I was in Dublin for a meeting about 2 years ago and it was absolutely booming. New projects and new construction were everywhere, the streets were full of people and you couldn’t squeeze into a bar. Even though my trip was paid for, I had taken extra money that I got with a No Fax Cash Advance from the Personal Money Store in case I wanted to do some shopping for the wife and kids.

Irish downturn is hitting man and beast

Now the recession in Ireland has reached every corner of the economy. The sudden collapse of the Irish Republic’s economy has hit hard – both for its people and some of its animals. At a sanctuary outside Dublin, the staff has seen a surge in abandoned horses. Squire is safe now but some racehorses have not survived the downturn. Squire, a pure-bred draught horse, is lucky. He was found half-starved on scrubland. Now he may find a new home.

Racehorses

It is a sad story for the racehorses which were bought in the good times by wealthy businessmen as a passport to social status. They are now being dumped. Being too wild to keep, they have to be shot. The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals say they have seen four times as many rejected racehorses this year as last, and they estimate altogether there are 20,000 horses in the country that nobody wants.

A spokesman said, “When people don’t have spare cash, the horse is the first thing to suffer; they’ll either be abandoned or driven into someone else’s field.”

The docklands

What a far cry from the heady days when all along Dublin’s docklands were signs of growth. Today rows of cranes and empty office buildings are all that is left of a building boom which fueled the much admired “Celtic Tiger” economy. The collapse in credit and confidence has left Ireland in a perilous state.

One of the major problems was the toxic brew of a construction industry too close to government, and regulators captured at the gate. The poster child for failure is the Anglo Irish Bank. The Irish government nationalized Anglo Irish in January amid fears it would collapse.

An angry public

Public anger is being directed at the government, which presided over the uncontrolled boom. It is deeply unpopular and the opposition is putting ministers under fire for not seeing the storm coming.

In Dublin’s famous O’Connell Street the long line of cabs is a visible sign of the shrinking economy. The drivers complain there are too many cabs – more than in New York, they say – and they have to wait more than an hour for a fare.

The problem is caused by lack of regulation, a rising tide of jobless seeking to earn a living as a cabbie and fewer customers. It is a situation which looks set to get worse.

The huge deficit

Bailing out the banks, along with plummeting tax revenues, now means the government faces a ballooning budget deficit, which reached $3.4 billion in the first quarter of this year.

As a member of the Eurozone it is under pressure from the European Central Bank to bring the deficit under control, so is expected to announce tough public spending in its emergency budget.

We wish you the luck of the Irish!

Brian Cowen

President Barack Obama today met with the head of the Irish government, Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

The meeting, appropriately scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, was held in the Oval Office.

Not a lot to celebrate

Today marks the first St. Patrick’s Day that Taoiseach Cowen has been in office. He was elected May 7, 2008. Of course, it is also Obama’s first St. Patrick’s Day in office.

Unfortunately, the circumstances of the meeting are not too jovial. Talks are expected to focus on the global economic crisis. Similar to the United States, Ireland handed out cash advances to many banks last year in attempt to stabilize its financial system.

Pot of gold?

Of course, some good could come of these discussions. Obama and Cowen will discuss United States relations with Northern Ireland. Perhaps the two will come up with ways to mutually benefit each other’s economies.

Unlucky Irish

Ireland’s finance minister spoke about Ireland’s financial crisis yesterday. He insinuated that the recession has hit Ireland harder than the rest of the world.

However, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan also expressed hope that Ireland would weather the storm and recover quickly. He has utmost faith in agreements that have been put in place and the country’s efforts so far to bail itself out.

Sign of sagging spending

Ryanair, the airline most known in this part of the world for suggesting it might charge to use the airplane bathroom, has shown other signs of financial instability. It says it will cancel four of it outbound flights from Dublin. Many United States airlines have cut national and international flights as well.

Ryanair, which is based in the U.K., also put pay cuts up to a vote among its employees recently. The vote is clear: the staff would prefer a pay freeze to a pay cut.