I agree with most of your post but I do think we overplay the education point here. The heads of a number of US multinationals have come out recently and companies about the standard of graduates. Ask a German, Swiss, Dutch of American engineer about the great Irish engineers and they will laugh at you. I’m not saying we’re useless but we are nothing special. I know the teachers unions have peddled the “world class education system” rubbish for years in order to justify their gargantuan salaries and holidays and their Lilliputian hours but we all know why they did that.