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IT Sunday: Ireland must protect and harness the power of its dream economy

A new chapter in the story of the Stardust fire and David McWilliams ponders the commercialisation of emotions

This week David McWilliams discusses Ireland's dream economy: In Galway alone, the Galway Advertiser estimates that the city’s three major summertime festivals – the Galway Film Fleadh, the Galway International Arts Festival and the Galway Races – attract 375,000 people to the city and generate about €90 million for the local economy. Photograph: Galway Community Circus

Sun Apr 30 2023 - 08:56

Welcome to this week’s IT Sunday, a selection of the best Irish Times journalism for our subscribers.

The big story this week was the opening of the new inquests in the deaths of 48 people in the Stardust fire on Valentine’s Day, 1981. Over the next six months, Dublin coroner Myra Cullinane will preside over the largest inquest into one of the greatest disasters in the State’s history, in the historic Pillar Room, on the grounds of the Rotunda hospital.

Kitty Holland was there on Tuesday, as the families of those who died began to read “pen portraits” of the victims into the record. Kitty also examined how the Northern Ireland inquest model provides the template for the families seeking justice.

Full coverage of the Stardust inquiry can be found here, including a timeline of events and the first of the pen pictures of the deceased.

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In his column this weekend David McWilliams ponders the dream economy, or the commercialisation of emotions, the monetisation of feelings and identity. “Three decades ago Rolf Jensen wrote The Dream Society, which predicted that people’s spending habits were changing. He forecast that people would buy stories, legends, emotion and lifestyle. He was spot on, and the arrival of social media has accelerated that trend. When societies get richer, people move on from necessities to spend on experiences.”

In his Smart Money column, Cliff Taylor looks at the remorseless rise in interest rates which the European Central Bank has pledged will continue until inflation comes under control. As Cliff notes the interest rate rises are designed to “take money out of people’s pockets – because they are repaying more on borrowings – and thus, bring down consumer spending. Higher borrowing costs also slow business investment. And so, demand in the economy falls, there is less money around and inflation eases back.” Where it gets complicated, he notes, is when inflation gets embedded as with necessary items such as food or energy which in turn drives higher wage demands, “a red flag for central banks”.

When it comes to your own finances, Fiona Reddan has looked into how much it can cost if your home is underinsured. Due to rising construction costs, “there are growing fears that as many as one in six home insurance policyholders across the State are underinsured, meaning that if they are faced with a claim, they may have to pay a substantial portion of the costs from their own pockets.”

This week’s On the Money, our personal finance newsletter, deals with what you need to know about the merits of putting in place an enduring power of attorney. “Old age or infirmity can make people feel very insecure. Part of the reason is that you are more likely to find yourself in a position with very suddenly reduced capacity to retain your full independence and make your own decisions. That is why people are advised to make a will earlier in life. Less well known, but possibly even more important, is considering an enduring power of attorney. This is a legal document that sets out clearly whom you would like to help you make decisions about your life – everything from where you live and your activities to management of your finances – if you find yourself in a position where you are unable to do so because of reduced physical or mental capacity.” Sign up here to receive On The Money straight to your inbox every Friday.

Meanwhile, Brianna Parkins writes about the challenges facing Irish people when they decide to uproot their lives and move back to the auld sod. “While those returning might think they’ve lived through the worst of eye-wateringly expensive cities such as Sydney, Toronto and Singapore and think they can handle Ireland, many are still left unprepared by Ireland’s supply issue – where house prices, interest rates and mortgage restrictions have dominated the headlines over the last couple of years.” There are more problems than just housing however, as Brianna explains.

Staying with matters financial, but on a much bigger scale, Fintan O’Toole is struggling to understand how Ireland can be both filthy rich – thanks to its astronomical corporation tax windfall due in the coming years – and at the same time utterly bankrupt in ideas and ambitions?

“The State is a half-arsed alchemist. It has somehow cracked the secret formula for transmuting the base metal of an underdeveloped society into bucketloads of shiny bullion. The problem is that it seems able only to perform the trick in one direction only. It can’t turn those heaps of gold back into the tangible currency of a decent and sustainable prosperity,” he writes.

In her weekly column from Brussels, Europe Correspondent Naomi O’Leary describes how the aftermath of the Russian assault on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol has been captured by a new update of Google Maps. The before and after photos show the extent of the damage inflicted. “The roof is gone, the charred skeleton of the theatre’s internal structure laid bare to the skies, one wall subsiding into a pile of rubble and dust on the pavement. Clearly visible from the air, the word “дети” is written in huge white letters in front of the theatre: the Russian word for “children”.”

In her column this week relationships expert Roe McDermott deals with a query from a woman about a man she met through online dating six months ago. “Is there any chance the guy I’m casually dating can become more? He has already called things off twice. The first time it was early days and when I asked why he literally could not give me answer. He then asked to see me again and I agreed because I felt we had something. Is this a hopeless case?”

In the All-Ireland championships, Malachy Clerkin writes that Clare’s win over Limerick in the hurling has given the summer new life. It was the holders’ first championship defeat since 2019. Today, Galway travel to Nowlan Park to face Kilkenny. This week, Ciaran Murphy wrote about Galway’s landmark victory there in 2019 which turned into one of the few times a side who were playing well fell foul of the provincial round-robin system. He writes that for all the bellyaching about how tough it is, in reality, the teams that have missed out have usually been playing terribly.

Leinster comfortable saw off Toulouse in their hotly anticipated Champions Cup semi-final yesterday. From Gerry Thornley’s match report, to player ratings and a look at the sin-binning that proved pivotal, we have all the angles covered Leo Cullen’s side will find out later today which of Exeter and Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle they will face in the final.

Corinna Hardgrave reviews Eleven in Loughlinstown, where 777′s John Farrell has married his formula of cocktails and smart service with a focus on wood-burned grills.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest match reports and analysis in sport. There are plenty more articles too, including a short story from author Donal Ryan, exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.

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