We have heard little, for example, of Nicola Sturgeon since her days as the leader of Scotland. And nothing at all since the UK Supreme Court rejected the ideas and constructs contained in her prolonged campaign to redefine the legal status of gender.

Then there is Jacinda Ardern, the 40th prime minister of New Zealand, and its youngest until she resigned in 2023 after six years in charge. 

Since then, save some desultory contributions to Instagram, including promotion for her forthcoming book, A Different Kind of Power, there has been nothing of public substance from someone who said she gave up office because she “no longer had enough in the tank”.

In the US, amid the storm and stress of the first 100 days of the Donald Trump presidency which will be marked this coming Wednesday, there is scant profile for former president Joe Biden. 

And barely more so for the defeated candidate Kamala Harris, apart from the suggestion that she might run for the governorship of California.

A gubernatorial campaign may be a more prudent choice than sticking around to take on the Republicans for the presidency in 2028. 

To fight effectively then would require an open acknowledgement of what the Democrats got wrong. Silence doesn’t cut it.

This week, The New York Times hosted a meeting of four strategists who contributed to the successful election of Bill Clinton in 1992. 

You would need to be of a certain age to recall that the Democrats looked dead in the water at that time, having lost four consecutive elections to Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.

Contemporary hopes appear equally grisly with only 27% of Americans holding a favourable view. 

Voters, say the experts, have returned to the sentiments of the 1970s and 80s, when the party was seen as “too liberal, untrustworthy on inflation and spending, and out of touch — culturally and economically — with middle-class and working-class Americans”.

In a year of elections, it has not been axiomatic that all governments have fallen. 

In Ireland, India, Denmark, Japan, and Spain there has been continuity. 

In France, Emmanuel Macron’s snap poll last summer added instability while avoiding outright defeat in the National Assembly, for now.

Two major democracies give their verdicts within a week on the hostilities released into the world by Donald Trump.

On Monday, Canadians will decide who is to follow Justin Trudeau, a decision which once appeared copper-bottomed for the Conservatives, who were 25 points ahead in the polls. 

Since the arrival of noisy neighbours, the most likely choice is the Liberals and former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

In Australia, which votes next Saturday, the hopes of its Conservative leader Peter Dutton have been holed by Maga-style policies including a potential crackdown on working holidaymakers, a benefit much enjoyed by visitors from Ireland.

The prime minister, Labor’s Anthony Albanese, has seen his support recover from -6 to +9.

A professor of politics at the Australian National University observed: “Trump has emerged as the third candidate in this election campaign.”

By this time next week, political leaders on the right in Ottawa and Canberra might be wondering whether they really needed friends like these.

Generous redundancy terms a case study in the inequity of Irish society

If you are one of those who likes to point to the difference between what is often sceptically known as “Official Ireland” and the rest of us, then the redundancy terms made available at RTÉ contribute an affirming case study.

That the national broadcaster is in trouble is well known, as are many of the reasons and weaknesses which have contributed to its predicament. Failures of governance and a certain flexibility, to put it at its mildest, in financial controls have produced a loss of public confidence.

At the same time, audiences are migrating to streaming platforms.

The programme announced this week, which is underwritten by the taxpayer, is an attempt to put matters on a more even keel. 

The four-year plan aims to reduce staffing by 20% and take the workforce down by 400 from its current establishment of 1,700.

RTÉ is far from the first media organisation to grapple with this challenge in what is proving a turbulent first three decades of this century. 

And companies and employment under risk is not confined to publicly-funded players whose market has moved.

RTÉ has operated in various guises since broadcasting commenced in 1926.

Intel, one of the founders of the digital age, which employs more than 5,000 staff in Ireland, is looking to reduce its own costs by more than €1bn globally.

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst is struggling with a problem which will be well known to chief executives, chief financial officers, and owners around the world — delivering substantial payroll savings to bring the cost base down below the revenues.

What is not so familiar to many is the scope he has to operate.

In Ireland, the statutory redundancy payment is a lump sum based on your pay and length of service. 

If you have been employed for two years, you will be eligible for two weeks’ pay for every year of service, plus an additional week’s pay.

The maximum amount used to calculate redundancy pay is €600 a week (or €31,200 a year), even if your pay is more per week.

The terms being offered at RTÉ are somewhat different, more in keeping with Celtic Tiger Ireland, and labelled by some as a “megabucks” offer.

On the table at Donnybrook will be propositions that staff with two to five years’ service will be entitled to four weeks’ pay per year; those with five to 10 years will qualify for five weeks per year; while those with over 10 years’ service will receive six weeks’ pay per year. Payouts will be capped at €300,000.

Applications will be received until May 23, with approved members to leave the broadcaster by the end of 2025. Staff under the age of 55 may qualify for redundancy, while those aged 55 can obtain early retirement.

Some reports indicate that RTÉ expects a “stampede” for the first 100 voluntary redundancies.

While Mr Bakhurst makes the usual noises about these terms not becoming available again, many people in other industries may be wishing that they had a similarly generous, or even roughly comparable, offer to help them through times of transition.