Phone monopoly: breaking up is easy to do

Apart from the Budget, a number of issues which emerged this week, with the continued impasse over the Northern peace process…

Apart from the Budget, a number of issues which emerged this week, with the continued impasse over the Northern peace process, were raised in the Dail and outside.

The temperature was upped by Dick Spring's weekend comments that, in his opinion, the matter was stalemated. Bertie Ahern was quite adamant in response that this was not the case but he did concede that decommissioning still dogs progress.

He seemed to be putting it up to republican and other paramilitaries on Tuesday when he indicated that he agreed that David Trimble could not put together an executive without some give in this area.

It would appear from this and other comments that the Government accepts that "some decommissioning" must occur. This would suggest even token decommissioning would suffice.

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The hype over Senator Mitch- ell's visit didn't deliver a breakthrough from that quarter: he was quite clearly not getting involved again. The Rev Ian Paisley was in his normal fine form, not in any way showing his years.

All of us in here hope and pray some sense of realism will prevail in the few days before the festive season. Drapier feels some injection of festive goodwill would not go amiss. While the original deadline has been missed, Drapier feels, from what Bertie says, the matter cannot go into the New Year unresolved.

The Government is fighting a rearguard action on the abolition of duty-free. Readers might remember that in 1991, under none other than Bertie Ahern, then Finance Minister, the Irish signed off on this issue as a quid pro quo for greater integration with Europe. To overturn this decision, unanimity is needed and this is proving to be very difficult.

Having said that, they now appear to have some fairly formidable allies in Germany, France and Britain. This is yet another example of a deadline (or the evil day) being put off into the far future. Just like decommissioning, those who made the decision in 1991 on duty-free were batting the fateful day off into the future.

Now the evil day is upon us and the closer it gets the more nervous member-states get. But Drapier wishes the Government well and feels it has many precedents on its side. Isn't it a case that under the Schengen Agreement on production of passports and moving from one member-state to the other, a number of countries, including Ireland and Britain, were able to opt out. Perhaps this could be extended to the duty-free issue.

What reminded Drapier of this similarity was the fact that on the 9 p.m. RTE news on Tuesday he thought he noticed Minister of State Martin Cullen, who was in Europe making our duty-free case, produce a passport at the passport control desk in the airport departure area.

Another issue welcome to us all is the greater competition in telecommunications. Esat was out quickly with its new deal and Drapier can envisage plenty of future competition.

This has proven to be the case in the mobile phone area and Drapier thinks landline competition will be no different.

The fact that it is now "given" that competition is welcome in an area like telecommunications is a huge turnaround from yesteryear. Time was any mention of chipping away at the semi-state monopoly would be politically unwise. Now, even the left and particularly the New Left of Labour and Democratic Left are hardly making any protests. Even Fianna Fail previously jealously guarded the semi-state structure but now it is rejoicing in Rupert Murdoch-type economics.

Charlie McCreevy's Budget was predictable. True to his word he kept under the 4 per cent spending limit - at least on his own calculations. As Charlie has always said, he is his own man and this is no different whether he is high up in the backbenches or in his present exalted position.

In a media interview this week he quoted the fact that on his appointment Ray MacSharry, a previous Minister, rang him to wish him well but added that he would find it more difficult now there's money around than when MacSharry was Minister with no money.

After all he said about them, Charlie succumbed to the farmers' lobby. The strength of that lobby group is proven again. Going on McCreevy's comments a few weeks ago, it seemed they had little or no chance, and while they might not be shouting it from the rooftops they probably are happy they have finally got their foot in the door with an acknowledgment by Government that their increasingly unviable situation must be assisted by the State.

Proinsias de Rossa and others may very well hold the valid view that farmers are not a special case and therefore should not be bailed out by the taxpayer. Drapier can envisage adverse comment about this over the next few weeks, but don't expect any changes either from the Government or the major opposition parties in that all of them over the years have succumbed to the farmers.

McCreevy's Budget generally left all of us gobsmacked with the distance he went to change the tax system.

It had been suggested he would just indicate he intended to change things but very few, friend, foe or the media, had any clue he would go so far. The Opposition parties were clearly shocked and reverted to the cry that Charlie had done a U-turn and just copied their tax views.

They also attacked Charlie's social welfare proposals, while the Government countered by saying the social welfare increases were bigger than ever; not enough, said the Opposition. What did you do when you were in government, retorted the Government. And so it goes.

Brendan McGahon had us all laughing when he clapped heartily during and after Charlie's speech. He and his bosom pal McCreevy were delighted at the betting tax changes. Why wouldn't they, being great men for the gee-gees?