You two? You too?

Just behind my work is this graffiti'd mess of a street. Turns out, U2 recorded a few albums here (Windmilll Lane Studios) and this is some sort of tribute.

The Taoiseach

This morning (and yesterday too) I stumbled across the Taoiseach, Enda
Kenny, on the way to work. Best pronounced "tea shookh" he is the
Irish equivalent of John Key.

He's campaigning at the moment for a "yes" vote to the referendum on
the EU Fiscal Stability Treaty being held tomorrow. The treaty is all
about economic growth, but with a massive focus on improving fiscal
management. e.g. it will require EU member states to run balanced
budgets.

Our astute political advice to Enda is that he should probably fire
his media team for putting him right in front of a "vote no" sign. The
one skinny Gardaí watching him is probably inadequate too. Would have
thought the Irish PM would need tighter security than the NZ PM...

Boom and Bust

How bad is the Irish economy? This chart shows unemployment since the early 1980s. The Celtic Tiger years are quite obvious... as is the end of them, when the house of cards came crashing down.

The good news, if you believe it, is that the rate is stabilizing at around 15%.

The celtic white elephant

Just along from where I work in Dublin is this building. It looks like its being constructed... but note the lack of cranes, workmen, etc. It was being built for an Irish bank which ended up being bailed out by the Govt. Now, it's a giant, ugly monument to the boom/bust of the Celtic tiger.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0416/central-bank-to-buy-anglo-building-for-8m.html

Alderney