Ireland
The Celtic Tiger is tired. All the effort required to keep bounding ahead of its European playmates has taken its toll. Not surprising then that Ireland?s Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has issued a gloomy forecast for 2003. Rising unemployment, slowing growth and soaring inflation are on the agenda. The inflation figures are scary. In the housing sector, it?s 13 per cent, says the ESRI.
Meanwhile, life goes on. The Yacht pub in Clontarf was buzzing at midnight last night and strong drink was being consumed at a terrific rate. Either everyone had read the ESRI report or no one had. Astonishing, too, for the visitor was the way in which mobile phones have become part of personal fashion and public discourse. We were sitting opposite a young couple who impressively wove drinking, smoking, texting, talking and calling into a seamless performance. There?s no need to visit Finland anymore to see how this new form of interpersonal communication is evolving.
