Ireland’s Recession deepens, seeks Bailout from their Government

Nearly 100,000 people marched through Dublin on Saturday

Ten years ago I bought a ticket from Boston to Dublin, Ireland, so that I could join the new Intel plant that was coming online in Leixlip, near Dublin. This is a classic case of déjà vu. Now I need to buy the ticket to get back to the States.

Ireland is in a state of collapse. They are facing tough government cutbacks, a deepening recession and bailouts for the banks. The Prime Minister has a ballooning budget deficit and is planning to introduce a pension levy on public sector workers and freeze their pay.

Ireland before the EU

I remember the days before Ireland joined the EU. It was then touted as one of the poorer countries in Europe. Ireland joined the European Communities, now called the European Union, in 1973 and its economy spiraled in order to keep up with its partners.

Before the current economic crash, Ireland had the fifth highest gross domestic product per capita and the seventh gross domestic product per capita considering purchasing power, and the fifth highest Human Development Index rank in the world.

The country also boasted the highest quality of life in the world, ranking first in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Quality-of-life index. Ireland was ranked sixth on the Global Peace Index. Ireland also has high rankings for its education system, political freedom and civil rights.

Hi-tech moved in

On the heels of the tremendous development and the economic upswing that took place, the hi-tech industries of the world all fell in love with Ireland and huge manufacturing plants mushroomed. Everyone is there: Intel, Dell, IBM, HP, Oracle, Lotus, Microsoft and most other hi-tech names you can think of.

Linking Ireland

One month ago, in January 2009, it was announced that tens of millions of euro are to be invested in providing cheaper and faster broadband connections between Ireland and the US. They named this project Kelvin. This will be the first direct telecommunications link between North America and the north of Ireland. The project is a venture which involves the laying of an undersea cable that will cost some €30 million Euros and will be completed by March of next year by Hibernia Atlantic.

Down the tubes

Saturday’s crowd, estimated to be between 85,000 and 100,000 people, accused the government of leaving teachers, nurses, civil servants and construction workers with the bill for Ireland’s economic woes.

The protest comes ahead of strikes set for later this month by public sector clerical workers and bus drivers and marks a clear break in peaceful industrial relations, which had been an important contributor to the success of the “Celtic Tiger” economy.

A protracted and sharp drop in property prices, starting in March 2007, marked the beginning of Ireland’s economic decline which accelerated rapidly in late 2008 and early 2009 as job losses and falling output spread beyond the construction sector.

I’m not waiting

Thanks Ireland. It’s been a good 10 years for me. I enjoyed the Irish lasses and the Guinness stout. It’s time to move on. I’m flying out tomorrow, heading back to the U.S.