The Front Pages
Surprisingly good news on the Irish Independent front page for a change this morning, as Taoiseach Brian Cowen is hoping to create up to 30,000 construction jobs from a ‘multi-billion euro investment in school building, public transport and the retro-fitting of houses’. The Independent’s headline reads ‘Jobs pledge as Cowen puts €39b to work.’
The Taoiseach also claimed yesterday that a further 270,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created in the next isx years due to the planned investment. The Independent also follow up their headline with further editorial comment on the importance of the investment, and that it ‘must work’ for the sake of the country.
The Irish Times reports a similar story on today’s front page, but taken from a different slant – ‘Rail projects in Dublin spared in revised €39bn plan.’ Also mentioning the €39 billion capital investment plan, the Times focused on the prioritising of major rail projects such as Dublin’s new metro system and underground Dart interconnector.
Taking a more cautious approach, the Times also mentions that large-scale projects such as a new prison at Thorton Hall in north Dublin, and a new railway line to Navan, Co. Meath, have all been postponed.
