Ireland after the bubble burst.

Yesterday I travelled across Ireland; I have been making a similar journey since the end of the 1980s. In that time I have seen the country change almost beyond recognition, but mainly in a good way. Until two or three years ago they called Ireland the 'Celtic Tiger'; now they are left to reflect on a massive international bailout of an almost bankrupt economy. So as I travelled across the country on a glorious April day I looked for signs of economic collapse. I did not have to look hard: part completed housing developments in every town and village, and in the larger cities closed factories and industrial areas showed the depth of the crisis.

We are staying in a house that can't be sold, opposite these houses that cant be built.

However the impression given by the half built houses should not disguise the fact that Ireland has changed fundamentally in the recent decades. This is certainly not a case of back to the 80s; it is, rather, a painful process of economic readjustment. The impressive Dublin Airport, the Dublin sky-line, the mile after mile (or km after km) of new roads, the hard-working migrants, and the sense of prosperity still enjoyed by the many Irish people show that the present economic difficulties are going to be relatively short-lived.