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Ireland Calling with John Spain

A Nation in Denial
AS the financial storm clouds gather over us, Ireland has become a nation in denial. We’re staring into a financial darkness much blacker than in other countries but we’re still continuing on much as we always have, without changing our lifestyle, ou

Wearing the Poppy for Ireland

LAST weekend there was an elderly couple outside the entrance to our local supermarket selling poppies. They were sitting on two fold-up chairs at a small table, on which was a tray of the red poppy flower badges.

Ireland Rooting for Obama

BE careful what you wish for, you may receive it. That old phrase has been cropping up in my mind these past few days as I watched Barack Obama doing his final round-up, looking chilled and super confident even as he warned his supporters not to take

Budget Fury Grows and Grows

THEY say a week is a long time in politics. Two weeks can be an eternity. In the two weeks since the budget on October 14, the Irish government has seen its support blown away like the autumn leaves. It is now teetering on the brink. It could collaps

The Big Budget Gets Trashed

IT’S the little things that get you in the end, Albert Reynolds famously said when he was dumped as taoiseach (prime minister) after he had mishandled a controversy involving a pedophile priest.

Waking Up to a New Reality

TUESDAY, October 14, was Budget day in Ireland. And as I write on Tuesday evening, like everybody else in Ireland, I am recalculating my personal finances after the toughest Budget we have seen since the eighties.

The Mega Bailout for Irish Banks

ALTHOUGH this column had been warning in recent months that the situation of the Irish banks was not as secure as they were claiming, the speed with which they got into catastrophic difficulty last week shocked everyone here, including myself. And ju

Yes, It’s an Irish Recession

LAST week the figures for the Irish economy for the second quarter of this year became available. They confirmed what everyone here could already feel in their bones. Ireland is in recession.

Guess Who’s Picking up the Tab?

IT’S been quite a week in financial circles in Ireland, just as it has been in the U.S. On last Thursday morning shares in the main Irish banks were falling like stones down a well.

Banking on the Irish Banks

IS it any wonder that customers of the Irish banks are becoming increasingly nervous? If it can happen in Britain and the U.S., it can happen in Ireland.

Wild About the Jersey Shore

AFTER our week exploring Manhattan (see last week’s column), the Spain family wanted to hit the beach to recover after all the excitement of the Big Apple.