The Brian Lehrer Show

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I first visited Ireland in 2003 and I've been back every year since. I don't know if I'll be able to afford to go back this year because of the current exchange rate. The economic boom was in full swing by the time that I started to visit. One can't help but notice the forest of construction cranes in and around Dublin. With all of the real estate development, I can't help but ask my Irish hosts every year, "Who can afford these homes?". They are very expensive and there seems to be more new houses than people who can actually afford them. Will Ireland fall into the American trap of living beyond their means? We're currently living with the consequences of that right now with the current economic crisis.

last time I was in Ireland I saw a lot of ugly urban sprawl around Galway. a beautiful nation is being consumed. the Irish have taked the worst of America back to Ireland.

Also they are planning a highway through holy site Tara, sad.

they're fighting about the road through Tara

It should not be a surprise that US companies started investing in Ireland after the Irish made a major national commitment to education.

Don't believe it all - McWilliams exaggerates and simplifies to much ... he is a soundbite economist - modern Ireland is a lot more complicated than his book would have you believe...

steve

steve,

which book do u recommend?

My heart sinks every time I her of massive construction in places like Ireland. How unattractive the prospects of seeing our current UGLY CONTEMPORARY architecture surrounding old Irish cities, Moscow... Bejing. As New York looks more and more like Houston...so goes the world. Its becoming a real estate investor's dream, and a nightmare for anyone who cares about local nuance and tradition. There is a tee-shirt which reads, "f*ck Frank Gehry." I say the same for all these developers and coprorate world expanders, there're destroying our cultural heritage.

if your grandparents were born in Ireland or had Irish citizenship you can apply for Irish citizenship.

I find this idea of giving citizenship to people because of ancestry really scary. Ireland is conservative enough without throwing a bunch or Republican and nationalistic American and Australian people into the mix. What have they got to do culturally with Ireland? I'm from Ireland and I live here in NY and most people are out of it. Their conception of Irish identity (which sadly is beginning to persuade people in my country) is drinking and booze and a particular kind of purity. 'Irishness' as with any identity comes from life not genes. It is really sad that anyone would propose this when they are throwing immigrants out of Ireland who have a genuine desire and, often, need to be there.