It's Only Money, SOS

I was shocked to read another article today in the Irish Independent. It makes for very serious reading, I quote:

"The property industry is already reeling from the suicides of at least 29 developers which the Irish Property Council (IPC), an organisation that has campaigned for reform of Ireland's debt laws, says can be directly linked to the recession."  Article here.

Is that not appalling?

My God I feel awful about this.  Yes, we the public are upset with the economic situation. Yes, we the public are upset with the way these things were handled by banks and by the government and by property developers: the greed, the profiteering, the one-up man ship, the desire to keep up with the Joneses next door. 

But for goodness sake people, it's only money.  Let the banks sing for it, they took the gamble.  Let developers declare bankruptcy and survive on a lot less per day. Families will still love, friends - most of them - will still play golf.  This is a dark time in the economy but it's not worth a life.  Yes some people should be imprisoned but we as a nation cannot make life so bad for the culprits that we drive them to suicide.  We just cannot. 

And so soon after National Suicide Prevention Week.  Click here for more info on SOS.  Suicide or Survive. 

God bless the families of the 29 men who saw no other option. 

Small Rant about Banks, Mortgages and The Code

Did you see this today?   Article from the Irish Independent about how the banks are making a proposal to the Financial Regulator about the existing Mortgage Code.  The code is there to protect mortgage owners, and in the bank's opinion, it protects them too much!!  I'm so mad right now. 

Basically, the banks want to propose a new code, which wouldn't allow mortgage holders to play the system as much as they might at the moment.  They suspect that people who can afford to make their repayments are defaulting in order to (a) hold onto their tracker mortgage, and/or (b) not get their house repossessed.  Does that make sense to you?  Surely if you are worried about getting your house repossessed you cannot afford to make your repayments?  I'm confused, lads. 

If you sign up for a mortgage, you are taking a gamble. Should you fix? What if the rate goes down and you miss the opportunity to pay less?  If it goes up you're singing.  I call that a gamble.  You're second guessing what could happen in the future.   If you go for a variable, you take a gamble that it might go down an interest rates along with corresponding repayment amount fluctuations will go in your favour.  But like any gamble, it might not - it might go up, you might be screwed. 

A tracker is no different.  You pay over the odds, agree a rate to pay your bank over and above the standard ECB rate, and you track the ECB rate for the duration of your mortgage: happy out.  If the ECB goes up, you're in a spot of bother, if it goes down, you're OK.  If it stays the same - as it is rumoured to do, until at least the end of 2011 - you're OK.  If you can make the repayments and haven't lost your job/received a massive pay cut, that is. 

What the banks are proposing, is that the protection that the Mortgage Code affords mortgage holders, be diluted.  Right now, if you are in arrears and make a deal with a bank to give a different repayment scheme a go, you are protected (for a year) from the bank approaching you for repossession.  The banks are concerned that people are going to take advantage of this rule and continue breaking each new agreement after 51 weeks or so, and continue to protect themselves for a further year.

What the frick is wrong with that???  I ask you!!  The banks have taken advantage of every rule they possibly can in order to stay afloat, over the last 2 years especially. They have been doing it in fact for years.  Big companies play the system & get away with it, and when a small company tries to do it they get screwed.  We own the banks now for fcuk sake, they cannot possibly get away with trying to screw us some more.  We are their saviours for Christ's sake!

In my humble opinion, just because the tracker rates are not in their favour right now does not mean they can go and reverse the binding agreement they have with us.  Tough shit lads, you're long overdue a right rollicking.  If the tables were reversed you can bet your butt they wouldn't be off chasing us going "Oh I'm terribly sorry, we seem to be making an unfairly large amount of money off you at the moment, please have some back with our compliments." You bet your sweet ass they wouldn't.  Tough shit lads, stop trying to screw the people who are already fcuking bailing you out, from every conceivable angle.  Fcuk the lot of you.  BANKERS. 

David McWilliams

He's telling it like it really is, over here on his blog. I haven't always agreed with David and the way he explains things - being a jaron-creator, for example - but his words today are clear and well thought out. I think more people need to read it. Go!

From Cobwebs, a Phoenix

I can't really believe that it's been so long since I posted some news here. It has been a hectic few months - there is usually a lull around the festive season when it comes to business advice and helping people figure out their business plans, but this year is different.

Even when we were snowed in I had a pile of business plans on the desk for reading and marking and delivering feedback. The great thing about my job is that I can read, think and make phonecalls from just about anywhere.

The great thing I can say about all the people I have helped is that they are focussed, dedicated and like sponges are absorbing all of the advice I can give them, going away and doing something about the hurdles they face. I'm so proud of the businesses that are fighting back and rising out of the flames of this recession. So proud.

Businesses are getting cleverer - those that will survive are having to. Cutting out costs wherever they can, delivering extra services for their clients, remembering to - and enjoying - the strengthening of relationships they have with loyal customers. Remembering to reward that loyalty - back to Fergal Quinn's days of "crowning" the customer. It all sounds so simple.

It can be. Just take a moment to look at your business and put yourself in the shoes of your customer - what would they want? What are they really interested in? Stop thinking about what you can do (in terms of fantastical capabilities) and start thinking about what you can do for them.

It is that simple. Good luck!

Please wake up and Smell the Recession

I spent three hours working hard with someone this morning who walked out of the meeting with nothing. Therefore I walked out with nothing. What is the point of trying so hard to help someone inject some strategic thinking into their business if they refuse to take any of the suggestions on board?

Pardon my tone of dejection but it has been a while since I met such an ostrich. No offence to any real ostriches out there reading this here blog ;o)

It is a long time since I've seen such an enthusiastic approach to head-burying.

Take a business, over 20 years in operation. When they started up they were pretty much the only operators in their field - well done, blue ocean etc., marvellously opportunistic.

5 years on, the Celtic Tiger arrived and the business grew organically by word of mouth, and has continued to do so since then. (Cue thoughts of "is that it? Could they not have grown some more?" and yes I would agree but I'll get back to today...)

PROBLEM
They have never had to go out and look for business in their life - not once. It has all sort of just landed on their doorstep - OMG what luck.

And what happens now?
They are now not alone in their market. Lots of other - business hungry - people have entered their area of expertise over the last 20 years and what's more, they're good at it.

What ever about the alarming fact that this morning's "business" person did not even know who their closest competitor was (how have they survived!!) - my main worry was providing them with the basic tools they need to survive from here on in. They need to drastically change their strategy and start listening to their customers. At the moment they are manufacturing product and simply waiting for the clients to come along and buy it, without finding out if they want the stuff in the first place!

A bit of research, a bit of listening, a bit of reflexion wouldn't go amiss. This morning was just soul-destroying: at every opportunity the business person turned around and told me all about how they have operated in business up to this point. They are worried and stressed all the time, haven't paid themselves a wage in over 12 months and called me up asking for help. If they had the good sense to ask for help, why wouldn't they listen? I was so confused...

I think I have it now though. I just don't think their heart is in it. Looking for work now is too much effort for them - they have only survived because running a business until last year was easy for them. Rethinking strategies, networking, doing a simple competitor analysis, a SWOT on their own business, looking at trends in their marketplace - all too much like hard work, not at all appealing.

My goodness. It really is a wonder they got this far!

Rant over, apologies one and all...

Is that a flicker of light I see before me?

Has anyone else noticed that the moaning and groaning has quietened to a gentle hum, of late?

It's quite nice, isn't it? I much prefer the general feeling of "ah well, let's just get on with it," rather than everyone from the lady at the supermarket to the man behind the radio mic giving out about anything they can think of. At least we'll get on with it avec sonrise and sure why not.

Why not indeed! It's a bad time for banks but it's a great time for loads of other people. For Sale signs have been replaced outside homes with skips and builders' bums. Honest hardworking tradespeople are out-the-door busy. No this is not second hand, I've spoken to many of them myself! They're flipping delighted that people have stopped just throwing away broken items or moving when the house gets too small. Instead, we're all fixing things and extending or redecorating. And when we balls it up we call in the proper chaps and they're only delighted to help.

Woodie's, B&Q, Homebase - they're all raking it in! I would say the owners of Aldi and Lidl are rolling around their boardroom floors with glee. And sure why not, someone may as well give us what we want - value for money - and get something in return. Custom.

There's an article in today's Irish Times about whose sales are up at the moment. Apparently, the cinema takings in Ireland are the hightes ever recorded which is just marvellous... Ticket sales hit €1.7 million in January. Wowzers!

It reminded me of an interview with a good brain I heard last week, which I sadly haven't had time to flag here. Peter Sutherland was on RTE on Thursday 9th April - you may have heard it or heard about it, but you should listen to it, I really recommend it. No need to seek it out, here's the link - as usual you have to sit through the news first but it's worth it. Everybody needs to hear this. It makes so much sense!

Sudds came across as reasonable, logical and calm as he explained the economic reality of where we stand at the moment. We were one of the highest performing economies in the world, let's not forget that. He may have used the word resilient about how we are at the moment - with strong industries in pharma & IT keeping us charging ahead. The best point he made was a comparison with us and other European countries. If our standard of living has reduced, so has everybody else's, so we're still floating on the surface. In fact apparently, other countries' standards of living have decreased more than hours, so there are others in a worse position.

The underlying message was one of "Don't Panic" - we're still well off as a nation and the recent defecits in public accounts will work themselves out. It's economics!

Recent interest in the property sector in the UK is a signifier of positive outlooks for the rest of us. The graph is starting to creep upward, if ever so gently. Like a meek kitten looking up after it has been scolded. House prices are bottoming out. It will soon be time to start pouncing on good value wherever you see it. If you've been looking and wondering, I hope you're ready! Crikey, I'm almost tempted to get a second mortgage and snap up a few bargains. Almost.

Our glasses are all half full. And if I'm not mistaken about the twinkle at the end of the tunnel, they're slowly starting to fill past the halfway mark. Ahoy there...I think I'll have a glass of that please...

Marching to our own Beat

It has been such a month.

The raw anger from January and February seems to have dissipated into a whole new attitude around here. Into something like -

- Well there's not a shagging lot of good any of us can do about it what with nobody bloody listening to us anyway so we may as well just get on with it.

And I like it. I have been droning on amongst friends and family (with whom I have spend most of March...yes, I've been MIA from here for a while...) about how marvellous 2 particular days were for Ireland Inc.

Tuesday 17th March. Cue the sunshine. Beered up growd-ups and sugared-up kiddleywinks. Green body paint, glitter, feathers and fluff. Flags. Smiles. Laughter. The most cheerful buzz that I have noticed in Dublin City for many, many months.

Saturday 21st March. Cue the anguish, the nerves, the anticipation, the prayers and the urgency of hope that spread throughout every pub in the country. I haven't prayed that hard in a long, long time.

- pleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGod let this happen for Ireland we really need it everyone's so glum this would be just magic pleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGod -

Cue history, tears, shock, amazement, joy and one of the best days for being Irish which I will cherish always. Mostly because I luckily got to share it with lots of people who I love to pieces and haven't seen enough of lately. I'd been missing them, and now it's all good.

I nearly welled up with hope on Paddy's Day when I saw crowds of smiling faces flooding through the city's streets after the big parade was over. Happy people, full of joy and excitement. A little bit of sunshine mixed in with remembering the good parts of being Irish, all rolled up into one. Magic.

Followed by the day that brought tears to George Hook's eyes and mine, and made him wear a silly hat and not care a jot.

Such pride. Such pride.

And now? Time for what? Determination. We've all had enough of the negativity. Reaction to picturegate is enough to remind us that the backbone of our little isle lies firmly within ourselves. Nobody else. Feck the government, let's just do it. Get ourselves out of the mess, drive forward and get back to what we do best. Most things, as it happens.

March is a good month.

EU Funding

It appears that news stories featuring small businesses & the help available from Europe are like the 46A...none for ages and then 2 come along at once.



Not long after I had the pleasure of posting this about the European Commission, I find something else to be cheerful about.



I have just started following Eoin Ryan on Twitter (I posted about that last week too) and found this interesting tit bit - the European Investment Fund's new programme, called Jeremie.



Think not that I am nailing political support to any flagpoles - this I will never do. I'm too flaky. I am, however, delighted that anyone at all is starting the odd initiative that actually might bring some good to the small and micro enterprise sector. Hoo-bleedin-rah I say. It's not like we don't need it!



So - Jeremie - stands for the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises. No wonder they abbreviated it. I won't ramble about which EU Fund it's coming from (Structural) but the basic gist is that rather than getting a once-off grant, money will be invested, and then can be reinvested in the same business at a later date. The money is not then linked to a specific project, just the financial health of an enterprise.



This makes a lot of sense, since at the moment you have to be incurring a specific cost in your near future when you apply to EI or a CEB. They always ask "well, what do you need the money for?" when truthfully you just need to be keeping your cashflow healthy and could do with a boost.



Now just to clarify - none of the details have been churned out yet. I'm trying very hard to gag the cynic in me that thinks this in reality this will take so long to put in place that the recession will be over by then, or that the hoops and loops people will have to jump through to get the finance in the first place will still be a pain in the -



But! I am tentatively thrilled that something is happening on the funding front. Hopefully it will come to something - at the moment they are only talking about "a range of financial instruments" so when I hear more I will elaborate!



Oh goodie for more good news... On a Monday too! The shock.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Footnote of Great Import:

JEREMIE funds are not issued directly to small businesses (SMEs).SMEs should therefore not apply to EIF or the EC for financial support.In due course, SMEs interested in obtaining finance will be able to identify and contact financial intermediaries in their countries based on information provided in this website, which will be provided as and when the JEREMIE initiative becomes active in Member States and Regions.

Last Wednesday's Irish Times

A bit behind - as always - I am surprised and shocked at the Irish Times publishing such an article. Interesting way to work at increasing circulation!

Apparently it's all our fault, ladies! We work, therefore we earn. With 2 incomes, the family's standard of living gets nice 'n' high - too high. We're the ones who love shopping & spending, right? So the glass ceiling which has just shattered is all our fault. Don't believe me? I wouldn't either.

Have a read, here. The article comes with a health warning - have a cuppa beside you and a smile on your face before reading! Newton Emerson (author) is a satirist from Northern Ireland. So I'm going to assume that this article appears tongue in cheek.

The Banks

This is just a quick post because I'm swamped! Sorry I have been neglecting this blog lately, it's the silliest time to be letting posts lapse, just when the number of people enquiring about starting a business is on the up and up.

I just wanted to express something very, very important.

The Banks Are Not Saying No

I could just strangle the media. Scaremongering to sell papers, because it's a recession, they need to keep their jobs and so they need to keep selling papers/ad-space online. There are a few voices of reason out there but the majority of news bulletins that the masses listen to/read/watch are all very negative, doom and gloom. As a result, many people are not approaching the bank for a simple overdraft facility to get them up and running, or even a small business loan to get a new premises kitted out. Why? Because - well, what's the point? They'll just say no. Try it. Please. It will be worth it. They are still open - especially for businesses.

I have heard from a lot of positive people who are excited to be finally started that business they were always thinking about (recession = little push they needed), that the banks are saying yes, within reason. If you are not asking for a massive business loan, Branch Managers have the authority to approve applications. That means it doesn't have to go to Credit Committee up in The Big Smoke. I'm talking about something less than €30k here. Statistics (I know, I know) say that on average it costs just under €25k to start a business. When you think about ALL the businesses you could start - from window cleaning to high tech software design - a €25k average is pretty great. If you have even a small redundancy package, approach your bank with a clear, concise business plan and see what they say. What's the worst that could happen? If they say no, you're in exactly the same place as you were before you went in, no big swing. If they say yes...

Good odds. I'd give it a whirl.

So who to go to?

It is vital that if you are thinking about starting a new business, you think about the finances. Approach your bank, the one you already have an existing relationship with. Business is ALL about contacts and relationships, so rather than start an uphill battle with a whole new person/institution - give your old reliable a try.

That said, if they high-ball you with interest rates, fees & charges, go elsewhere. Don't be afraid to shop around and go back to you existing bank, letting them know that you will swap your allegiance to suit your new pinched purse strings.

On a serious note...

If they do say no: ask them why. Don't waste your visit. They might have a very good reason for not supporting you to start a business that they are pretty sure will fail. Nobody wants to see any more of that! If they don't want to risk their money - why should you? Are there things they're not telling you? Why not ask? Perhaps - for example - let's say you want to open a certain type of shop on the corner of a certain street in your village or suburb. The bank says no. Don't take it personally!! Please don't walk away taking nothing from the meeting. Ask, why? What do they know that you don't know? The truth might be that there has been a long string of businesses who tried to start a retail unit there, but they kept failing, time after time, no matter what the product/service. Perhaps it has terrible parking, so there is a low footfall. Perhaps they know of three other similar businesses about to start down the road, and they know that the local market cannot sustain another one?

What I'm trying to say in a rambly way...was...keep all your doors open, talk to all your contacts, learn as much as you can from everyone that just might come in useful... And remember - the BANKS ARE NOT CLOSED!!! Go for it.

This was meant to be a quick one...sheesh!

New Year and a New Beat

There's a scurry of activity on the entrepreneurial front so far this year, and us only a week in. I'm delighted to see it. Lots of people working away on business plans; I was getting emails over the Christmas asking me for cashflow projection templates and information on available grant aid from various sources. Lots of people gearing up for the new year, planning their attacks on the recession! I love it.

As predicted, not many of the businesses are ground-breaking and mad. This is not the time for risk taking. OK, some people are thinking about starting luxury businesses which I have to question, and gently ask a few tough questions about proving a demand for the service/product before they invest 90% of their redundancy package in a frills-filled start-up. I'm not a damp squib, I'm a realist. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I say idly by and didn't make a few realistic suggestions here and there.

However the majority of people dropping by and asking questions are planning to start normal businesses, assured that the recession will create a bubble of opportunity for high quality value for money service offerings. And I couldn't agree more. I've said it before - this period of time will bring out a desire for quality, stuff that will last and give the best value for money. So it turns out that Frugal Ireland has been hiding behind Tiger Affluence all along - who knew?! The crappy half-arsed low-quality rip-off merchants will fall away, out of the marketplace and the quality businesses will remain. Hurrah.

Over the entire course of the Christmas period I only met one retailer who was rude, and didn't have the phrase "customer service" in his dictionary. He was a dic in fact. But his business partner made up for it by being utterly lovely and helpful. So that's just one person who took a sale for granted. The rest of the country has been realising that the customer is back to being king - and values their revenue enormously. Hurrah for the consumer.

So if you are thinking about starting a business and wondering what to get just right - remember the simple things. Service at a decent price, with a smile. That's it.

Simplicity I tell you. All the best ideas are so simple and straightforward. The trick is not to overcomplicate things. Good luck!

Moral Dilemma

If you find out that someone is in breach of employment law - making staff work for 2 weeks without a day off for example - what can/should you do about it?

If you only have the word of said staff to go on, and you know that they are too afraid to "push their luck" because they are non-nationals in fear of losing their job in this economy? You hear that they have said to their employer that they are too tired to work 12, 14, 15 days in a row without a break and they would like to work only 6 days in row, then one day off - and the eyebrows are raised, the question is asked how much they value their job...

They are a victim of their own tiny wage with a family to support.

What would you do?

A|wear's Website

I've just come across Awear's website & online shop for the first time - and it's great! One of the most important things for me in online shopping is images - I need to see what I'm getting. Granted, a lot of online shops do that but I really want to see it in detail, so full marks to the developers Venda & the lads at Awear for deciding on the right specifications.

Apart from that, the selection is a decent size, their returns policy seems very fair and as always, their prices are very reasonable. It's a recession, you know.

The other thing I quite like about this site, is the communication element. Consumers hate being left in the dark, hate being unsure on where they stand, hate having the wool pulled over their eyes. There is a full page explaining the VAT situation, both here and in the UK. It's just a nice touch.

So now for the droolfest:

Wreckin' Me Buzz

Hello. I have a rant today. It's an unusual one, because mainly when people rant it is because they are depressed. Well this is the opposite. I'm ranting because I'm not depressed. I want everyone to stop bringing me down and sapping all my happy buzz, just because it's flipping raining.

If you ride a motorcycle and keep arriving to work and home again soaked to the skin - ok, you're allowed to let the rain get you a bit blue (not literally I hope!) for a few mins per day.

Similarly, those who walk to work - bless you, I hope you have nice warm socks waiting for you at your destination.

For the rest of us who take public transport and drive sheltered vehicles, please STOP using the weather as an excuse to be a moaning old bag. Equally, unless your house is being taken off you by your lending institution, I don't want to hear any more complaints about the downturn.

I have met people whose homes have been flooded by the recent rain. And what is happening? They are rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it. Saying things like "It could be worse," and, "I'm luckier than some, you know."

Fair play to them. They're not curling up in a damn corner, muttering to themselves.

I have also met people who have no choice but to sell their property at the moment, the worst time to be selling in any Irish climate in the last 10 years. People who did not greedily buy up somewhere great in the hope that they would cash in on the Celtic Tiger a few years down the line. These are people who bought somewhere nice, modest and affordable as soon as they could. And now they have to sell up and go back to renting. Thankfully the number of people I know in this situation is still low, but they still have a damn smile on their face. Their outlook is something along the lines of, "Wasn't I lucky to be able to afford it in the first place?"

It just makes you want to reach out and hug them. I do, quite frequently.

Solidarity would be a lovely (alternative!) side effect to rain and pennypinching, rather than bitterness and grumpiness. When bad things happen in other countries, everybody clubs together to get through it. Teamwork! It's inspiring and to be quite frank, humbles me. Look at countries with real disasters - serious floods, earthquakes, even what happened in London on the Tube not so long ago - everyone discovered an inner strength that did not allow them to bring themselves down. We all know someone who was living in London in July 2005, we all spent a few frantic hours waiting to hear that they were ok. During my own relief I looked on in wonder at how the devastation brought the city and country together.

A few damp days, the climate changing and the economy slowing is making everybody miserable. Perhaps I shouldn't be comparing Irish mild flooding to those in SE Asia but I hope anyone reading can see that I am merely trying to put our own little dark cloud into some perspective. There is still so much to be thankful and happy for. Please put a smile back on Ireland's face!

And if you must continue to moan, please stop finding me - the chirpy one at the back - and taking all my smiles for yourself. That's just mean. I'll tell you how to do it yourself:
- Write down 5 things that made you smile in the last fortnight
- Write down another 5 things that you are looking forward to between now and Christmas
- Go away and think about those 5 things and start getting excited about preparing for them
- Call someone who is going to share one of these things and get excited about it with them
- Arrange to meet for said preparation, or just to talk about it in person over your favourite coffee/tipple of choice
- Now start sharing those smiles will you please? They're meant to be contagious...

HAPPY
happy
JOY
joy

Catching Up

It's not as easy as I thought. But all you bloggers seem to be off to poxy-gen (jealous me) this weekend so I'll catch up on all the gossip while you're not posting more, hur-hur.

Catching up on work is also challenging. Why did everyone leave the crap to me when I was away? Nice pile of crap awaited me. I left everything pristine, orderly and clear for 3 weeks. Someone even broke my printer and didn't tell IT. Why...

Deep breaths!

It's just post-holiday glums. I've returned to a country where all the prices have gone WHOOSH over three weeks, everyone is depressed & lethargic because of the rain, and those who are not burying their head in the sand [thank you Jazz for providing the link] are yelling about how pants everything is in Ireland. Honestly! I know there are problems at the airport but I'd be willing to sit there for 5 hours just to go back to the sunshine happy people...

So go on bloggers, enjoy Oxegen, have a brilliant time and come back enthused... Let's get some happy vibes out there!

It's too sunny to blog

Is that the wrong thing to say? Sod it. It's been too long since we've seen sunshine in Ireland. No more comments about "ooooh, what if it's the same as last year, a few nice days in April/May and then nothing but shite for the entire Summer," using the term summer as loosely as humanly possible...

At least business was booming last year. Not. People were unable to go outside and enjoy BBQ weather so they could have stayed indoors and shopped, gone to the cinema [summer of sequels!], etc. but no they couldn't, because the cost of living was shooting up all over the place. According to the never-one-handed folk (Economists) the hike in fuels were offset by the drop in spending on fun things like shoes... Not to mention the old ECB hiking things up just for fun, people's mortgages shooting upwards, the effects really driving home during the summer months. Remember that? Personally I think everyone still went out shopping and going to the clickies and having fun. I think they never really believed that a downturn was on the cards. I reckon it was a case of "surely not, not the Celtic Tiger, sure we'll be grand! Aren't we streets ahead of the rest of them..."

Let's hope it doesn't happen again this year. And let's hope we get some sunshine too :) All the never-one-handeds are focusing on the positive, bless their socks. Matt Cooper's been chatting with ESRI this week and they keep talking about the positive medium-to-long-term forecasts. Nobody has the balls to talk about the big elephant in the room. As yes, those short term realities. I for one don't remember anything but cocopops and cartoons from the 80's so I'm in 2 minds about this. Greedily interested in seeing how it pans out, but also worried about what it could mean for the old financial security...

Hmmm, Economic Downturn?

So, according to RTÉ News the old rental market is going a different way on the graph, for the first time in ages. This is news the day after it hit that McNamara's are pulling out of no less than FIVE social housing developments. My Dublin house is €50k cheaper than it was this time last year, at least.

So it looks like people are pulling in the belt buckles, it's been happening for a while. Some are making hay of course - lots of little business popping up all over the place, specialising in house extensions, renovations, home improvements........Woodie's & B+Q have never been busier I'm sure ;) When one thing goes up...

One thing I can't get my head around just at the moment is this: Ryanair - always with the finger on the pulse of a lot of people's purse strings - are increasing their fares, rather than strengthening their position as a low cost airline, in times of economic uncertainty. I wonder what they're up to? Ripping everyone off of course, as usual, but what does the Big Guy have up his sleeve, do you think?

Personally I'd rather not fly with the blue and yellow team unless I abolutely have to...