Over the holiday period, I met a retired businessman who asked me, in a very concerned way, about the possibilities for the Irish economy over the coming year.

‘May you live in interesting times’ is an old Chinese curse that has resonated strongly around the world over the past year. 

Last week, I wrote about how strange and interesting 2016 was from a global political perspective. However, it was also a strange and interesting year from a domestic political and economic perspective.

As we approach the end of 2016, it is clear that our weak and fractured Government faces immense challenges in 2017 and one would have to question its chances of survival. More pertinently, if it does actually survive, one would have to question if it actually has the strength and coherence to govern the country in a sensible and prudent manner. I fear not.

A survey of CEOs, conducted earlier this week by Deloitte, showed that 93% of all bosses intend to expand their businesses next year.

2016 will go down in history as a year of immense significance. Whether this is for better or worse remains to be seen, but with a combination of Brexit and the election of an hotelier to the White House, the future promises to be very, very interesting.

Global political developments continue to scare. Greek politics over the past couple of years; two Spanish elections; Ireland’s election in February; and the Brexit vote in June are all symptomatic of the global rejection of conventional politics.

With solid recovery now firmly established in the Irish economy, one might have thought that we had left the dark days of the Great Recession behind us, but alas that is far from the case.

Following the general election in February and the subsequent formation of a Government, albeit after a protracted period of negotiation, a minister was appointed with responsibility for housing, located in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.

Following the presentation of Budget 2017 I had a very empty feeling and was quite critical of the latest fiscal offering.