification of the treaty pending declarations from the other EU member states on abortion, neutrality and tax. These declarations could be completed by the end of the year.

Cowen will tell EU leaders that a ratification will not be possible before the European Parliament elections scheduled for June, which will now have to be held under the old Nice Treaty rules.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=37275-qqqx=1.asp

Bruton: We need second Lisbon vote

EU AMBASSADOR to the United States and former taoiseach John Bruton has called for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because Irish people did not understand it when they rejected it the first time.

Mr Bruton said people should be given a “second opportunity” to vote on the treaty, but warned that another rejection would be “a very serious setback” for the country. Addressing the special Oireachtas Committee on the Lisbon treaty, Mr Bruton said: “If I was pushed into a corner and asked I would say I would favour a second referendum.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=76183-qqqx=1.asp

State ratified 145 treaties last year

THE Government ratified almost 300 European and international treaties in the seven years leading up to the failed Lisbon Treaty referendum -- 145 of them in the last year alone.

The treaties -- none of which were placed before the electorate -- included agreements on defence, organised crime, extradition, air services, chemical weapons, taxation and mutual assistance in criminal matters.

Details of the treaties emerged as an all-party oireachtas committee begins a review of our contentious referendum process.

The review will examine whether the bulk of future EU treaties can be ratified by parliamentary vote.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-ratified-145-treaties-last-year-1511244.html