Business Opinion: As a courtesy to our readers who have only just returned from the summer holidays, Business Opinion is pleased to offer a brief overview of the events of August, otherwise known as the silly season. Pay attention and you will avoid looking foolish as you venture out onto the lunch circuit once again.
The good news is that little has changed and the country continues to give all the appearances of being run by an unholy cabal of trade unions and lawyers.
The latest examples of trade union muscle-flexing came towards the end of August when the Government was forced to back-track on its moratorium on new buses for Dublin Bus pending the introduction of competition. One quick strike threat later and Minster for Transport Martin Cullen had collapsed like a house of cards.
A similar lack of backbone was on display as Aer Lingus limped to the starting line for its IPO last week having conceded a 14.9 per cent stake to its workers and over €100 million for the pension fund.
The Aer Lingus unions have also sought - and got - two seats on the company board. David Begg, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, will join the board, but not until after the flotation.
Presumably having the country's most powerful trade unionist as a director is not quite in keeping with the image that Aer Lingus is seeking to project as it trawls the financial markets for investor money this month.
The union's other appointee, Michael Johns, has joined the board already. He is the employee share ownership trust's (Esot) legal adviser and a partner in UK law firm Ashurst. He brings to three the number of solicitors on the board of the airline. The other two are O'Donnell Sweeney managing partner Francis Hackett and the supremely well-connected Ivor Fitzpatrick, founding partner of the eponymous firm.
There may not be that many people on the Aer Lingus board who know their A330s from their A320s, but they will not go short of advice on who to sue if the paint starts to peel on one of them.
The game of trumps that passes for Irish property investment in the UK continued last month. First out of the traps were Deirdre Foley and David Arnold's D2, which paid £72 million (€107 million) for 15 HBOS branches in UK regional centres. They were quickly followed by the Cosgrove brothers who stumped £281 million for a shopping centre in Romford, Essex
But the bragging rights for last month go to über-lawyer Brian O'Donnell, whose Vico Capital paid €252 million for the Sanctuary Buildings in Westminster - five minutes from the House of Commons and with a full-blown secretary of state for a tenant.
Anyone wondering how a lawyer can afford such a purchase should look no further than the Aer Lingus flotation were law firm William Fry is firmly on the gravy train as advisers to the Government. O'Donnell is a former managing partner of Frys.
Nearly all of Dublin's top law firms have their snouts to some extent or another in the Aer Lingus trough, where the number of advisers now stands at something in excess of three dozen and still growing by the day.
Another field day for the lawyers beckons following the unveiling last week by the Dublin Airport Authority of its plans for a second terminal, which they have admitted is over budget before the planning permission has even been lodged.
The source of money to pay for the €395 million building appears to be something of a mystery to everybody, including the DAA themselves. The whole project is based on an increase in passenger charges that the aviation regulator has told them that they cannot have. But still they press on.
If you really want to get a handle on the extent of the act of madness currently being contemplated by the DAA, you should bear in mind that it has left Michael O'Leary dumbstruck .
The voluble Ryanair chief executive has not uttered a word since the DAA drew back the curtains on its plans last week and - in a by-the-way fashion - pointed out that Ryanair passengers will pay the new higher charges but have to use the shabby old terminal. The bright spanking new one is reserved for Aer Lingus and some other nice airlines. The good news is that O'Leary appears to be getting over his shock and has called a press conference for this morning. It is shaping up to be a vintage performance.
One of the many people looking with interest must have been Brian Cowen, the Minister for Finance. Most months - August seems to have been something of an exception to the rule - Cowen gives at least one speech in which he bangs on about the need for better value for money.
It usually involves something along the lines of needing to be "putting in place a framework for achieving better value for public expenditure and blah blah blah".
The DAA has clearly not been listening - or simply doesn't care - and one can't believe that the Minister for Finance can be too pleased with what is being contemplated out at Dublin Airport. But presumably the unions and the lawyers are happy.
