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1. Leonard Cohen, singer-songwriter and poet, dies at the age of 82
Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has died at age 82, a statement on his Facebook page said.
“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” a statement on the Facebook page said. “We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”
The statement did not provide further details on Cohen's death, and representatives for the singer could not be reached immediately for comment. It said a memorial was planned in Los Angeles, where Cohen had lived for many years.
2. Hillary Clinton spotted hiking on day after conceding US election
An upstate New York woman, hoping to take her mind off of the US election results with a hike through the woods of Westchester County, bumped into another woman on Thursday with a presumably similar notion: Hillary Clinton.
Margot Gerster of White Plains wrote on Facebook that she ran into an unexpected couple on the trail: the former secretary of state and her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
“I heard a bit of rustling coming towards me and as I stepped into the clearing there she was, Hillary Clinton and Bill with their dogs doing exactly the same thing as I was,” Gerster wrote.
“I got to hug her and talk to her and tell her that one of my most proudest moments as a mother was taking [my daughter]with me to vote for her.”
[ Trump adviser says many US companies will now leave Ireland ]
Large numbers of US companies will leave Ireland and relocate to the US to take advantage of a new corporate tax regime which the new presidency will put in place, a senior adviser to Donald Trump has said.
Stephen Moore, one of a group of senior economic advisers to the president-elect, said on BBC Radio that the centrepiece economic plan of the new administration was wooing back multinationals from overseas, involving a cut in the headline corporation tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.
Such a move would potentially threaten significant numbers of jobs in Ireland, where the rate is 12.5 per cent, but senior corporate advisers here say they do not believe established companies will leave.
4. Irish Embassy arranged Trump-Kenny call through associates of Rudy Giuliani
The Irish Embassy in Washington ensured Enda Kenny was the first EU leader to speak to US president-elect Donald Trump by arranging it through associates of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Giuliani was one of Mr Trump's top campaigners leading up to the Manhattan businessman's shock presidential election victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Tuesday and is tipped for a US cabinet post.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke with Trump on Wednesday (early on Thursday Irish time) in a call that was set up through one of the Irish Embassy’s long-standing Republican contacts in Washington who has strong connections with Mr Giuliani, a source told The Irish Times.
[ ‘Overcorrection’ in house prices since financial crash ]
Irish house prices have overcorrected since the property crash in 2008 and resulted in an “artificially low” tax take from the sector, according to a paper from the ESRI.
The research concluded that “housing-related taxes can be expected to recover quite significantly over the medium-term”. The ESRI authors said this would have implications for the formulation of budgetary policy and the manner in which the structural budget balance is estimated.
The ESRI said its results indicate that current estimates of the structural deficit might be overstated due to a failure to adequately capture housing market developments.