Ireland’s ‘progress’ report by CSO tells a tale of anything but

ITS title is Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2009 but the new report by the Central Statistics Office chronicles how the country suffered deep regression across most aspects of the economy and society last year.

The dramatic turnaround in Ireland’s fortunes from the Celtic Tiger boom period are highlighted in 109 “progress” indicators contained in the report about the state of the nation.

The most stark reminder of the changing economy is the confirmation that Ireland was in recession during 2009 as Gross Domestic Product – a measure of the country’s overall economic output – fell sharply for the second year in a row and Ireland had the highest public deficit of any EU member state.