"Soaring jobless, plunging benefits ..."

"Ireland has experienced near-depression conditions over the past 18 months, and the expectation that budget cuts will lead to spontaneous recovery through which the private sector will compensate for the retreat of the public sector is unproved. Indeed, there is a considerable risk that removing spending power from the economy will lead to more companies going bust and deter the survivors from investing more".

You can read the rest of Larry Elliott's take on Irish economic policy in today's Guardian here.