Meanwhile across the Irish Sea in the Irish Republic, from where thousands of young people are emigrating in the face of the economic crisis, the madness of capitalism shows itself again. The ghost estates - thousands of developments left empty after the construction boom and then the economy collapsed, are going to be used as backdrops for drama series and for paintball games for the corporate executives who remain. It rather reminds me of the famous Potemkin villages of imperial Russia.
As Louis XV is reputed to have said, after having been warned that a revolution would follow in France during the reign of his grandson: "Apres mois la deluge." Which translates as something akin to - "once I have gone all hell will break loose." Which indeed turned out to be the case. I also think this would make a suitable epithet for the former Irish PM (Taoiseach) Bertie Ahern, who has left the country facing ruin and bankruptcy.
An Irish friend of mine who wanted to return to Ireland but who is disabled and on benefits asked about getting a place to live there and was told by Dublin Corporation that there was a ten year waiting list for social housing. I asked the official what about all of the empty properties around the country? Well, she said, they are not suitable because there are no transport links and they will probably be bulldozed anyway. Jonathan Swift, if he had been alive, would have been moved to write another satirical tale about the gombeen republic and its corrupt politicans and bankers.
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