In the 20 months I was business editor at the Sunday Tribune, I was privileged to work with some superb reporters, subeditors and photographer. I’m glad we paid attention to topics before most others did in the Irish market. In particular, we paid serious and sustained attention to Dublin’s relationship to the US subprime crisis beginning back in March 2007, culminating in Jon Ihle’s still-controversial scoop of 2 September. Our attention to the Irish angle on the biggest financial story in our lifetime is not something I regret, even though a lot of vested interests began whispering. I was even quietly brought for coffee with a well-known Dublin PR, who explained to me that as far as Dublin’s banking community was concerned, the very act of asking questions about Ireland’s regulatory environment was the same thing as making accusations.

I am also proud of the sustained attention we paid to the Business of Green. The private sector is going to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to dealing climate change, and we paid more attention to the issue, earlier, than any other Irish business section.

We were not afraid to call attention to Ireland’s attitudes towards migrant workers, or highlight that a lot of US firms are thinking about reducing or eliminating altogether jobs in Ireland.

And I’m proud of the story that drew attention to the naked hypocrisy of property interests, mindlessly talking up a market despite what they know to be true.

Below I’ve linked to 10 stories with which I’m particularly happy to be associated.

Financial Regulator knew Ormond Quay risks three years ago
2 September 2007
Jon Ihle’s important story that asked what Irish regulators knew about the Dublin-listed subprime spectacular that is still reverberating through the German financial sytem.

Half of US Firms Consider Part Pullout
20 May 2007
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland commissioned a survey by Indecon about attitudes at US multinationals. But for some reason they didn’t want to release the most significant finding - that nearly half of US firms were considering at least some job cuts.

Immigrants make up 78% of construction job cuts
9 September 2007
A story that was right there but few other business pages seemed interested in.

Concern about ACC lending frenzy
5 November 2006
Bill Tyson’s short-listed scoop about orgiastic selling at ACC Bank.

O’Brien says Ryanair bid would be “a disaster”
8 October 2006
Denis O’Brien, less than a month after he resigns from a bunch of Irish corporate boards but also in the middle of the Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus, decides to take a few press questions after a business breakfast in Dublin at 7.30 on a Friday morning. Why would O’Brien be doling out advice to Aer Lingus employees? We went big with the story. The next week O’Brien bought up enough Aer Lingus shares to halt O’Leary/Ryanair momentum towards control. We’re still not sure why - the ad about flights to Malta alluding to O’Brien’s tax residency there? Or did O’Leary really steal O’Brien’s car parking space at GPA?

Ryanair worst carbon offender
30 September
Someday soon, the average investor will demand to know a company’s carbon exposure - if nothing else because it will eventually affect the shareprice. We got carbon audit firm Trucost to look at top Irish public companies. It’s not perfect - particualrly the Tribune’s website version, which I note is still uncorrected, starting with DCC at number 1 instead of its real ranking, 11. But carbon disclosure is quickly becoming a mainstream investment issue. We were there first.

RTE and TV3 look set to miss as YouTube and Joost ready landmark video-content deals
17 June 2007
Our intern Jeff Moskowitz, with a little help, scooped a little story that Google was hoping to save for the following week at a big to-do in Paris.

Subprime loans could mean trouble at home
18 March 2007
Our first piece really looking at how the US subprime crisis might affect events here.

Irish-listed subprime debt threatens pensions
15 July 2007

Irish-listed CDOs are downgraded
22 July 2007