Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ministur for Edukation

"I am not completely incompetent." - Mary Coughlan
 

Last week when musing over the Innovation policy announced by Cowen I wondered how a man incapable of innovation could launch a policy on that topic.

 

I have to admit that the big yin has proven all doubters wrong. If innovation is fresh, unexpected thinking then the moving of Mary Coughlan into education is innovative to say the least.

 

The knowledge economy will be spearheaded by a minister who thinks Einstein came up with the theory of evolution.

 

A minister who Paul Curley, chief executive of Norkom Technologies, said there was a cringe factor around her on trade visits abroad.

Remember last June former Intel boss Craig Barrett spoke at the Farmleigh summit on Ireland's economic future. He put the boot in and told the govt. to stop pretending we have a world-class education system and face the truth: Ireland is average on education, and average is no longer good enough.

Unless it's the Minister for Education we are talking about in which case average is more than we can hope for and fairly incompetent is what we will get.

Other highlights are Mary Hanafin the minister who we noted refused to honour pensions promised to Farmer's wives (who would have actually worked and earned it) while she herself was building up a 415K pension pot for a job she has not done in decades. She has been bumped out from Social Welfare. Who can have sympathy for her. The cuts she pushed in Social Welfare were the equivalent of the tax breaks given to landlords each year. Yet the poor must pay and the rich may play.

Mary Hanafin still has her pension. Mary Coughlan still has her job.

That's an innovative approach alright.

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