Daft Property - Irish Property News

The Metro is an insane idea -- and a disaster for Dublin... We've been bombarded with cataclysmic figures for the past two years, all of which related to financial obligations caused by our past blunders. Many of you were clearly unaware that the Metro represents an entirely voluntary leap into a fresh and cataclysmic debt that could bring disaster to Dublin. Now, no one would back a plan to build a huge coal-fired power station that had been conceived before global warming. So why is this technically bankrupt State hoping to build an underground rail link from St Stephen's Green to Dublin Airport which was conceived before the financial meltdown? We are borrowing €20bn a year merely to run the State and to pay civil servants' salaries and pensions. And yet we still propose to build the Metro? This is not rational behaviour, but akin to the conduct of an alcoholic who has foresworn alcohol totally -- apart, that is, from the open-ended credit-card account with Tesco wines, ...

Nation braces for impact of Lenihan’s savage budget... FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan last night warned he was “taking the knife” to billions of euro worth of spending in an emergency budget that may also inflict “painful” tax hikes. Signalling the grimmest government financial statement for a generation, Mr Lenihan revealed only the social welfare department would escape deep cuts. He insisted his key priority was to try and stabilise the State’s finances in the most difficult circumstances “in living memory”. Mr Lenihan’s blunt talking came as cabinet colleague Noel Dempsey indicated “painful” tax cuts would feature in the crunch economic statement. Preparing the nation for what is likely to be the most savage budget in a quarter century, Mr Lenihan said he faced immense challenges. “We want to stabilise the public finances in the most difficult circumstances in living memory,” he told RTÉ. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey also braced taxpayers for increases. “You can either borrow, c...