I am from a place called Skerries, it is about 25 km north of Dublin beside the sea,  Newport is on the west coast, it is really beautiful country over there. Newport is a fabulous small town , with lots of character , fantastic cultural events. We used to go to Achill Island every Easter ( we did a lot of water sports and mountain climbing there ) we would always stop in Newport for tea and a spot of shopping-- I think you would really enjoy it there.

In one sense you are right --but building speculation was only a part of it  -- Before the EU Banks come into the country there were restrictions on lending especially for mortgages - you would only get 75% of the cost of the house -- the buyer then had to come up with the rest ( savings) , it was always based on one salary. This makes for good fiscal policy. Speculators and Developers would also have to have a guarantee of some sort.

However when the Eu Banks came in they started lending 100% - 110% on two salaries!!!!! so people who could not afford a mortgage under normal circumstances flocked to these banks. So the Indigenous Banks found themselves loosing customers,  in order to compete they borrowed from the Eu Banks too and lent money out to people without sureties or collateral. So the Banks kept coming up with all sorts of schemes to sell money and The developers got Billions from Deutche Bank , Paris Bas, RBS et al and the Government went along with it -----

Then in the States, Enron --- was found to be a pandoras box and when that was opened it exposed Lenhmans, and Freddie May and Fanny May ---- The US let Enron explode and  Lenhmans sink and with it the Bondholders and the shareholders -- they saved Fanny and Freddie and then Bank of America got into trouble and they bailed them out!!!! But by this time the world wide Banking system was about to implode -- because in their greed they bought sub -prime loans from the above mentioned --- in order to make a fast buck .

On this side of the Atlantic , most big European Banks also bought major sub-prime loans , which had been sold on. The biggest problem for Europe is that the German, British and French banks also bought Governments bonds from Grease, Portugal and Spain , Italy and Ireland --- so if any of these countries default on their repayments then there will be major repercussions for Germany , Britain and France who are the biggest Banks rollers in Europe. The European Regulator sat back and did nothing!!!!!! and the Irish regulator ditto.

In Ireland when the roller coaster started to get out of control -- house prices were going up in thousands by the day --- even  the Government was promoting the mantra==== property was where you put your money .

But the roller coaster was flying out of control and the Eu banks were still throwing money at people, loans , credit cards etc . However when the Irish Government asked to raise interest rates to slow the growth the Germans , French etc and the ECB said No .-- instead they lowered interest rates across europe.

So Ireland was caught in a double bind they could not slow the markets, so they built more and more and the banks lent more and more --- so it was a vicious circle  . . When the American banks went down they left Eu banks exposed -- so they lent less to each other --- so Irish Banks  were running out of money . 

At this stage the Irish Government said they would Guarantee the Bank loans --- ( big mistake) The Germans , British and French were clapping their hands in glee. 

The Irish economy was and funny enough is still quite vibrant ( out exports have gone up 5% in the last 6 mths).  So now the Irish people are committed to repaying these banks that came into the country and wrecklessly lent and gambled their money -- they are safe -- but the repercussions on the Irish tax payer has been terrible, there is a lot of anger in Ireland -- we feel as if we are being  screwed to the wall , the EU Goliath is throwing it's weight around and bullying smaller countries. We feel as if we are bailing Europe out!!!!! and not the other way round. problem is we have such a small population 4 million --- when you compare that to the rest of Europe we are expendable in this fiasco !!!!!

But Ireland will come out of this a stronger and better country -- but we will have our eyes open this time -- we will not cow tow to the Germans or the French!!! 

hope this clarifies some things , James

 

Hi James,

Thanks for the note. Yes, I think there is a misunderstanding about my blog post. There were a couple of points I was trying to get across. The first is that for a very long time it was the citizenship of the MAN in a marriage that became the default citizenship for the family. This was true in most countries until the middle of the last century. So a French woman marrying a foreigner lost her citizenship right up until around 1927. None of this was considered remarkable at the time.

The second is that the American system still does discriminate on the basis of sex when it comes to passing citizenship along to their children born overseas out of wedlock. Tougher for the man. The AARO has a good piece on this.

And the third and I think most important point is that all the laws about citizenship and how it gets passed along to offspring have evolved and changed over time. Just because something is true today does not mean that the law could not change. For US citizens the State department has decided to assume that a US citizen being naturalized in a foreign country does not wish to renounce his citizenship. They could change their minds and force us in the very least to go through an administrative hassle to prove this. Here's another interesting scenario - according to my daughter Marine Le Pen would like to eliminate dual citizenship for French citizens. So if she gets her wish a naturalized French citizen would have to renounce his citizenship of origin. Just like in the US by the way.

What makes this topic really fun and a bit odd is that there are so many combinations of laws possible between different nations. Every country has the right to decide who get to be a citizen and it is at the intersection of these laws and those darn bi-national people where things get all muddy even today.

Hi James
Welcome to Health Matters. I shall wait to see what comments you get from your question about the health system. I cannot comment personally because I keep away from doctors so havent had any personal experiences in UK of France. The only thing I do know from translating for other people is that you get seen a lot quicker in France than in the UK!

Hi James
You have to be careful using tobacco to kill insects. The nicotine in it also kills bees.

I have also a Horticulture Eng. Technician Diploma ,working over 15 years in parks and gardens construction and maintenance and I would like to say something about manure quality,
nr.1 the best is man manure, nr2. horse manure. nr3.birds manure.nr.4 other animal manure.nr.5 pigs manure,has highest humidity in...

Hello James, Welcome too, to the Finance in France Group. There are some good experts on all aspects of finance, who will be delighted to answer any questions you may have

I would love to get together. I will be on holiday (leaving early Sunday and getting back the following Sunday, so I suppose that on the 5th I will be either packing things up to leave or in traffic!) I hope that we will all be able to get together soon.

Hello James. I see that you do not live very far away from Orleans. Combleux is a lovely place. I live further north in the land of Artenay. It is not a very lovely village but it is pretty well centered. I grew up in Southern California, but I am very happy here in France.

hello James
I just moved back to orleans after 15 years in florida , I am looking for to keep speaking english and stay in contact with american people and I can see you live close by ..