FitzGerald, of the Economic and Social Research Institute, recalled several reports from his institute since 2006 which included warnings.

“In spring 2006 we argued that fiscal policy was too lax. That summer we raised questions about the sustainability of the economy in regards to the size of the construction sector. In winter 2006 we pointed out that the budget was too expansionary. In spring 2007 we discussed serious concerns on the growth trajectory. The theme of autumn 2007 was uncertainty. We mentioned the potential for a banking collapse. In winter 2007 we discussed the unsustainable nature of a recent growth experience. In the spring of 2008 we warned about deterioration in public finances, and the need to curtail spending. Then, that summer, the R word.”

Or the story from Kapucinski’s The Emporor, about Heile Selasse’s court having 30 pristine school uniforms whoch were sent in advance of the Emporor’s ’surprise’ visits to rural villages. The deluded Lion of Judah was convinced that each shool child had a perfectly startched uniform and as soon as he departed the uniforms were sent onto the next village.
Or Billy Connolly’s joke about the Queen thinking that the entire country smells of fresh paint.

The problem is that we have nothing left to paint…

Again this goes back to the narrative being peddled by the critics of the current crisis, that there was a “good” tiger up to 2002, and then a “bad” tiger from 2002 to 2008. But as you said John, these structural problems pre-date the NAMA con by ten years.

The point I’m trying to make is about Irish exceptionalism, that Ireland is somehow exceptional with its home ownership rate. Not only is home ownership high in Britain, Ireland and the former Eastern Bloc countries, it is also high in countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Norway, Belgium and Finland.

Now there are reasons for the home ownership rates in the respective countries, but exceptionalism is not one of them, and really I want to show how the media’s use of Irish exceptionalism is to obscure the scam at the heart of the last property bubble - which was never about renting or buying houses, but rather the buying and selling of mortgages and the billions involved in such a trade.

On a related note, I came across a quote there yesterday Left that you might find interesting. It’s from 1932:

“The Free State Minister for Local Government may be faced at a near date with the definite first step in what has been described as the ‘no-ownership’ movement. The movement has arisen out of the Dublin Corporation’s efforts to create house-owners among the working classes, but has been alluded to as ‘motivated from Moscow.’ ” (Irish Times, 29 November 1932)