Qik News

A LOT OF IRISH PAPERS suggest the economy has not started a recovery from the massive damage inflicted by the property bubble and that sentiment comes through in the Sunday Times today. It's easy to find stories related to the current recession and to the related virtue of frugality. The lead story from the Sunday Times concerns millions of euro paid out to help consumers find the lowest prices. It earns its blaring headline because the National Consumer Agency is known as a quango and it has been identified for elimination by cost-cutting experts. Do Irish consumers need to have a government agency advertising how to save money? That's one of the remits of the organisation and it's delivering on its charter, spending money for prominent advertisements in order to get the word out. For that, the organisation gets a lead story. The frugality theme continues throughout the paper with items on student accommodation, rail travel, arts cuts and a waste incinerator. I've also classified Eoin Purcell's excellent Think Tank item (below) under the category of frugality.

Qik_News

I've cited nearly every item that featured in the Qik clip that I made of my view of today's Sunday Times. Although the innovation category looks limited, I haven't recorded a view of the Sunday Business Post but I know Adrian Weckler spotlighted some very clever items in his column and in Computers in Business this week. I've also started taking long bets on several items, some cited below.

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#ethics

Mark Tighe -- "HSE director facing probe over conflicts" in the News section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Justine McCarthy -- "In all honesty, O'Dea's perjury is a sad sign of our lying times" in the Comment section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

#frugality

Mark Tighe -- "Fury over quango's big PR bill" on the front page of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Editorial -- "Cowen must push on with incinerator" in the Sunday Times comment pages, 7 Feb 10.

Eithne Shortall --"Arts groups face shut-down and job cuts after funding slashed" in the News section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Stephen Dunne -- "Domestic air travel cheaper than rail fare" in the News section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Gabrielle Monaghan -- "Students offerd luxury living" in the News section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Mark Tighe -- "Cracks in Mellon's charity" is the Focus article of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Eoin Purcell -- "Bookshops are lost in the Amazon" is the Think Tank article, 7 Feb 10.

#innovation

Joe Drumgoole -- "Give tech start-ups more money" in the CIB News, Computers in Business, Feb 10.

#longbet

Mark Paul -- "Irish Times in website talks" in the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

Barry O'Sullivan -- "Prime out pupils for the smart economy" in the Parent Power section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10. 

Ray Hutton -- "Electric cars line up on the grid for Paris street race" in the Energy and Environment section of the Sunday Times, 7 Feb 10.

#recession

Eamonn Lacey -- "Outrage as special needs pupils lose assistants" on the front page of the Nationalist, 4 Feb 10.

Sian Molooughney -- "South Tipp needs €5m to repair damaged roads" in the News section of the Nationalist, 4 Feb 10.

#technology

Adrian Weckler -- "Business Apps: A Must-Have Guide" is the cover story of Computers in Business, Feb 10.

William Langeswiesche -- "Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the 'Miracle' on the Hudson" ISBN 978-0141046747, Penguin Press.

Direct link to video clip: http://www.qik.com/video/4779811 and to 13-minute audio clip

Last Week: "Qik Sunday News"

One Year Ago: "Irish Jobs Polish Jobs" in a Newshour segment I helped set up.

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