Oghamsourcing Articles

Celtic Tiger to wounded tabby

We surely lost the plot, didn’t we? When I say we of course I mean the Irish nation, Government, Banks, Construction Industry….. and a plethora of others got caught up in the cycle of seemingly unending greed. Which of course as many of the fallen mighty have found to their peril was all too short lived.
Last night I started reading Fintan O’Toole’s book Ship of Fools, and I have to say that even by the end of the prologue I was fuming. The excesses that some of these people indulged in were criminal, and as we all now know, it’s the ordinary Joe Soaps like you and me who are left carrying the can.
When a friend commented to me recently that he is so happy that he has lived sensibly and hasn’t had loads of money, I asked him why.
“Well” he answered, “What would I have done with it? I’d most likely have bought property or bank shares or both. And where would that have left me? A lot worse off than I am now, that’s for sure” And of course he’s right. He’d most likely own property that’s worth less than he paid for it, and if he had borrowed towards it, he might be in negative equity, whereas if he had bought bank shares, well…. that would have been an almost total wrote off. And today in Ireland, there are many retired people who had bank shares as their only form of income who are left penniless. Stunningly, so far the bankers appear to have walked away scot free and in some instances with hefty golden handshakes. I ask you, why wouldn’t I be fuming? Well at least the government seems to be moving forward on some type of an inquiry into the whole banking fiasco. Maybe, just maybe, someone will be held to answer for this.
On a not entirely unrelated note, there has been much commentary in the last day or two about the recent trend of the Euro’s slide against the US$ and Sterling. While this is not particularly good news for importers, it does mean that our exports will become more competitive. Because the Chinese Yuan is more or less tied to the US$, this means that Irish Exports to China will also become more competitive.
For Irish businesses seeking to export to China, Ogham Sourcing Ltd offers a range of services which can assist with the exporting process. You can contact us today and we will be delighted to assist you, or outline our offering in more detail.