Fear is the driving force behind the most significant day in the country’s recent economic history, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times March 30, 3009
 
TODAY WILL be full of language that seeks to “once-and-for-all” draw lines in the sand. A public exhausted by financial fatigue will continue to be confused by the complexity of [...]

The culture of self-interested national interest, as defined by Fianna Fáil, has already thrown €4bn of taxpayers’ money at Anglo Irish Bank, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish TImes March 23, 2010
 
FINE GAEL is a failed political entity when compared to similar political parties in western democracies. It has never held two consecutive terms. It [...]

The strength of party whips has ensured a parliamentary system contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times March 16, 2010
 
CONFUSION OCCURS when there is an absence of clarity. When confusion reigns, disorientation persuades the collective memory to forget about the past and look forward to an undefined future. [...]

Elected to the Althing in the ‘kitchenware revolution’, a leading writer has found politics a frustrating profession, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES March 9, 2010
 
THRAINN BERTELSSON describes himself as someone “who happens to being doing time in parliament”. The Icelandic “kitchenware revolution” of January 2009 enticed him to join a contagious grassroots coalition [...]

ELAINE BYRNE in Reykjavik in Irish Times March 8, 2010
 
SATURDAY’S ICESAVE referendum was resoundingly rejected by 93.2 per cent of Icelanders, with just 1.8 per cent casting their vote in favour of the current €3.9 billion repayment package.
 
Although severe weather conditions have prevented counting of the hundred or so ballots from Grímsey island, Iceland’s northernmost island [...]

ELAINE BYRNE in Reykjavik Irish Times March 6, 2010
 
ICELANDERS ARE expected to overwhelmingly vote No in today’s referendum on the controversial Icesave deal agreed last year with the Netherlands and the UK.
 
President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson triggered Iceland’s first referendum, since it achieved independence from Denmark in 1944, when he refused to sign the Icesave Bill [...]

In contrast to our Government’s mantra that banks cannot fail, Iceland’s population is poised to vote against a deal to repay Icesave’s debts, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times March 2, 2010
 
I LIKE to describe the manner in which I play Gaelic football as that of being a determined footballer. Unfortunately referees do not always [...]