Ireland Follows U.S. in Everything, Even Economic Disasters, Irish Moan
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The despair of the Irish people over the demise of their "Celtic Tiger" gnaws at them all.
In polite conversation groups including professionals, intellectuals, artists, priests, nuns and ordinary folk you can hear the undertone of accusation, of bitterness.
"We follow everything the USA does and see where it got us," exclaims a book store owner. "The wealthy thought the gravy train would never stop."
Much like in the US, new buildings litter the landscape; but, as across the pond as well, many are vacant, up for sale at a fraction of the original asking price.
While providing universal health care has the U.S. stirred up, here in Ireland it is NAMA, a bank bailout plan that has folks crying the blues. The overall economy is expected to shrink 10 percent this year and fall another 1.5 percent next year.
Familiar names are often on Irish lips: Bernie Madoff, master bilker; George W. Bush, big time spender smalltime bank regulator; and, of course, the Irish financial disaster contriver John O'Dolan.
The current rumor is that the distraught O'Dolan drove his fancy car to the 700 foot high Cliffs of Moher in County Clare and did what the famed Brody accomplished...he dove off head first and ended it all.
The story is not true, in Dolan's case, but there have been several investors at wits ends who have taken that route over the Cliffs to end their troubles.
Dolan is the property developer who bought the development spoke called Ireland off the Dubai coast has committed suicide after mounting up a string of debts.
The Irish Mail has reported that John O'Dolan was found dead in a shed behind his house last week Friday after taking his own life, reportedly by hanging.
The newspaper said he had 31 mortgages as well as charges outstanding on a string of companies. O'Dolan was developing the "Ireland in the Sun" project on The World, a Dubai "Disney World" gone mad which was to have included thatched cottages, a Georgian square and a replica of the Giant's Causeway.
O'Dolan was said to be a director of 23 companies, of which 11 have outstanding debts, most related to property.
The troubled economic atmosphere reminds history-minded folks of the days of the Great Depression when ruined tycoons beat a path to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City to address their problems.
The Cliffs of Moher provide an even more dramatic setting for such desperate activities.
These spectacular seaside Cliffs of Moher soar 702 feet high and are considered Ireland's top tourist attraction drawing nearly 1 million visitors per year. The Cliffs are reportedly in the top 20 finalists in a revision of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Unfortunately a few of these visitors decide to end their lives each year leaping from the cliffs. In 2008 it is believed that 4 people killed themselves at the cliffs while another 4 were talked out of leaping from the heights by government Rangers on duty.
The International Monetary Fund says Ireland's seemingly unstoppable Celtic Tiger economy is perhaps the most over-heated of all advanced economies. Talk is collapse of tax revenues could raise the deficit to 12 percent of national income.
Meanwhile, prices are outrageous: a pint of Guinness may run you 5-6 Euro, or about $10 American, depending on the exchange rate that as been about $1.50 to the Euro lately.
Even the publicans (pub owners, doncha know) are wailing; taxes and costs being what they are, and scarcely anyone but tourists with cash to spare, say they may have to lay off 5,000 of the 25,000 employees of country pubs. They are seeking relief from a lowering of drunk driving alcohol levels, the drive for same led by a discredited politico, one John O'Donoghue.
Meanwhile, American tourists pile off the Dublin Bus tour at the Guinness factory, eagerly forking over 15 euros but getting a 4 euro pint "free."
By the way, you'll have no trouble getting a cab here. Deregulation has put thousands on the road by allowing every Tom, Dick and Mohammed to get a cab hire license. Even at that, there are 3,000 illegal cabs, according to one Martin Fallon, a U.S. native, who claims to be first in the world to install wireless INTERNET access in his cab.
Everything is dear here, so if you come bring bags of cash and a lot of tolerance for crowds. Erin Go Bragh, whatever that means, and we'll see you in the states.###
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