Sunday Times article on the Irish economy - a fair assessment?

badabing said:

All we have to do is simply get public sector expenditure in line with the rest of Europe and we're singing.

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Do you really think that this is the only problem we have?

This article is a serious case of sour grapes from a country which missed the boom yet is in much deeper trouble than Ireland or any of our EU neighbours.

Will be great to get this article out in 10 years time when the UK is regarded as a second world country.

There is too much focus on the nationality of the writers rather than the contents. Is there anything factually incorrect in the article? For example are criminals a law onto themselves, people commiting suicide, parts of Limerick no go areas, single cigarettes being sold, alcohol abuse being tolerated etc

Bronte said:

There is too much focus on the nationality of the writers rather than the contents. Is there anything factually incorrect in the article? For example are criminals a law onto themselves, people commiting suicide, parts of Limerick no go areas, single cigarettes being sold, alcohol abuse being tolerated etc

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But this was all happening during the boom years too, was it not?

And I dont think its restricted to Limerick / Ireland either!

Didn't read all the previous posts here but did read the article on Sunday. Thought the bit about the shop selling single tea bags was mentioned as if it's a common occurence all over the country. Ok selling single cigarettes when a packet is almost €9 I can see how that would happen because it used to happen but single tea bags?

Also, "celebrity solicitor" Gerald Keane is the last person I would be approaching for a quote on the state of the economy.

It smacked a little of - lets take the heat off the state of the UK for a bit and look at the sh*t that Ireland's in.

tml said:

But this was all happening during the boom years too, was it not?

And I dont think its restricted to Limerick / Ireland either!

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No of course it's not restricted to Limerick but when you think of how relatively 'small' the problem area is in Limerick one wonders why it wasn't sorted out when times were good. I am aware of the new 'proposed' regeneration programme there. Ditto for the health service/system which was not touched upon by the article.

In relation to single cigarettes/teabags. That sort of sale would be normal in 3rd world countries. I think that was the point of it being pointed out in the article. It goes to show how the celtic tiger was wasted and that many were actually left behind. What chance is there now when we can't fund the simple basics like vaccines for cervical cancer etc.

Here is the American view of things!

[broken link removed]

Chocks away said:

Surely some positives have come from the past fifteen years? It's not all doom and gloom

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Where are they??? Other than for the particularly rich who made a fortune and avoided/evaded tax I think everyone else will be back to square one from before the alleged and annoyingly named Celtic Tiger era. Lots of others are way worse off with huge debt if only due to massive unjustifiable prices they paid for things like houses over the last few years! Lifestyles have not improved really in my opinion and those who are working and those who are still in a job for the rest of the year work harder or at least longer hours than ever before. Also the place is definitely not as friendly as pre that era down to a culture of materialism in my opinion and people losing track of teh really important things in life and thinking money (or credit) is God and having as big a mortgage as possible makes you something. Show me the positives.....I cant see any honestly, other than the luas being our first proper transport system and then we could do with around 5 similar systems but now we dont have the money and things like having a proper health system should be the priority its true your health is your wealth and without that we have nothing to start with.

Bronte said:

There is too much focus on the nationality of the writers rather than the contents.

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Totally agree some of the previous comments sound like they're based on the paper being a British/English paper which is ridiculous in this day and age...we're supposed to be educated here for Gods sake!

badabing said:

After the contraction this year, Ireland will still have the 2nd largest GDP per capita after luxembourg according to the economist. All we have to do is simply get public sector expenditure in line with the rest of Europe and we're singing. Easier said than done tho

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Thats a ridiculously general comment when you consider a huge proportion of public servants are on around 20,000 a year (which is always conveniently left out by people who quote average wages of around 300,000 people or whatever it is at the moment) and people on the dole in some cases get very generous rental allowances and over €10,000 for doing nothing, in some cases willingly, to spend whatever way they want... So ridiculously ignorant/provocative comment are two ways this post could be described.

queenlex said:

Thats a ridiculously general comment when you consider a huge proportion of public servants are on around 20,000 a year (which is always conveniently left out by people who quote average wages of around 300,000 people or whatever it is at the moment) and people on the dole in some cases get very generous rental allowances and over €10,000 for doing nothing, in some cases willingly, to spend whatever way they want... So ridiculously ignorant/provocative comment are two ways this post could be described.

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Read the post. He didn't say public sector PAY. He said public sector EXPENDITURE. Maybe he meant cut back on services or cut social welfare

Sunny said:

Read the post. He didn't say public sector PAY. He said public sector EXPENDITURE. Maybe he meant cut back on services or cut social welfare

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We'll see...

The whole rot started when they allowed shops to open on Sundays.

Bronte said:

The whole rot started when they allowed shops to open on Sundays.

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Not sure if you're being tounge in cheek, but I would agree with rolling back opening hours and becoming a little more like our European neighbours.

Ye I agree. Close the shops on Sundays. People have all week to buy things. Less wages to be paid and time off on Sundays for workers to have a life.

tiger said:

Not sure if you're being tounge in cheek, but I would agree with rolling back opening hours and becoming a little more like our European neighbours.

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A bit of both. In another lifetime I worked in Quinnsworth perish the thought. I currently live on the Continent and even though not religious think that the calm of a non shopping day is good for the soul. I realise this cannot apply to certain professions but it's good for society in general. It's part of something that Ireland has lost and for what?

badabing said:

All we have to do is simply get public sector expenditure in line with the rest of Europe and we're singing.

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There's no way we should increase public expenditure at the moment

We're going off the point a bit here people. I have to admit I loved the half drowned little kitten on the front of the magazine with the big green eyes! The article was so over the top. it was hilarious, especially the bit about people wandering the streets in the pj's cause they couldn;t be bothered getting dressed. Maybe it was revenge for us winning the triple crown. Now here's an idea, Brian O'Driscoll and the lads in a photoshoot for style magazine all wearing green high heels!!

I think some of the reactions have been a bit over the top on this.

Remember, this was a magazine feature/article - it wasn't presented as 'news' and there is a difference. Features like these tend to be impressionistic and employ metaphor, hyperbole etc to an often tiresome and/or controversial affect - it is their nature.

IMO the reason Ireland was 'singled out' was more to do with the sharp contrasts between the boom times here, the preceeding couple of decades, and the current recession rather than any latent racism or sour grapes.

Look at any other magazine features in the ST (or indeed any Sunday paper) over the last few weeks and you will see the same stylistic language and provocative vocabulary on almost any subject matter. It's not personal.