A fair chance for older workers?

As our workforce ages, Margaret E. Ward believes that companies need to start redressing the balance and stop discriminating against older workers

Tween a rock and a hard place

Nine-year-old Noah Cyrus? Had anyone actually heard of her until a tidal wave of righteous indignation engulfed the recent launch of her clothing range?
Miley Cyrus’ (of Hannah Montana fame) kid sister and her parents allegedly signalled clear clothing line intent at a Halloween party last year when Noah appeared decked out in a black lace-up [...]

Writing in clear English: top ten tips

Want to write clearly, right from the start? Then you need to plan, write and edit in equal measure. Here are Clear Ink’s top tips for getting your message across.  www.clearink.ie
Writing and speaking are tools for communicating a message. That’s it. Yet so many things – jargon, legalese, academic-speak, overly formal or informal language, too [...]

Lehman Brothers: has the sector learned anything?

September 15th marks one year since Lehman Brothers – an investment bank that I worked for in the 1990s – was allowed to crash and burn. What, if anything, has the financial sector learned since then?
Well, if President Obama’s opinions are anything to go by it’s not much.  Today he told an audience in downtown New [...]

Museum in the dust: revisiting 9/11

Sculptor Michael Richards spent his last evening on top of the world. After watching Monday night football in his studio on the 92nd floor of One World Trade Center with fellow artist Jeff Konigsberg, he knuckled down to the work at hand….his sculptures took form as World War II pilots falling from the sky, tumbling into debris or riding flame-tailed meteors… Some political artists tend to raise the flag and show the warning signs of things to come — so perhaps he was seeing something we couldn’t,

The cost of “Keeping up with the Fitzpatricks”

Ireland needs a drastic shift in cultural attitudes – away from entitlement and towards personal responsibility. The arrogant aristocracy has made taxpayers as cheap as chips.

Mansergh vs. Ward on BBC2 NI “Hearts and Minds”: Youtube

Martin Mansergh, junior minister for Finance, and I had a very lively discussion on the telly last night. We were, of course, talking about the economy. He was a nice man but he was completely unprepared.

Our lovely interviewer Noel said we’d just have a nice discussion but
it quickly turned into a row. I suggested that [...]

40 questions looking for answers..from government, regulator and banksters

Anglo
Directors’ loans
1. How much did Seanie & co borrow? Who authorised it?

2. What did they use it for?
a.      Did they buy shares, debt or CFDs?
b.     Did they use money to manipulate the share price in some way?
c.     What were the terms of the loan? Was it secured?
d.     Did they deceive shareholders and potential investors?
e.      [...]

Wanted: a maverick gunslinger to save us from the cowboys

WANTED: MAVERICK gunslinger to cut down enemies of the State.
Year 2010: Tumbleweed blows through the empty streets of the International Financial Services Centre. The once proud little place in the wild west of Europe is almost abandoned. A few nervous survivors squint through cracked glass at the young, fair-haired woman outside. She is wearing sandals [...]

Toxic tips from D’Oh School of Economics

BREAKING NEWS: Homer Simpson has been operating the controls of the international financial system for the last several years. Mr Simpson, normally the animated nuclear safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Plant, is known to spend much of his time eating doughnuts, spilling coffee on the control panels and falling asleep.
Financial watchdogs from America to [...]