With his ‘Liberation Day’ war on global economics, a tariff-fest which has undermined global stock and bond markets, as well as taking on China and setting off a tit-for-tat intensification that could heap significant damage on the world economy, the US president has merely raised questions about the competence of him and those around him.

Instead of securing economic independence for his country, he has baffled mainstream economists, alarmed foreign policy analysts, and almost certainly stolen US credibility as an honest broker and friendly partner.

Indeed, like ill-fated British prime minister Liz Truss, his drastic reshaping of the domestic economic model caused market panic and fuelled a tsunami of warnings about the long-term consequences of his actions.

The parallels end there, as the British establishment forced Truss to resign after 50 days in office, while it seems that, with Trump — just over a fortnight shy of 100 days in the Oval Office — there is nobody in Washington with the power or the inclination to force him to change tack.

While Truss was reined in by a combination of parliament, the Conservative Party, and the media, it remains to be seen what combination of politics, personalities, and media pressure can force Trump to plot a difference course — if there is any. While similarities between the two are many, their eventual fate may be different.

What both have illustrated clearly is that a crisis of confidence in both administrations went a long way towards damning the economies of both countries.

Both seem disconnected from any relevant policies and, in Trump’s case, a complete lack of competence or strategy to carry out his aims. But who’s going to stop him?

Beefing up Irish security

The chatter in the past seven days about Irish telecommunications and energy security in the face of mounting Russian malevolence has moved on from the simple conundrum of how such protections would influence Irish neutrality to actually stopping the malign intent of foreign actors.

A decision by the Government to join a European maritime intelligence network is nothing that will contravene the terms of our military independence, but perhaps it may prevent other countries from taking advantage of it.

There has been a huge amount of discussion about our ability to protect vital gas links with Britain and Europe, and equally important telecommunications and technological cables, in the face of the presence in Irish waters of Russian navy vessels.

On our own, we would find it incredibly difficult to do anything about it should any of those vessels in any way harm those pipelines and cables. With help from European partners, it would be a different matter.

The level of threat is such that Tánaiste and defence minister Simon Harris has ordered his officials to speed up the planned purchases of sonar and radar technology.

Yesterday, Ireland also became a member of the Common Information Sharing Environment in order to boost our maritime surveillance capabilities. As a member of the network, Ireland will join Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Finland — countries with equally substantial coastlines, to receive and share intelligence on suspicious shipping.

Last week, the Viktor Leonov — a Soviet-era intelligence gathering ship — spent 36 hours in Ireland’s exclusive economic zone waters, being shadowed by our air corps and naval service. 

Its duties and functions remain unclear, but it is certain the crew were not simply enjoying the balmy weather.

Shared intelligence about vessels of interest and other actors entering our waters is vital for our security. The initiative can only bolster an existing network that can only be best described as ‘fragile’.

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Rory McIlroy

For a man recognised among his peers as being among the most gifted golfers of his era, Rory McIlroy finally sealed his legacy late on Sunday night at Augusta, Georgia, by winning a play-off against Justin Rose to secure his first Masters victory and complete a career grand slam of major victories.

It had been a long time coming. In the near 11 years since his last major victory at the USPGA at Valhalla in Kentucky in August 2014, the man from Hollywood, Co Down, struggled to add to the four titles he had won to that point.

Winning the Masters on Sunday, after he had imploded there in 2011 when he enjoyed a five-shot lead in the final round, led to tears more of relief than joy.

The support he enjoyed from the Augusta crowd, as well as that of an entire country, his fellow professionals, and anyone with a beating sporting heart, all combined with his own talent and desire to restore him to a personal pinnacle many thought beyond him at this stage of his career.

Although McIlroy has enjoyed many other victories and established a financial grounding many would envy, a fifth major success had eluded him until Sunday’s dramatic final round, making this as much a personal triumph as a professional one.

And his story is an object lesson for any young person chasing their personal dreams. “Believe in your dreams,” he said afterwards, “because if you work hard enough and if you put the effort in, you can achieve anything you want.”

Sage advice, notable not only for its prescience, but its validity.