Your wise teachers told you to look to your own potential: they remain right, whatever markets and ministers are doing–or failing to do.
Yes, things are dark here in Ireland, in keeping with our customary winter lightlessness.
Looking back on the Celtic Tiger (which, living in the US for 14 years, I entirely missed) one can see 2 phases in the boom: the first, from 1994 to 2001, was founded on an explosion of potential, a ‘legitimate’ boom if you like; the second, ‘bubble’ phase ran from 2001 to 2007 and was largely built on government-enabled profiteering in construction and related industries. Many Irish banks over-leveraged themselves during this decade and are in big trouble right now: but for government intervention a number of them might have gone under. Consolidation is certainly in the offing.
The fear, as recently expressed in the New Statesman and the New York Times is that the Irish have squandered the gains of the boom years.
The net reality is that quality of life for many people here has improved dramatically, expectations have soared, and the unskilled are being left behind either way.
What to do?
As in the US and UK, don’t rely on multi-nationals or governments. Look again to developing your own potential and the potential of the people around you. That is what fuels sustainable growth: let’s not forget that.
Flickr Image by MissNatalie