Who is popular today?

Energy prices are to remain unpredictable over the coming months and the Government is unable to simply “fix” the situation for domestic consumers, Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan has said.
Mr Ryan is due to bring a package of measures to Government this week as moves are under way to assist households with spiralling energy and cost of living expenses.
It comes as inflation is forecast to surge to 8.5 per cent or higher in the coming months, a situation last encountered in the 1980s. It reached 6.9 per cent in March, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Of a €2 billion package designed to help families and businesses navigate inflation, Mr Ryan said the priority was to assist those most at risk of fuel poverty, while there will be further universal measures such as reducing the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy on energy bills to zero.
“We’re going to have to do a lot more because we don’t know the duration of this war . . the international markets are for gas and oil and coal are causing this problem. And we can’t completely fix that,” he said.
However, the Minister warned that some measures would require thought and could take time to implement. “It will take time to get it right,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme on Monday.
Energy efficiency
Amid ongoing uncertainty around Russia’s war in Ukraine, and how long it may last, Mr Ryan said there would be a co-ordinated focus on energy efficiency throughout Europe. The traditional reliance on Russian fossil fuels has brought renewed emphasis on the importance for Ireland to have its own resources – including wind, solar and biomass.
The department will attempt to accelerate measures to help people save on their energy costs, said Mr Ryan. Various measures will include time of day energy use that could bring immediate savings.
“What we will be doing is, in the coming weeks an initial suite of measures,” he said. “ Some of those target very specifically at helping particular homes, others very much changing the planning or regulatory or market system, helping people who are in debt difficulty, making sure that we are doing all the things that gets them out of difficulty.”
Grants of up to 80 per cent for between 500,000 to 700,000 homes for better insulation could mean savings of up to 25 per cent in bills and there needed to be a focus on that now, he said.
Unpredictability
The unpredictability of the energy prices was emphasised by Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, who told Newstalk Breakfast on Monday the Government was unable to “make things normal”.
At the core of the Government’s efforts will be measures to help people pay their bills and to provide assistance “in difficult times,” he said.
As well as financial solutions such as the introduction of a €200 energy credit, which the Government said would be applied this month, practical suggestions and advice are expected to form part of the overall Government response.
The Green Party leader, among his list of forthcoming proposed measures, is expected to encourage people to take shorter showers and cut out one car journey a week to help reduce energy bills.
Other tips expected as part of a public awareness campaign are to avoid filling a kettle to the top if it is not needed and to turn down the thermostat by a degree.
Mr Ryan is expected to tell Cabinet of plans to axe PSO from October, the levy charged to all energy consumers at an annual cost of about €57.
On Sunday, the Minister said he would look at extending the fuel heating season as part of budget negotiations and examine heavier taxes on SUV-style vehicles.