I lived in Co Kildare during the 1980s when the council introduced service charges.

A few weeks before I sat my Leaving Cert exams, Ireland took the bold step of joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System without the UK, thereby breaking a long-standing one-for-one link with sterling.

There are still many out there who either refuse to admit that a compelling recovery is under way in the economy or simply do not believe it. The fact is that the evidence is there for all to see and is being added to on a weekly basis.

It is now almost four years since Ireland entered the troika programme and is almost a year since the programme was exited.

Earlier this week, PwC released the results of its Business Barometer carried out for its annual business forum.

This week saw the release of the latest figures on residential house prices from the Central Statistics Office.

One of the secrets to electoral politics is to ensure, in so far as possible, that the economic cycle is roughly in synch with the electoral cycle.

Apart from getting out there and talking to real people in the real economy, the two pieces of data that give the best picture of what is really going on in the economy are the monthly tax returns and employment data.

I have had cause to travel to many parts of the country over the past few weeks and I have been struck by the number of overseas tourists in the country.

The prognosis for the Irish economy just continues to get better and better.