Daft Property - Irish Property News

Rise and fall of the Tiger nouveau riche... NOW THAT we’re in an economic war zone, I’ve been thinking about the Economic War. As my family was a direct victim of that conflict, I was reared with a rather one-sided view of the times that went beyond the abstract account in history books... My great-grandfather retired from a successful medical career and bought land in Meath which he farmed profitably. He must have done well because my grandfather was educated privately in England and in a literal manifestation of his position in society there was even a family pew in the upstairs gallery of the rural parish church. All went well until Éamon de Valera, the most pernicious and malign figure in Irish history, in a fit of ideological insanity implemented a set of policies that cut off our country’s only export market – England – for our only product – food – and thus crippled Ireland’s economy and in the process permanently ruined that class of people to which the now poor Dr Carey belong...

Bertie Ahern has announced his decision to resign as leader of the country. " Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern earned his nickname the "Teflon Taoiseach" for his uncanny ability to survive personal and political scandals, scandals which would have toppled a less gifted politician... One of his mentors was the disgraced former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, who took millions of pounds from businessmen. He called Mr Ahern "the most cunning, the most ruthless, the most devious of them all"... As Taoiseach, Mr Ahern presided over an economic boom - the so-called "Celtic Tiger" - which has seen Ireland transformed from a largely poor, rural, agricultural country into a prosperous nation, with job opportunities attracting immigrants from all over the world. But the economy, largely based on an unprecedented property boom, has shown signs of flagging for the past year or two, while Ahern has been at the centre of a long-running probe into payments which he alle...