(30 June 2008)

One of Ireland's leading economists, Marc Coleman, says this situation is "not a disaster" and predicts that so long as the Government does "nothing stupid" and keeps current spending in line with revenues, as well as keeping taxes low, the country will be "back on its feet by 2010".

However, his counterpart David McWilliams instead argues that Ireland is "in for a four-year cycle of house price decline", with house prices potentially falling back to pre-2001 levels.

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