Water shortage - Two sides of the country on display

Two starkly contrasting faces of Ireland — one impressively hi-tech and the other depressingly reminiscent of a third-world country — were highlighted as Enda Kenny rang a bell in Dublin to open yesterday’s trading session on the New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange.

In marketing terms, the event was undermined because while Mr Kenny basked at centre stage of the highly successful international Web Summit, many of the 10,000 delegates were wondering if they would be abler to take a shower back at the hotel following local authority warnings of severe water cuts lasting 11 hours overnight in the capital city and parts of Kildare and Wicklow.

It would be hard to think of a more embarrassing setback for a Government striving to sell Ireland Inc abroad as a modern and efficient location for the inventors and potential investors who flocked to this global gathering on information technology. When your hotel shower trickles to a dribble and a restaurateur or publican can’t wash the plates or the pint glasses, the night becomes one to remember for all the wrong reasons.