The euphoria around a small-to-medium oil discovery off the southwest coast of Ireland may be overblown but the country could yet become a significant producer if it can replicate the drilling success in much deeper waters to the west
The UK is now the worst place to live in Europe for quality of life and overall wellbeing, according to research by comparison site uSwitch.com. The high cost of living and work-driven culture means that Britain now sits at the bottom of a Quality of Life index. Ireland doesn’t come far behind in second place.
Queen Elizabeth honoured Irish people killed fighting for independence from Britain in a powerful gesture of reconciliation few people would have believed possible even in recent times.
Ireland believes it looks increasingly unlikely that there will be a Mercosur-European Union trade deal before the end of the year. Mercosur and the EU resumed trade talks in May 2010 with the objective of reaching a deal by the end of 2011.
Ireland, supported by France keeps putting pressure to derail the ongoing trade talks between the European Union commission and Mercosur, reports the Dublin press.
Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has pressed Ireland’s anxieties about ongoing trade talks with Mercosur with agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos who was most receptive to Ireland’s position, reports the Dublin media.
Mercosur negotiations and Ireland’s share of the EU agriculture spending are seen as the main challenging demands for the new Agriculture minister of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government in Dublin.
Leaders of Ireland’s three main parties pledged on Monday to oppose any trade deal with Mercosur countries which could damage Irish exports if EU standards of production are not adhered to, reports the Irish Times.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 22.5 billion Euros loan for Ireland and said it was open to re-negotiating parts of the bailout package with a new government provided its overall targets were adhered to.
Ireland's parliament on Wednesday approved (81 to 75) a multi-billion Euro EU/IMF bailout package in the face of opposition threats to renegotiate the deal to force losses on some senior bondholders in Irish banks.