STRAWS in the wind. A couple of them relate to the vitality and success of the Irish economy since governments ceased to fund politically motived improvidence and folly in the semi state area. The semi states became economic golden gods. Government directed enterprises were seen as moral and more beneficial than privately owned private enterprise. Government controlled economic activity became an unemployment mop, activated on ministerial whim. Hospitals were transformed into jobs factories, to be paid for out of a central purse subsidised by kindly foreigners, who would eventually be paid back by our grandchildren, probably in used bandages and second hand hypodermics.
We faced bankruptcy. We were obliged to face reality, and the turn round since then has been one of the economic miracles of Europe. It is one of the advantages about being a small country with a cohesive population with much in common that a new consensus can be arrived at quite swiftly; and, when found, followed through. Which brings us to the straws in the wind ...
Ireland is Britain's second biggest source of tourist revenue, worth more than that of the Germans, the Japanese and the entire Middle East. No doubt the odd sheikh swishing into the sumptuous Knights bridge casino adds much more individually to the British tourist coffers than the couple who have gone over on the ferry; but his numerous wives are probably doing a bit of shoplifting in Harrods; so, on balance, it's not clear who gains from the transaction.
Second to the USA
On the other hand, 1.76 million visits were made by Irish travellers to Britain, worth a total of £790 million. That is second only to that of the USA, with Germany third, the Japanese fourth and the Middle East fifth, not counting what happens in Harrods. It's hardly surprising that the British Tourist Authority has opened a great big office in Dame Street; the real wonder is that they haven't built a runway just outside, the better to whisk you off the sooner...
It is in part a consequence of the IRA semi ceasefire that there is so much population movement backwards and forwards, confirmed by the muted babble of English accents in the genuinely wonderful Temple Bar. But such benefits are only possible with a vibrant economy and genuine growth, such as has been occurring in the past decade in Ireland.
One element of economic growth is in our trade figures - we have the largest trade surplus with Germany of any member of the European Union, and balance of trade surpluses with virtually all other members. We sell more food to the French than they do to us, despite the valiant efforts of Dominique Geary of Sopexa.
Sensational Growth
The creameries have provided one of the most sensational areas of growth: what were modest farmers' co operatives set up to co-ordinate milk and butter production have been transformed into major economic powers not merely in this land, but abroad, too. One of the best examples of this is Waterford Foods, which through its British owned plants makes one quarter of the cheese manufactured in Britain. This week Waterford introduced their British made Churnton cheese to the Irish market; Horace Plunkett, you should be with us this hour, that one of your offspring should turn out to be so mighty.
Just as Waterford Foods is now a major source of cheese for the British market, so is the Bank of Ireland a source of home loans for thousands of British people; and just as the British market appeals to Irish business, so the Irish market - or at least the sector with vitality - appeals to British business. No doubt this is why British Airways is so interested in Ryanair; and it was the creation of Ryanair, and its smashing of the BA Aer Lingus duopoly over the Dublin London route which was symbolic of the arrival of real, competitive trade.
There was no more poisonous and destructive example of the harm that can be done by a State protected monopoly than that of Aer Lingus - harm done to the State, to the economy generally and, most especially, to the company itself. Monopolist companies spend their time protecting their monopolies, not improving their service. There was no reason to improve service, especially when the monopoly was State protected, as it was with Aer Lingus. The politicians prevented opposition emerging, and in exchange Aer Lingus acceded to the political pressure for the Shannon stopover, the result of which was to drive thousands of travellers into the welcoming arms of British Airways.
Culture of Helpfulness
It was pathetic and economically ruinous, and finally Garret FitzGerald had the guts to end the farce. Ryanair emerged and is now one of the great short haul experts in Europe. Poor Aer Lingus, debauched by State aid, political interference and overstaffing, is the fat and unprepossessing wallflower nobody wants to dance with at the ball. That it is even still at the ball is due to the wonderful culture of helpfulness which animates Aer Lingus staff. It is not enough, alas, to make the company desirable to others.
And now I see another semi state - with my good and honest friend, Eddie O'Connor, at the helm - in the wars. This is not surprising. Bord na Mona was invented by the State to create culturally desirable employment around the quintessentially gaelic ikon of turf, without as its basis the normal single imperative of trade profit. Strange, bizarre rules were concocted to cope with the strange, bizarre world inhabited by all the semi states, in which there was never the gravity of profit to keep people on the ground.
All things considered, Bord na Mona did well in zero gravity conditions. Now it has come down to an to earth in which profits must count, and everybody is a little wobbly on their feet. The particular details of the financial transactions within Bord na Mona do not interest me. We should simply not be surprised at what we find there. I will tell you this: Eddie O'Connor is an honest man.