Roscommon to build €22m ‘Celtic Tiger folly’

Welcome to Ireland, Troika; your presence is not always wanted, but, it has to be admitted, that you do bring a dash of reality to public figures who have unrealistic expectations.

The people of Roscommon (you won’t have heard of it) would be indebted to you, if you could bring the same level of realism to our small place. Our local authority, without any eye to the state of the county’s, or the nation’s, finances, is about to spend €22m on a new headquarters building that epitomises all that was wrong with the so-called ‘Celtic tiger’ era — it is too elaborate, too large for current needs (not to mention future downsizing), and is costing much more than renting.

Worst of all, councillors gleefully inform the citizens that you, ‘the Troika’, have signed off on this expenditure. So, we must put up, shut up, and pay the mortgage for the next 40 years.