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Irish eyes are smiling (again)


They may believe in fairies but the Irish can sure handle recessions.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012

They may believe in fairies but the Irish can sure handle recessions.

Unlike the riotous and non-taxpaying Greeks, the Irish are taking their medicine like their whiskey – straight.

Ireland also has a strong tradition of garrulous writers and opinion makers, who have not stinted in documenting the Celtic Tiger’s rise and fall – as well as laying plenty of blame.

Fintan O’Toole’s Ship of Fools (2009) was the first of many. Others include David McWilliams’ Follow the Money, Matt Cooper’s How Ireland Really Went Bust and David Lynch’s When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out.

Both McWilliams and Cooper have published other influential books on Ireland – The Pope’s Children and Who Really Runs Ireland, respectively.

Back in May last year, I quoted from “Dr Doom” – Professor Morgan Kelly – on the disastrous bank guarantee scheme (which covered both depositors and bond holders) and the bailout negotiations with the IMF. He urged Ireland to "do an Iceland" and default, advice that was ignored

Not long before, Michael Lewis had written a lengthy account in Vanity Fair of his travels in Ireland – “disaster tourism,” he called it – and later packaged it as a chapter in his book, Boomerang.

The worst is over
The up-to-date view is that the worst is over. In an Irish Times special report on the squeezed middle (a series echoed a week later by the New Zealand Herald on inequality in Auckland), economics writer Dan O’Brien detailed some salient facts about the nature of the Irish boom and bust.

While the recession was much deeper than most other developed countries, it was cushioned by the swag of multinationals – from Google and Microsoft to Botox maker Allergan – who had set up there during the boom and have remained. O'Brien observes:

Ireland, by contrast, was a beneficiary of the outsourcing of manufacturing, at least until recently – something that helped maintain demand for manual labour. The influx of foreign direct investment over decades has meant industry still matters in Ireland. As a result, the proportion of the workforce toiling in factories is higher than in most other rich countries.

As O’Brien tells it. Ireland has not sunk into “collective despair” – a difficult phenomenon to identify from a brief visit. But O’Brien quotes from an EU poll last year:

Irish people remained among the most satisfied with their lives out of the 27 member countries, as they have been for decades, with a brief exception in the late 1980s. In the face of adversity, it seems, we remain more inclined than our neighbours to make do and to keep looking on life’s bright side.

Nevertheless, the tough times are far from over as the eurozone debt crisis takes it toll.

Ireland’s central bank has lowered its GDP outlook for 2012 to a rise of 0.5%, down from 1.8% projected last October, largely due to slower export growth and weak consumer spending.

The unemployment rate is expected to slightly over 14%. On the budget front, tax revenues are holding up (VAT was increased again in January) and the budget deficit is down 18% at just under €400 billion from where it was a year ago.

Upholding a literary tradition…
Drinking and reading remain strong Irish traditions. The country is gearing up for the annual St Patrick’s Festival, which in Dublin will run for four days (from Thursday to Sunday, March 16-19).

The entire period is public holiday throughout both Irelands and this year has a scientific theme in recognition of Dublin’s status this year as The City of Science.

In the past month, Dublin has celebrated the 130th anniversary of the birth of Ulysses author James Joyce, an important date because his works now enter the public domain. His memory lives on at the James Joyce Centre, a small three-storey Georgian-period museum.

He is also commemorated in the nearby Irish Writers Museum, which is housed in an 18th century mansion at the northern end of Connelly St, Dublin’s widest thoroughfare. Swift and Sheridan, Shaw and Wilde, Yeats, Synge and Beckett are just some of the famous names.

The Irish Times produced a 24-page supplement on Joyce to mark the anniversary. It is hard to think of another country where a literary heritage would command as much interest.

…and a drinking one
For tourists, Dublin has two must-dos – the Guinness Storehouse at St James’ Gate, where a brewery tour ends with a spectacular 360degree view of of the city, which is surprisingly low rise due to, I was told, an Irish fear of high buildings.

The visitors’ centre is on the top of Guinness’ seven-storey former fermentation tower.

The distinctive porter (stout)-style beer has been made here since 1759 and although no longer the world’s largest brewery it remains the biggest producer of stout.

North of the river – the Liffey runs through the middle of the city – is the Jameson distillery, dating back to 1780, where you can learn about and sample the qualities of Irish whiskey versus those of Scotland and the US.

Irish whiskey claimed more than half of the global whiskey market in the 18th century when there were hundreds of small distilleries located across the island. By the 20th century the industry had sunk into obscurity.

But the market is growing again – at 11% in recent years it is the fastest among all spirits – and this has attracted the big industry players.

Just a couple weeks ago, Ireland’s last remaining independent whiskey maker, Cooley Distillery, was taken over by the US-based Beam. Irish entrepreneur John Teeling founded the company in 1987 and it owns two distilleries, including the Kilbeggan distillery that dates from 1757.

Jameson is owned by France’s Pernod Ricard, while UK-based Diageo bought Bushmills in 2005 and the Scottish company William Grant & Sons purchased Tullamore Dew in 2010. (Incidentally, Diageo also owns Guinness.)

Irish whiskey is a well-kept secret, though word is getting round. The barley is dried in closed kilns and the spirit is distilled three times while Scotch is distilled twice. The smoother and sweeter texture lacks the smoky and peaty taste of Scotch and appeals to younger drinkers in cocktails.

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Irish eyes are smiling (again)
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