IRELAND’S ECONOMIC CRISIS - TIME TO ACT

Until just over a year ago, Ireland was one of the economic wonders of the world, held up everywhere as the shining example of a small,  impoverished, underdeveloped country which, in a decade, had with foresight, skill and good fortune, transformed itself to become the member state of the European Union with the highest growth rate and the lowest level of unemployment. Following decades of emigration since the foundation of the state, Ireland was now the place of full employment where jobs were plentiful and foreign workers flooded in to earn salaries and wages the like of which they could only dream of in their own countries. The Irish were having a ball and enjoying every minute of it - that is until the bubble burst.

There was no 'soft landing' and with the major Irish banks on the brink of collapse, the whole picture became very clear. It was suddenly and painfully obvious that the Celtic Tiger was in deep distress and that, in the latter days of its existence especially, it was partly an illusion. As the Government tried to come to terms with an unprecedented economic crisis, including spiralling unemployment, increasing day-to-day spending and dramatically diminishing revenues, urgent measures were required if total disaster was to be averted. Raise taxes and above all cut the huge public spending which had become the norm during the boom years were the only options in the immediate. With the publication in July of the report of 'An Bord Snip Nua', it became even more obvious that the Irish would have to pay dearly for the excesses during the years of 'boom and bloom' and for the speculatory nature and other fatal flaws of the Tiger.

In this volume, political, industrial, academic, trade union and business leaders and commentators tell the story of the Irish economy and its rise and fall. More important, taking into account the strengths that Ireland still has, they look to the future and plot the path towards recovery. The economic paradise may be lost but it is the thrust of these essays that a realistic development path can be sustained - provided the right policies are implemented fearlessly, courageously and with integrity.