Global wealth league - Boom has sparked debt spiral

IT would be easy to gloss over worrying aspects of the upbeat report putting Ireland into second place in the global wealth league. One might get the distinct impression that we are a nation of millionaires.

In reality, however, a decade of house price inflation has catapulted Ireland into second place behind Japan, according to Bank of Ireland.

Depicting a relatively calm picture of the debt spiral, the subliminal message is that Irish people could even afford to borrow more. Bankers would say that, wouldn’t they?

Ireland’s property boom has sparked a whopping 350% increase in wealth in a decade and out of 30,000 Irish millionaires, some 300 have over €30 million each.

However, an alternative view suggests that poverty is still rife. And with the country up to its eyes in debt, and interest rates rising, many people are in danger of borrowing beyond their means.