This article is from page 15 of the 2013-07-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
THE people of Clare were not to blame for the current financial crisis – including the creation of a property bubble in the county. That is according to a new book about to be published by Clare resident, André Hakizimana.
The book, entitled ‘The Irish Economy – Past, Present and Future’, lays the blame for the ongoing recession on the policies used by the past and current government. According to the Ennis resident, the previous governments concentrated too much on exports, and this did not benefit the local domestic economy.
The present Fine Gael/Labour coalition government, he believes, is making the same mistake and should concentrate on investing and improving the domestic economy of many small regions, like County Clare.
“The housing boom and bust in Clare is a cause to the recession, but is not the core – the strategy [employed by the Government] is,” said Mr Hakizimana. “The Government should look to boost the local economy, rather than exports – where there is little or no job creation.
“The Government, the banks, but also the people must take responsibility for peoples current finincial status, but the public should not be blamed exclusively.
“The Government should invest in local enterprise as this would help people go back to work. This is key to improving our economy.”
Mr Hakizimana has been a Clare resident for almost 10 years and has a first hand experience of the effects of the economic boom and bust.
‘The Irish Economy – Past, Present and Future’ outlines the economic strategy of Ireland in recent decades and aims to pinpoint where everything started to go wrong. The book is available from The Ennis Book Shop at a cost of € 15.