Apartments that until a few years ago sold for $205,000 in the Celtic Tiger economy are now on the market at discounts as low as $34,167 during Ireland's first ever mass auction of repossessed homes. 

As though to underline the scale of the nations fall from its financial boom times, fifteen cranes including two that were dedicated to the building of Anglo Irish Bank's half-completed headquarters in the city, are on on the block.

"Tower cranes were among the most sought-after heavy plant and machinery 10 years ago," Ricky Wilson of Wilsons Auctions told the press. "You couldn't buy them quick enough. Now they are left idle for two or three years on sites."

For those with the cash, property bargains abound. Even the upscale Dublin 4 district is offering apartments formerly on sale for $1,230,030 for a previously unheard of reserve price closer to $300,674.

The mass property auction will be held on 15 April in the upscale Shelbourne Hotel, one of Dublin's premiere venues.

Most of the lots for auction were previously owned by Irish property investors who have either gone into receivership or simply handed over the keys to the banks.