Ireland inc a TRILLION euro in debt....

[DaBrow]

Proof that the Septic Tiger never really existed, it was all just a massive loan. Now we got to pay for the party and we cant do it.

Well done ahern and Cowen.

I wholeheartedly agree!

People were living on credit for everything: €1M House, Holidays annually to the Carribean, Shopping trips to NY for Christmas, A BMW all on a salary of €40,000 or less!

David McW even said that it was only a matter of time before we all got a rude awakening!

[BodyofEvidence]

Those figures look bogus. For example, they seem to be adding in all corporate, banking and personal debt for the UK's figure, but only government debt for the US.

Lets stick with the orignal article...more likely to be consistent even if one has issues with the composition

[Dillinger]

This is why you see the likes of Cocoon closing down, even though they are a city centre bar. People have gone and bet the kitchen sink on the boom continuing, most of these people should have known better, but maybe their egos got in the way.

[Fear Dorcha]

Lets stick with the orignal article...more likely to be consistent even if one has issues with the composition

I included the link as it seemed to tie in with the figure in the article. If it came from that website then Seabhcan's point is fairly valid. Its one thing to accept that we have a debt problem but it is a whole other thing to suggest that our debt is of an order of magnitude that dwarfs the usual basket case economies.

[BodyofEvidence]

I included the link as it seemed to tie in with the figure in the article. If it came from that website then Seabhcan's point is fairly valid. Its one thing to accept that we have a debt problem but it is a whole other thing to suggest that our debt is of an order of magnitude that dwarfs the usual basket case economies.

Reading the article they quote IMF and BIS data. I dont think two professionals will (hope they wont) take the data on sight but will add them from the original sources.

[Oppenheimer]

We have added a new element to Irish culture - always be a borrower....as Jack Handey would say

I hope that when I die, people say about me, 'Boy, that guy sure owed me a lot of money.'

[HanleyS]

This is why you see the likes of Cocoon closing down, even though they are a city centre bar. People have gone and bet the kitchen sink on the boom continuing, most of these people should have known better, but maybe their egos got in the way.

I didn't know Cocoon had closed down but I would say it had a lot to do with their client base consisting of hairdressers paying E7 for longnecks of Corona.

[Colonel Kurtz]

Proof that the Septic Tiger never really existed, it was all just a massive loan. Now we got to pay for the party and we cant do it.

Well done ahern and Cowen.

We get the politicians we deserve. We voted for them ( and the Tiger ).

[Dillinger]

I didn't know Cocoon had closed down but I would say it had a lot to do with their client base consisting of hairdressers paying E7 for longnecks of Corona.

It is the first of many places to close, and they still have their customers, just not enough to pay all those bills they ran up during the boom. This is just the start.

[HanleyS]

It is the first of many places to close, and they still have their customers, just not enough to pay all those bills they ran up during the boom. This is just the start.

The only saving grace in all this is that new businesses will replace these with a much lower cost base. The liquidated assets of the entrepreneurs of yesterday will become the opportunities of tomorrows.