Watched the final part of David McWilliams‘ documentary on the Irish economy tonight. The programme has been running in one hour segments for the past three weeks and has sought to shine a light on where our economy is and where it’s going. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to see someone who is realistic in terms of our economic future and as one of the titular “Pope’s Children” I know there’s a time when our economy will decline. It’s an economic certainty and one which could hit Ireland particularly hard.
In the final programme he spoke to the M.D. of Microsoft Ireland in terms of their investment in the country. He pointed out that Microsoft accounts for 5% of our GDP and if you factor in HP and Intel that figure rises to 20%. With the emergence of China and India, two future economic superpowers, Ireland must be aware of the risk of these companies re-locating to the aforementioned havens in the East. Lucan, the town in which I live, is located just a couple of miles from Leixlip where Intel are based. Any rumour of job cuts has the community on edge and four of my close friends work in the plant itself in various capacities. I’m not an economist so I don’t pretend to be any type of expert but I did enjoy the series as it sought to engage those who may not be aware of what is driving this ageing Celtic Tiger.
Saturday night was Aido’s birthday so we headed along to Captain America’s for dinner. Afterwards we made our way down to McThurcalls, a late bar which wouldn’t be too crowded and has a nice atmosphere. Little did we know however that Ais and Ro would go and request Rod Stewart from the DJ, and worse still, he played it. It was at that time that the lads pronounced that we ‘should have gone to the Baller’. For those who weren’t there, the Ball Alley is our local pub, affectionately referred to as the Baller. A good night was had by all in the end though. 
