We will "start again with a suck-calf"

The tiger is dead - long live the tiger. Yes folks, the party is over and we are searching for a cure for the hangover which usually follows a session of over-indulgence.As per normal in these situations we may be inclined to wallow in a spot of self-pity after the binge; especially on finding nothing in the trouser pockets. Again, the human reaction is to lash out, so we deflect blame onto Government, banks and speculators - all of whom served us badly it is true. But we are all to blame, because we all sided with the tiger and hindsight is a smart but futile tool.But wasn"t the ride on the tiger fantastic while it lasted? And who is to say that it wasn"t worth the price? The mother of all parties was hosted jointly by government, the I.D.A., banks, builders, institutions and individuals simply because we all shared the same ambition.Naturally, parents wanted better for their children so the qualifying height in the high jump of expectations was raised higher and higher. Parents and grandparents gloated over the new affluence flaunted by offspring. And who could fault the sense of pride in an older generation who remembered that we lost half our population to emigration between 1920 and the 1950"s. We were primarily an agricultural country which suffered immensely through trade barrier tariffs and our neighbour"s cheap food policy. It is therefore quite understandable that we lost the run of ourselves to a degree when we reached full employment and became the fourth most competitive economy in the world at the turn of the Millennium. Ok, so we got billions from Europe, but sher who was more entitled to it? We told ourselves this all came about because we were the cleverest race on this earth with our 'young educated population' etc. After digesting on our own good press for a while, we next found that we could get our hands on cheap, easy credit and we now thought we could fly. Actively encouraged to borrow we splurged on stuff for which this cheap money was never intended - lifestyle and speculation. This mad spending spree gave a false impression of our overall economic situation and hid the fact that from the year 2000 we had started losing manufacturing jobs to more competitive countries. 'Don"t worry', the Government told us, 'yhe Irish economy is strong and will boom until the year 2020.' We didn"t need much convincing as we continued to buy into our own little Disneyland. All the smart people were on board and anyone who cautioned, like this column did, that the tiger was running out of puff was accused of being sour and unpatriotic.Now the bubble has well and truly burst - as bubbles always do. When the Celtic Tiger is mentioned these days it is usually accompanied with words like 'greed', 'corruption', 'Golden Circle', 'sleight of hand' or 'recklessness'.The Celtic Tiger was good to us while he was alive and there is no point now in speaking ill of the dead. Even if he gave us an exaggerated opinion of ourselves, only time will tell whether or not we are better off for his legacy. The feel-good factor was immense and I believe that our newfound self-confidence will survive post tiger. Of course there are casualties and a price to pay and sadly, it is the new homeowners and young parents who are paying most of the price owed for tiger nuts.The important thing now is to shed the s***e and move on. Let"s keep the good things from the 'Tiger Age' - like for example, Ryanair and move on to the next age. We now all have to lift it a gear, work harder, do the extra half hour without looking at the clock - go the extra mile. Yes I know and I can hear the 15% who may be unemployed scream; 'but I don"t have a job!' Ireland has been in dire situations before and we are nothing if not an optimistic and resilient people. We have knowledge and we have 'cop-on'. Granted things will never be the same again - but when are they ever the same? There will be lots more but different opportunities for our people - especially in the areas of food. You think you are bad; but half the population of the world have never known what it is like to have their fill to eat. We will always have enough to eat in Ireland and there will be a market for the surplus we produce. With our long grass season we have to look at producing cheap food and add processing value to it for foreign markets.In fact, we need a 'farmer approach' in dealing with our national problems. Farmers have a wonderful acceptance of the ups and downs of life - treating triumph and adversity as equals: crops fail; prices slump and livestock dies, but your farmer will work his way out of it. A farmer is close to nature, head close to the ground and when the going gets tough that"s when he knuckles down in earnest. Years ago, men with nothing but forks might have a field of hay ready to cock when the skies opened. Young lads might curse their luck before being admonished for 'flying in the face of God' and a couple of days later sleeves were rolled up and it started all over again. This is the type of spirit, determination and faith required to get Ireland back off the rocks.In another life I was a dairy farmer and one particularly challenging year, with interest rates at 20%, in-calf heifers I bought in Pomeroy dying from red water and grass tetany and the rain bucketing down daily on reclaimed bog, I was beginning to buckle until a farmer friend, seeing the situation, advised me: 'I don"t worry about what I can"t help', said Noel Fox. 'I do the best I can and if everything went and I lost it all I would start again with a suck-calf.' The Celtic Tiger and all belonging to him is dead and buried - but we still have the suck-calf. Let"s start again!!Don"t ForgetIt is words that show the wit of man - but actions his meaning.