Our split-personality mindset has paved the way for Irish economic problems

In urban Ireland, while evidence of poverty is there for all to see, there are also plenty of signs of economic recovery.

However, Eoin O’Leary of the School of Economics in University College Cork remains to be impressed.

Ireland is on a cyclical upswing, but sure enough, new problems await us, he believes, and this, he adds, is largely due to a “split personality” policy mindset. On one hand, we are adept at lobbying foreigners, but our policy-making at homes falls prey to influence peddling.