Irelands Most Influential 100, 2009

We asked an informed and not unrepresentative group to list who they think are the most influential people in Ireland; and to rank them unattributably. We did not seek to influence contributors’ view of what “influential” means, except to say that it extends beyond politics and perhaps embraces “making a difference in society”; and that the candidates must be alive. The contributors did not express any views on the merits of the people they ranked. We aggregated the contributions mathematically to form the list below.

Editorial: Sidelining our Influential Clowns

A society that does not learn from its mistakes is condemned to repeat them. Ireland was a poor country, generated a once-in-a-century boom during our lifetimes and allowed itself to be hijacked by corrupt and cute right-wing solipsists.  The self-obsessed – the financiers, the bankers, the politicians, the economists,  the estate agents and the builders, betrayed us.  They were egged on by a compliant media.They had their moment, showed their definitive incompetence and now they should lie low. The characteristic immorality and incompetence of these sectors should deny them a hearing on policy for a generation. But that is not how we do it: those who so completely botched their vision and their predictions remain at the reins, feted, and payrolled. It is as if we have no sense of discredit.  

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