Irish Economy – Can us rats save the sinking ship?

January 6, 2009 Leave a comment

On the recent twelve pubs of Christmas event I had a discussion with the distinguished ex-president of the chamber of commerce (you know who you are – Graham!). Given this event involves 12 pubs , in one night, the following has been translated back into English. The main thread of the conversation is that only us rats can save the sinking ship. Calling every person in Ireland a ‘rat’ perhaps isn’t good PR on my part, but it’s a good analogy for the current state of the Irish economy.

Ship Sinking

Now, I’ve been known to follow previous Government advice and ‘shop around’ for the best value (including at the Quays in Newry). However, if everybody follows this ‘me first’ approach we’ll be quickly in a race to be first to leave the sinking ship. But what if, instead of cutting and running, we stayed to plug the leaks in the Irish economy and kept it afloat?

The trouble in staying to plug the leaks is that this requires consensus that everybody helps out– and consensus is in short supply at the moment. All groups in Irish society are fighting to shift the inevitable pain of the recession on to somebody else. The lack of consensus is worsened by the fact that those who did well in the boom, and those seen to be responsible for the bust, are not necessarily those that are feeling the most pain right now. Without consensus, you’ll be left alone with your bailer as the water closes over your head.

Consensus is not necessarily the same as partnership – it’s a broad understanding within Irish society of the way forward, accepting the pain that the steps to recovery will take. The cause for gloom is that in the 1980’s it took 7 years (until 1987) to get a similar understanding , and even then the pain wasn’t evenly felt. Some cause for optimism is that because Ireland is a small country, once consensus is reached, it can very effective (Exhibit B is the Celtic tiger years that followed before it morphed into a bubble around 2002-3).

So , what’s it going to be – stay and float, or all sink on our own?

Filed under economics, economy, Government, jobs, newry, public sector

The Economic Crisis, from the horses mouth

August 11, 2008 Leave a comment

Heard on the Doirt

Girl 1: I can’t believe my car is only worth 15 thousand but the car loan is still 20. It’s so unfair.

Girl 2: What colour is it?

Girl 1: Red

Girl 2: That’s ok then.

And women are normally more careful with money. We’re all doomed.

Filed under Business, economics, economy

Lisbon No voter converted to YES

June 10, 2008 8 Comments

Update: It looks like 862,415 Irish people (53% of the electorate) don’t read this blog and voted no. Note to self: must increase blog readership. Looks like we’re all going to find out what the consequence (big or small) of a No vote is.

I don’t normally talk about politics on this blog, but this one is important , so excuse me if I make a rare exception. For readers from outside of Ireland, we’re the only country that is holding a referendum vote on the Lisbon treaty next Thursday (12th), which changes how the European Union (EU) is going to go about it’s internal business.

Like a lot of Irish people I was initally going to vote ‘No‘, partly because of unhappiness with the current political and economic outlook. Also partly by the poor ‘Yes’ campaign – loads of posters with policiticans faces, but no reasons why I should cast my vote in favour.

There’s been no official explanation of the (incomprehensible) treaty text. But the guide on RTE’s website shows the treaty changes and gives clear explanations as to what the changes mean.

European Flag

Why I’ve changed my mind to vote yes. And not because of the patronising ‘jobs jobs jobs’ or ‘laughing stock of Europe’ arguments. (For the record , I find the no campaigns scaremongering about neutrality / taxes / take-away-our-babies equally offensive). Here’s why

  • Europe has been good for Ireland – and not just the free roads. A large part of the peace process happened because the EU removed the differences between Ireland and Britain. I remember stopping at the customs post on the (single lane) main road between Dundalk and Newry. Very different now , with the M1 Motorway crossing what was previously ‘bandit country’.
  • Europe has been good to me personally. I’ve been able to work (visa free) in 3 other European countries. It’s allowed me to study (with the host government paying the fees) in two more. Very different from the alternative of being an undocumented worker in the US.
  • This is not a ‘free’ protest vote. There are consequences to voting no (maybe big, maybe small, nobody can guess at this stage). We’re not teenagers any more; it’s a big decision and should be treated as such.
  • Without Europe, we’re more or less just a region of the UK. Before we signed up to EMU (the prequel to the Euro) in the 70′s the Irish pound was tied one-to-one to UK sterling. All economic decisions were effectively made in London. We may have only a small voice at the big European table, but it’s better that what we had previously – no voice at all.

I still think there is a lot that could be better with the EU – despite the increase in the powers of the European Parliament, the EU isn’t (yet) democratic enough. It’s far from perfect. It’s messy. But that’s life, and previous generations of Irish people would love to have a choice like this.

But what pushed me over the edge to vote yes is the Spoofers guide to the Lisbon treaty. Read it. Then decide.

Filed under economics, Ireland, politics

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