Niall O'Dowd: Death of Ireland's Celtic Tiger not all bad

" There is a hankering for a simpler life, for things to cost what they should, not what someone can get away with, for job creation based on merit not on jobs for the boys, for honest politicians who tell the truth and banks who consider fairness ..." I like that. But could you possibly add the wish for a government that was able to create something besides grief?

Yes, Mr. O'Dowd and, contrary to what you and the other social engineer fans of big government think, it is by getting rid of "crony capitalism" pushed by big government that we have true competition and market based pricing. It is through big government telling mortgage companies they had to give loans to people who could not afford them, giving grants to favored contributors, bailing out the big wall street brokers and banks (how's that for a party that is for the common man, reward the billionaires at the expense of the rest) and make regulations so vast and cumbersome only the large banks and brokerages will be able to afford the staff to keep up with compliance. This will force community banks, small thrifts and credit unions out of business. Then see what prices you will pay for a loan and how little you will get on savings. Big government with its favored few is not the answer. True free market with anti trust is the answer.

We're still trying to undo the damage to our heritage with Tara and the M3. Help us convince the Government to submit the Irish World Heritage Tentative list for St Patrick's Day. Join our facebook group and email the Minister...it's due in April, and the Minister envisions submitting it by then, we're trying to ensure that this vision becomes a reality. Link to Face Book group www.tinyurl.com/GreenIreland

Living there in the demise of the Tiger, I never saw a country go happier into recession, people were fed up with the wankers who lost all politeness and friendliness during the Tiger ... we should have have the Celtic Salmon .. a smarter more Irish type of economy.

If you thought Madoff ran a large scam, here's another example that has ripped off millions of people for several decades, to the tune of 10s of billions of dollars: Amway is a scam, and here's why: Amway pays out as little money as they can get away with, so they support the higher level IBOs ripping off their downline via the tool scam. As a result, about 99% of IBOs operate at a net loss, while the top 1% make several TIMES more from their Amway tool scam than from the Amway products. This was made illegal in the UK in 2008, but our FTC is unable to pull their heads out of their butts to stop it here. Read about it on my blog, I suggest you start here: http://tiny.cc/D5oJh and forward the information to everyone you know, so they don't get scammed.

Yeah -- it took the death of the Celtic Tiger to free the people of their distractions, but at least now more of them are looking at the things they should be, again.

Well said and very reassuring, Niall!

Well said.Totally true.The resilient spirit..and the craic.. are still about the place. In many ways the wake of the Celtic Tiger is kinda enjoyable!

Good job, Niall! This is what people need to hear. I could hear the sound of nails being hit on the head with every sentence you wrote. Realism, and adjustment to reality: that's what we need on both sides of the Atlantic.