Shannon job losses - A sobering warning

YESTERDAY’S sad news from the Shannon region, where 207 good jobs were lost to lower-cost economies, again underlined one of the unavoidable and terrifying truths of our time.

Investors will go where they get the best return and it makes little or no difference that they had a great-grandmother from Mayo. International capital is very mobile and has little or no allegiance to any interests other than its own.

It also underlines the sobering truth that Ireland does not have a monopoly on the provision of highly educated and highly skilled workers. Indeed it suggests that we may have overestimated what playing the high-skills card might mean for Ireland Inc.

And, as Christmas approaches, it reminds us that by buying Irish we can support Irish jobs but it also reminds us how absolutely important the 12.5% rate of corporation tax is to all of our futures.