Suddenly, those overseas 'dream' properties are back to haunt us
What percentage of 'toxic' debt on the balance sheets of the Irish banks is related to overseas property?
Obviously a lot of people funded these purchases by releasing huge chunks of equity from Irish homes at Tiger valuations, so while the actual properties themselves might not feature on the balance sheets, they have played a large role in putting many thousands of loan-to- value ratios in the soup.
While we have been handwringing about the domestic price crash, what can the banks do to get rid of these turnkey turkeys?
Anyone who bought and kept property in Bulgaria was a complete mug and I have been saying that on these pages since before our current collapse.
I mean who was ever going to buy these properties?
The notion that Bulgaria would produce a homegrown mass market of yuppies was the central rock on which that particular myth perished.
In 2004, when Irish people were mopping up one-bedroom Bulgarian apartments at 'rock-bottom' prices of €50,000, the average Bulgarian salary was €1,810.
Yes, €1,810 per annum, or approximately 3.5pc of the value of a 'cheap' apartment.
In Ireland in 2004, the annual industrial wage was over €25,000, implying that a similar property in Ireland would be costing about €700,000. Even at our worst we never paid €700,000 for a one- bed in the equivalent of Athlone, yet people felt they were getting a bargain.
A type of class system emerged in the entire overseas property industry, with the Bulgarian buyers at the bottom, the French Riviera merchants at the top and the Dubai dudes regarded as the dashing blades of the 'high-risk, high-reward' category.
Now the economy of 'oil-rich' Dubai is caught in the double finance and property crash and its government had to raise $20bn this week to forestall the bailiffs.
Remember the term 'Kaafalat Mortgage'? Well, unless you were unlucky enough to buy property in Dubai, you probably don't.
A 'Kaafalat' mortgage was the wheeze dreamed up by some Irish property companies to offload properties in Dubai on the basis of paying 50pc in the first eight years.
Effectively, it was a way of closing the gap between rental income and mortgage repayments in the first years of a buy-to-let and the fancy title just added to the Arabian delusion that Irish punters suffered from.
There was not one, but two, Dubai property exhibitions held in the RDS as recently as 2007.
What were we thinking?
All dressed up and nowhere to go . . .
If you're feeling a bit middle-aged at the moment, spare a thought for poor old Barbie, the iconic doll who reaches the big five-oh on March 9.
American online financial columnist Therese Poletti wrote an amusing piece trying to find out the reasons why sales of Barbie plummeted last year, despite owner Mattel's attempts to make the erstwhile epitome of femalehood more "street".
"As a fan of the brand," she adds, "I have watched Barbie evolve from a sultry, elegant woman of the world to a somewhat ordinary goody-two-shoes doll".
Barbie's classic look has been usurped by the Bratz line of dolls which some parents, according to Poletti, dislike because they "look like hookers".
Thank God for Lego.
Toland tackles the healthcare business
Former Leinster Rugby captain Liam Toland has just opened the doors of his new franchised healthcare business, Home Instead.
Liam and his wife Ruth are heading up the Limerick division of the enterprise.
As well as being a top class player, Liam served as an army officer for the last 15 years and -- despite the levy -- it was a gutsy call to leave the old permanent and pensionable at the minute.
Home Instead's plan is to provide tailored support for senior citizens in their own homes, catering for everything from a few hours cleaning (and company) per week, to full time Alzheimer's and medical support.
It's a simple and positive way of keeping elderly people in their own homes for as long as possible.
Anyone starting a business at the moment deserves encouragement, especially so when that business is in Limerick, a city that has lost a disproportionate number of jobs in the course of this year.
It's a gas alright ... but where's Airtricity?
What the last six months have proved is that we just can't stop talking about money.
While it was how much we had until recently, it's now, strangely, how much we can save by cutting back A, B and C.
To command attention at any gathering of the middle orders, all a person has to say is that they have filled the box room with 11c tins of Aldi chicken soup.
So, whether or not it was coincidental, the timing of the big Bord Gais push for electricity customers has been inspired.
Let's face it, a few short years ago, before the oil price spike and when we were all sleeping on silk, most of us couldn't have bothered our beemers about switching to save 10pc.
However, with bills jumping 40pc between 2006 and last year, the ground was prepared for Bord Gais's campaign and it should prove a major thorn in the ESB's side, provided the switching procedure is as simple as they claim.
Funny though that Airtricity haven't responded.
They also provide a fairly painless online switchover service with double-digit guaranteed savings -- and now that they are owned by a UK big boy, one would have thought that they would have the 'morkoshing' money for a push.
Maybe they see Ireland's retail electricity market as a bit non-core, or maybe the importance of "green" factors in consumer decision making has taken a recessionary belt.
