The head and tails of the Irish economy

If ever there was a tale of two cities it can be found today in the heaving metropolis of Dublin. Simply contrast the story of general economic woe with the sparkling image being presented by Ireland's public and private sector movers and shakers. On the one hand it's a gruesome melodrama about an overheated domestic economy which has left generations of ordinary citizens facing debts of €85bn - the EU/IMF bail-out package. And on the other, a whole different story is being told, of unprecedented growth in exports (€161bn in 2010) and record breaking figures from the IFIA - the Irish ...