Benefits of living and working here apparent

Yesterday morning, I was leaning over a fence on Sherkin Island.

In front of me was one of those scenes that define the beauty of coastal Ireland. An exquisite sunrise glistened over Baltimore Bay, bathing the surrounding area in a golden light.

Times like this provide a useful reminder of what makes Ireland a great place to live in.

As we hurtle through the second half of 2014, it is worthwhile too to assess the harder, economic measures of how Ireland is faring. Over the weekend, the largest bank in Portugal, Banco Espirito, collapsed amid recrimination and a huge €4.5bn bailout.

After traumas equivalent to those visited upon Ireland during the global financial crisis, Portugal’s banking system was supposed to have been stabilised.

Instead, it has been clobbered by a labyrinthine cross-ownership of family- run businesses and an Angolan unit that together, broke the business.

In the same week this calamity unfolded, AIB reported profits over three times those expected by our analysts and others.

Bank of Ireland also reported a set of numbers that would have been considered heroic just five years ago.

After a torturous political and commercial process which involved recapitalisations, massive equity value destruction and changes among senior management, the two so- called pillar banks are beginning to resurface within the Irish economy.

While many struggle with the notion that these banks should ever make a profit again, it is essential that a healthy banking system develops if the ordinary life of a conventional economy is to function properly.

Banks with profits have the capital to increase lending, and that provides a virtuous cycle once properly regulated.

Alongside the repairing bank system, it seems to me that the tourism industry is enjoying a flush of business in a second consecutive summer of good weather. The agri-food industry continues to post strong financial results.

The IT industry, I am told, has more than 1,500 open positions currently that it is trying to fill. House-building is off its knees and, from an ultra- low base, is growing its production numbers.

All of this contributes to unemployment rates dropping towards 10%. Put another way, nine-out-of-10 people available for work are earning wages, paying taxes and acting as net contributors to our economy.

My rose-tinted glasses are not entirely naive. Of course, enormous work needs to be done to raise incomes, staunch emigration and fix systems, including the health service.

However, compare the fate of ordinary citizens in Ireland in early August with so much of the misery and misfortune that afflicts huge populations across the globe currently.

While resting on a field in Sherkin Island, I appreciate more than ever the benefits of living and working in this country.

Joe Gill is director of corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal.