We may yet pay a high price for ignoring lesson of past mistakes

ECONOMISTS are still optimistic about the Celtic Tiger, but they frequently get things spectacularly wrong. People should therefore beware.

The change in outlook that occurred in this country in the 1960s was phenomenal. While much of the world was enjoying an economic boom in the 1950s, Ireland was depressed. Some 40,000 people had to emigrate in 1956, but the gloom was lifted during the following decade. People believed we would never again see a poor day.

The unbridled optimism was not dented initially by the troubles in the North, but problems there leaked over the border, especially after the Arms Crisis.