Celtic Tiger’s remains - Economy still haunted by excess

Amid the wreckage of the so-called Celtic Tiger era, twin spectres that continue to haunt the economy are the hundreds of unfinished ghost estates up and down the country — many of them built in the middle of nowhere — and the timebomb of mortgage arrears facing landlords, now double the rate of arrears confronting ordinary home owners.

The plethora of ghost estates is a legacy of appalling disregard for even the most rudimentary rules of planning by local authorities infected by the madness of greedy bankers who gave out vast loans to gluttonous developers, the bulk of which will never be repaid.

Across the country, they are grim reminders of what can happen when political leaders ignore the warning calls of those who shout stop. Intoxicated by Ireland’s flawed image as the fastest growing economy in Europe, bankers, developers, and politicians were blind to the folly of putting all their eggs in one basket.