Download or read book Brian Cowen written by Jason O'Toole and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-05-27 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Ireland's new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen Despite a high profile at the centre of Irish political life for more than twenty years, relatively little is known about our new leader. Just who is Brian Cowen? The story begins in the village of Clara, Co. Offaly, where family, local life and the GAA were formative influences. The sudden and unexpected death of his father, Ber Cowen, Fianna Fáil TD for Laois Offaly, thrust a twenty-four year-old Cowen into the heart of Irish politics. After an eight-year apprenticeship on the back benches, Cowen was appointed to his first ministerial position by Albert Reynolds and later went on to hold the senior cabinet positions of Health, Foreign Affairs and Finance. By the time of Bertie Ahern's resignation, Cowen's standing in the party was such that his election to the leadership of Fianna Fáil seemed inevitable. On 7 May 2008, Brian Cowen became Ireland's eleventh Taoiseach. Here, for the first time, is a portrait of Brian Cowen which follows his remarkable life story, tracing the road to power from early childhood right up to his eventful early months in the office of An Taoiseach.
Download or read book The Social Life of Coffee written by Brian Cowan and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What induced the British to adopt foreign coffee-drinking customs in the seventeenth century? Why did an entirely new social institution, the coffeehouse, emerge as the primary place for consumption of this new drink? In this lively book, Brian Cowan locates the answers to these questions in the particularly British combination of curiosity, commerce, and civil society. Cowan provides the definitive account of the origins of coffee drinking and coffeehouse society, and in so doing he reshapes our understanding of the commercial and consumer revolutions in Britain during the long Stuart century. Britain’s virtuosi, gentlemanly patrons of the arts and sciences, were profoundly interested in things strange and exotic. Cowan explores how such virtuosi spurred initial consumer interest in coffee and invented the social template for the first coffeehouses. As the coffeehouse evolved, rising to take a central role in British commercial and civil society, the virtuosi were also transformed by their own invention.
Download or read book Elections 2011 written by Seán Donnelly and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-01-21 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete guide to Dáil, Seanad & Presidential elections in Ireland in 2011, including comprehensive background & historical information.
Download or read book Hell at the Gates written by John Lee and published by Mercier Press Ltd. This book was released on 2016-10-14 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 28 November 2010, the Irish government infamously agreed to a bailout from the Troika to save Ireland’s failing economy. This decision had huge and long-lasting social implications for Ireland and her people, and led to the annihilation of Fianna Fáil and its allies in the 2011 general election. In 'Hell at the Gates', Brian Cowen, the late Brian Lenihan, Eamon Ryan, Micheál Martin, Mary Harney and many others, recount for the first time in their own words the inside story behind the actions of the most hated government in living memory. The result is a deeply honest, intensely personal and revelation-strewn account of their experiences in the white heat of an economic meltdown. It reveals the extent to which Cowen and Lenihan’s relationship disintegrated, how members of the government were physically attacked by the public and also gives the definitive account by Micheál Martin himself of why he chose in early 2011 to move against his embattled leader. As Mary O’Rourke said of those days, ‘There was drama, tragedy, pathos, comedy, farce, love and death. It was like a Shakespearean drama.’ John Lee and Daniel McConnell have interviewed the people who were at the coalface of this drama, to produce a gripping account of those fateful days in and around Leinster House.
Download or read book The Course of Irish History written by T. W. Moody and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-09-14 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published over forty years ago and now updated to cover the “Celtic Tiger” economic boom of the 2000s and subsequent worldwide recession, this new edition of a perennial bestseller interprets Irish history as a whole. Designed and written to be popular and authoritative, critical and balanced, it has been a core text in both Irish and American universities for decades. It has also proven to be an extremely popular book for casual readers with an interest in history and Irish affairs. Considered the definitive history among the Irish themselves, it is an essential text for anyone interested in the history of Ireland.
Download or read book Believe in People written by Charles Koch and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2020-11-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A surprising take on how you can help tackle the really big problems in society–from one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs. People are looking for a better way. Towering barriers are holding millions of people back, and the institutions that should help everyone rise are not doing the job. Crumbling communities. One-size fits all education. Businesses that rig the economy. Public policy that stifles opportunity and emboldens the extremes. As a result, this country is quickly heading toward a two-tiered society. Today’s challenges call for nothing short of a paradigm shift – away from a top-down approach that sees people as problems to be managed, toward bottom-up solutions that empower everyone to realize their potential and foster a more inclusive society. Such a shift starts by asking: What would it mean to truly believe in people? Businessman and philanthropist Charles Koch has devoted his life to answering that question. Learn what he’s discovered during his 60-year career to help you apply the principles of empowerment in your life, in your business, and in society. By learning from the social movements and applying the principles that have enabled social progress throughout history, Koch has achieved more than he dreamed possible – building one of the world’s most successful companies and founding Stand Together, one of America’s most innovative philanthropic communities. Stand Together CEO Brian Hooks and Koch show how the only way to solve the really big problems – from poverty and addiction to harmful business practices and destructive public policy – is for each and every one of us to find and take action in our unique role as part of the solution. Full of compelling examples of what works – including several first-person accounts from individuals whose lives have been transformed – Koch and Hooks’ refreshing approach promotes partnership instead of partisanship and speaks to people from different perspectives and all walks of life. They show that no injustice is too tough to overcome if you share a deep belief in people, are willing to unite with anyone to do right, and work to empower others from the bottom up.
Download or read book Se n Quinn written by Seán Quinn and published by Red Stripe Press. This book was released on 2023-10-25 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early years of the twenty-first century, Seán Quinn was considered to be Ireland’s richest man, with a Midas touch: everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. His company owned Ireland’s only glass producers, and one of its biggest insurance companies. The Quinn Group owned pubs, hotels, office complexes and shopping centres across Ireland, Europe and Asia. But between 2007 and 2013, the Quinn Group became one of Ireland’s biggest ever business failures. Seán Quinn became Ireland’s biggest ever bankrupt, and in the winter of 2012–2013 he ended up in jail for nine weeks, having been found in contempt of court. Why did his empire collapse so suddenly, and disastrously? The Quinn businesses had invested heavily in ‘contracts for difference’ (CFDs) in Anglo Irish Bank, a blue-chip company. The failure of the Irish banking system in 2008 eventually led to Quinn’s losses of €3 billion, and to the demise of his business empire, devastating Quinn, his family, and his local community. Many people have already sought to tell the Seán Quinn story, but now, for the first time, Quinn details his side of the story, correcting some of the falsehoods that have been propagated over the past decade or more. In My Own Words encompasses not just the personal, but also the story of his family and company. In this book, Seán Quinn admits his own mistakes, but also seeks to uncover the wrongs that have been committed by other people – some of whom he trusted too much, and some who wanted to use him as a scapegoat for Ireland’s banking crisis. In My Own Words seeks not to complain about Quinn’s fate, but to tell the truth – about what really happened. Seán Quinn is an Irish businessman, best known for founding the Quinn Group. It developed from a small quarrying operation in Derrylin in 1973 into an organisation encompassing manufacturing, insurance, hotels, and real estate, employing over 8,000 people in various locations throughout Europe.
Download or read book A Deal With The Devil written by Mary Minihan and published by Maverick House . This book was released on 2015-01-07 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Green Party struck its “deal with the devil” by entering coalition with Fianna Fáil in 2007. The junior partner secured control of the Environment and Energy ministries, irritating some in the larger party with its pursuit of a ban on stag hunting, the introduction of civil partnerships for same-sex couples and restrictions on planning. An unprecedented crisis in the State's finances, with an exposure of the deeply flawed Irish banking system, shook the party's grassroots and its vote collapsed in the local and European elections in June 2009. The following October, party members threatened to pull out of Government over the controversial National Asset Management Agency (Nama), while senior figures were kept in the dark about the arrival of the IMF in 2010. The Greens dropped a bombshell late that year, demanding a date for an early general election, but stayed in Government in the hope of passing key Green legislation. Controversy over revelations about then Taoiseach Brian Cowen's contacts with Sean Fitzpatrick while he was still Anglo chairman strained relationships further. A bungled reshuffle was aborted at the behest of the Greens, and the “momentous” decision to pull the plug on the Coalition was taken in January 2011. But their three-and-a-half year period in Government cost them dearly at the polls.
Download or read book The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland North and South written by Katy Hayward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ireland’s relationship with the European Union has been determined by the behaviour, actions and discourse of political parties. This book examines this impact through an in-depth analysis of the Europeanization of party politics in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. First, it presents original research on cross-cutting issues that have featured in political debates about European integration, including referendum campaigns on EU treaties, Irish neutrality and party policy positions on the EU. Secondly, it is the first book of its kind to examine in detail how each of the main parties on the island of Ireland has adapted to EU membership. In doing so it both tests the thesis of ‘Europeanization’ and deepens understanding of the impact that EU membership can have on national and sub-national party politics. What this study reveals is that, while Europeanization is clearly evident in all parties in Ireland, including those most critical of European integration, its influence has been strictly curtailed. We argue that the effects of Europeanization in Irish party politics have been limited by enduring resistance to – and conditions placed upon – EU influence in particular policy areas, the importance of pragmatism and (sub-)national priorities in shaping parties’ approaches to European integration and the fact that engagement with the EU continues to be a predominantly elite-led process. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.
Download or read book Fianna F il The End of the Party written by Bruce Arnold and published by Gill & Macmillan Ltd. This book was released on 2011-10-28 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Election of February 2011 will be remembered for the defeat and virtual annihilation of Fianna Fáil. Stripped of power in humiliating circumstances, the party was disgraced, possibly to the point of no return. The story of how this happened is a mixture of farce and tragedy. The collective leadership of the party lost touch with reality and watched, as though mesmerised, while Brian Cowen led them from one catastrophic mistake to another. He was aided in this by Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance, whose mistakes were among the worst ever made by the holder of this crucial office. Fianna Fáil demolished itself in the eyes of the electorate due to its entanglement with property and banking scandals, inept decisions and gross mismanagement of the most profitable time ever enjoyed by the Irish people. Two journalists with inside knowledge of the events and extensive experience of politics over many years have joined their talents to write this gripping story.
Download or read book Parliamentary Assembly Official report of Debates 2000 Ordinary Session Second part Volume II March 2000 written by Council of Europe and published by Council of Europe. This book was released on with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Big Business written by Tyler Cowen and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2019-04-09 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An against-the-grain polemic on American capitalism from New York Times bestselling author Tyler Cowen. We love to hate the 800-pound gorilla. Walmart and Amazon destroy communities and small businesses. Facebook turns us into addicts while putting our personal data at risk. From skeptical politicians like Bernie Sanders who, at a 2016 presidential campaign rally said, “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,” to millennials, only 42 percent of whom support capitalism, belief in big business is at an all-time low. But are big companies inherently evil? If business is so bad, why does it remain so integral to the basic functioning of America? Economist and bestselling author Tyler Cowen says our biggest problem is that we don’t love business enough. In Big Business, Cowen puts forth an impassioned defense of corporations and their essential role in a balanced, productive, and progressive society. He dismantles common misconceptions and untangles conflicting intuitions. According to a 2016 Gallup survey, only 12 percent of Americans trust big business “quite a lot,” and only 6 percent trust it “a great deal.” Yet Americans as a group are remarkably willing to trust businesses, whether in the form of buying a new phone on the day of its release or simply showing up to work in the expectation they will be paid. Cowen illuminates the crucial role businesses play in spurring innovation, rewarding talent and hard work, and creating the bounty on which we’ve all come to depend.
Download or read book Just Mary A Political Memoir From Mary O Rourke written by Mary O'Rourke and published by Gill & Macmillan Ltd. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this memoir Mary O' Rourke writes, with remarkable candidness and humour, of personal and political events; of the many senior political figures with whom she worked, including Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern; of her life with her beloved husband Enda; of her two dear Brians, both of whom died before their time; of her successes and disappointments. She does all this with honesty, energy and an absence of self-pity or self-justification. The book is like the woman herself: open, warm and frank.
Download or read book Resilient Liberalism in Europe s Political Economy written by Vivien A. Schmidt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-08-29 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains why neoliberal economic ideas have not just survived, but thrived since the 1980s - taking Europe from boom to bust.
Download or read book Celtic Revival written by Sean Kay and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2011-08-16 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celtic Revival? explores what happens when a society loses its wealth, its faith in government, and its trust in its Church. The glorious rise of the Celtic Tiger in Ireland was thought by many to be a model for future economic growth for countries around the world; its dramatic crash in 2008 resonated equally widely. Yet despite the magnitude of the ongoing collapse, Sean Kay shows that seen in historical perspective, the crisis is part of a much larger pattern of generations of progress and change. Kay draws on a rich blend of research, interviews with a broad spectrum of Irish society, and his own decades of personal experience to tell the story of Ireland today. He guides the reader through the country's major economic challenges, political transformation, social change, the crisis in the Irish Catholic Church, and the rise of gay rights and multiculturalism. He takes us through the streets of Derry and Belfast to understand the Northern Ireland peace process and the daunting task of peace building that has only just begun. Finally, we see how Irish foreign policy has long been a model for balancing competing interests and values. Kay concludes by highlighting Ireland's lessons for the world and mapping a vital path for twenty-first-century challenges and opportunities for the coming generations in Ireland and beyond.
Download or read book Brian Cowen written by Johnny Fallon and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book based on a study of Cowen's performance and statements in the Dail since 1984.
Download or read book A Little Child Shall Lead Them written by Brian J. Daugherity and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2019-05-28 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the twentieth-century struggle for racial equality, there was perhaps no setting more fraught and contentious than the public schools of the American south. In Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1951, a student strike for better school facilities became part of the NAACP legal campaign for school desegregation. That step ultimately brought this rural, agricultural county to the Supreme Court of the United States as one of five consolidated cases in the historic 1954 ruling, Brown v. Board of Education. Unique among those cases, Prince Edward County took the extreme stance of closing its public school system entirely rather than comply with the desegregation ruling of the Court. The schools were closed for five years, from 1959 to 1964, until the Supreme Court ruling in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County ordered the restoration of public education in the county. This historical anthology brings together court cases, government documents, personal and scholarly writings, speeches, and journalism to represent the diverse voices and viewpoints of the battle in Prince Edward County for—and against—educational equality. Providing historical context and contemporary analysis, this book offers a new perspective of a largely overlooked episode and seeks to help place the struggle for public education in Prince Edward County into its proper place in the civil rights era.
