Grassroots action can help reverse rural decline

Any rational and objective individual would have to admit that after a number of very difficult years, there is now a real economic recovery story building in the economy.

The first-quarter growth data were pretty staggering; car sales are growing very strongly; tax revenues are showing good buoyancy, which is arguably the best possible indicator of economic activity; consumer confidence is at a nine-year high; exports are booming; construction activity is picking up, admittedly from an inordinately low base; and despite a recent stutter, the labour market is moving steadily in the right direction.

For Government it is a good news story and one that it will hope to capitalise on over the coming year. But it is not all brightness and light.