Now that the end of the boom is well and truly in sight looking back, we are now in no man's land waiting for the return of some growth in our devastated society. A new era of Architecture is now our challenge, how to maneuver around the obstacles of no credit, dropping values, a dead market and the mismanagement of the planning. The reports from fellow colleagues are not encouraging, as some good projects which would have previously being a 'no brainer' are just not getting the financial backing they need and so rest in a drawer somewhere away from the starving construction workers. As architects we are charged with the development of the built environment and trying to improve the quality of the country as best we can not just for now but for generations to come.

While there has been huge steps forward in the quality of Ireland's Architecture over the last 10 years, with advances in sustainability, green energy research, and general build quality and performance we need more now. We need to be given the opportunities to turn poor planning decisions of the past into something attractive and sustainable. Deserted sites and ghost estates need new radical rethinking to enrich our towns and contribute to the competitiveness of our economy. Architects are at the coal face of the crisis and our problem solving and outside the box thinking must lead the way forward. Lets not forget that jobs will be created here at home as we reinvent ourselves and not just by those selling product abroad. We must all examine and learn from the mistakes made. Tax revenue is needed and we cannot expect a shrinking work force to sustain the growing debt. The figures will just not work.

The recent request for a consensus on the 4 year budget is a nonsense. How can a government with such low support expect consensus on its policies, never mind the history of the policies and the fact that they will not be in government for 4 years gives them no mandate at all for this budget. I vote that they should do as they say for once. - Act in the interest of the country and call a general election now and let the people decide. Power back to the people. Recently I heard Ireland described as the drama LOST. Everyone stuck on an island trying to get off as quickly as possible before the whole thing implodes. It was a very funny description but sad if true. We Irish will not roll over, the fighting Irish will rise again and if we could get some leadership going and positive action from those that have the power, then Ireland might become more like the place we all want it to be.

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