Change is in the wind...

I usually get the same answers when I ask Americans what they think of when they think of Ireland...

Green fields
St. Patrick
Farms
Sheep
Leprechauns
Dancing/music
The potato
Immigration

Most people don't realize just how different modern Ireland is to these stereotypes. Don't get me wrong... you do still see all of these (with the exception of the leprechauns), but there is so much more to life in Ireland than just the green fields.

You probably know that in the mid 1990's a new wind, called Technology, blew through Ireland. Almost overnight Ireland became a major hub for IT companies doing research, development and manufacturing. The young, highly educated, English speaking population here was a perfect place for the technology boom to take place... and it did! Ireland had an explosive economy known as the "Celtic Tiger" and led Europe as the second best performing economy in Europe. For about 10 years Ireland's economy grew and grew and grew and grew......

Today, however, things are changing. With the global economic downturn and with cheaper workforces in Eastern Europe coming into the European Union - Ireland finds itself in a real crisis. In fact, they are now saying that Ireland has the second worst-performing economy in Europe with only Latvia performing worse. Unemployment has doubled in the last year (now over 10%), and many of the large IT companies (like Dell) are pulling out and moving to Poland.

Recession is the word of the hour... and it is the word on everyone's lips. I don't know what lies ahead in Ireland's future, but everyone here is starting to brace themselves.... only time will tell what is in store for the emerald isle...