Ireland's recent economic woes are the cover story of the Sunday Times magazine today. A certain ageing Ford Fiesta makes it into the piece, too.
The piece misses several points: first, there is a lot going on to change the current economic condition, and most of the initiatives being fostered to do so aren't coming from government.
Off the top of my head, there's the Limerick Open Coffee club (and other clubs), Bizcamps, Irish Recovery, the Ideas Campaign, the TusNua initiative, and many more, all focusing on positive (and proactive) points of departure from the declining status quo. While everything in the Sunday Times piece is true to a point, I think it misses the fundamental changes which are taking place at a structural level in regions like the MidWest, changes you can see if you look, or if you're shown.
As Marcus Aurelius says: If thou hast eyes to see, then see.
Arlidge spoke to you, Paul Sweeney and myself and certainly did not get a doom & gloom story from either of us. He also attended the Limerick Open Coffee Club which was buzzing with positive energy that day. He was told about Bizcamp, the greenhouse incubator Tus Nua etc.
So he was either heavily edited or purposly avoided any positive element in his story. Either of which is deplorable.
The article was borderline offensive. So prejudiced, so old-fashioned in its British view of the Irish. The UK media keeps peddling this "too much too soon for the Irish" line. Sickening.
I'm in full agreement that the article was unbalanced. It was sensationalist and full of Paddy Whackery. While it is important to acknowledge Ireland's economic problems, it is equally important to recognise our achievements.
And they are many. Ireland, for instance, is the 10th largest investor in the US economy. Irish companies are creating international breakthroughs in areas such as software and biotechnology.
Patrick Collison from Limerick is one example of the new breed of Irish entrepreneurs. He's only 20 and a year ago he and his brother sold their business for $5 million when they were teenagers. Today, Patrick is raising capital for another start-up in the US and is a sought-after "coder" on both sides of the Atlantic.
Irish people are creative, resourceful and innovative. We score very highly in comparative studies on entrepreneurship. I've accumulated hard evidence of these characteristics through the Ideas Campaign, an independent citizens' initiative which I'm fronting. Among the many thousands of people, who are sending messages and logging ideas for economic growth and renewal on the campaign website, are those who have lost their jobs.
They're not whinging. They're not blaming government. Instead, they are making plans to start businesses, to go to college and to reinvent themselves. And they ( like me and others involved in other initiatives which are about stimulating economic activity) are confident that Ireland can and will rebuild the economy.
Patrick Collison is one of many people who are supporting our modest campaign. He has just joined our Advisory Group and has provided much practical support over recent days.
That , Sunday Times, is the other side of the Irish economic story . It is one that deserved equal billing to what was served up to your readers as balanced journalism last Sunday.