Tales of Recession : The Celtic Tiger & Other Metaphors

Throughout the 1990s, under the Fianna Fáil government, Ireland witnessed unprecedented growth. Gone were the days of high unemployment, inflation, inexplicably bad clothes and sad faces. Ireland was no longer the country equivelant of an 1980s hand-me-down cardigan. No more thinned out stew (to make it last longer). Pack the kids into the Nissan Sunny, We’re eating in Bully’s tonight and we can afford the petrol, the country said. And it all seemed to be down to the doughy-faced young gun Bertie Ahern and his government. ‘Safe hands’ was the phrase that often came to mind, and kept coming to mind throughout the 1990s and noughties when the country twice more voted for a Fianna Fáil majority government. Now as we face into a major recession, everyone wants to rake over exactly what went wrong. Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny have been, unsurprisingly, taking the opportunity to blame the new Taoiseach and former Finance Minister, Brian Cowen. People want to know what it means, what will happen and how we got here. Those sitting in the Dáil opposite the cabinet for the last few days have been only too happy to attempt to answer these questions.

Coming up to the last election, friends of mine supported Fianna Fáil and defended them against critics by saying how much they did for the economy. The cynic in me is more of the opinion that they got given the economy on an upward curve and rode the wave to its highest point. The issue with that is that when you ride the wave, it peaks, breaks and eventually crashes. I’ll leave that metaphor now, but I will be using more. Irish politics is simply too ridiculous to resist. Fianna Fáill took a steady economy and took all the credit for it. In recent times, as scandals reminescent of the Haughey era started to rear their ugly heads, we’ve found ourselves up to our ears in tribunals again, and the latest blow to the Fianna Fáil juggernaut has been the demise and resignation of Bertie Ahern amidst allegations of gross financial indescretion during his time as leader of the country.

The basic problem with Fianna Fáil has been their whole attitude to the economic boom. The idea of a ‘Celtic Tiger’ that symbolised the upsurge in the Irish economy gave the government the financial version of Dutch courage. they had a strangely intoxicating, unfamiliary and powerful feeling that made them feel all clever and sexy. With that, they used all their new found surplus to feather their nests and show off how much money Ireland had. The surge in the economy would have been better off treated as a ‘Celtic Camel’ than a ‘Celtic Tiger.’ The exotic implication is still there. The animal would be equally uncomfortable and pissy in a temperate oceanic climate. And people would pay us as much attention. But the camel has more of an heir of modesty really. The idea of storing up valuable wealth and assets in the hump of the Celtic Camel would have saw us through a lot further than the showy predatory bravado of the Celtic Tiger. The name of the game should have been saving for a rainy day, but Bertie and Biffo did not do that. They put not so much as a penny away in case of a downturn, and instead boasted about how well they had done with the financial situation, while at the same time washing their double glazing and lighting their imported cigars with €50 notes.

Now, I actually find myself in unfamiliar territory. I feel sorry for Brian Cowen. As much as I believe I was right about Fianna Fáil and as much as I think the country has been feckless with our positive economic situation, I still feel sorry for Biffo sitting in the Dáil listening to all that the opposition leaders have to say. Since taking the reigns from Bertie, Biffo has had a knock in the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty and in the news of the approaching recession in the economy. As Kevin Myers wrote this week, ‘off season’ for journalists, usually between July and September, won’t be happening this year. Enda Kenny had his go when he laid into Cowen for proving that he clearly could not manage the finances of this country over the last few years. Éamon gilmore took his turn by pointing out how the ’slow-down’ in house construction under Cowen as Finance Minister has now come to a shuddering halt according to Brian Lenihan, Tánaiste and new Minister for Finance. Watching Biffo’s face as it was pulically pointed out that he has lead the country into a recession was oddly unpleasant to watch and the hint of glee in the voice of the opposition speakers was certainly noticeable. When it seems he has been left to take the heat by his successor, who according to Gilmore, rues the day he had to take over from Cowen as Minister for Finance. While I dislike oh so much about Fianna Fáil and am glad in a way to see them face the music, I have always thought at least they stuck together. I wonder now if the cracks will start to show.

As someone who is not a fan of Fianna Fáil, that’s my outlook, but as a citizen of Ireland and a young person I am obviously sorry to see such an economic downturn approaching. Emigration is predicted to rise by about 20,000 people in the next year and unemployment and inflation are expected to soar. I will be one of many Irish people leaving for greener pastures in the near future. For the second time since the Lisbon Treaty was defeated, I want to say thank God I am emigrating. The thought that I would prefer to live in a city of which Boris Johnson is mayor than stay around here is one that I never thought would seriously go through my head.