Dublin is full of shiny new office buildings and retail outlets. But many are unoccupied, monuments to a construction boom that went bust. At one site, the football ground at Landsdowne Road, the cranes are not idle. The stadium is being renovated and will reopen in 2010. "At least someone is drawing a decent wage," says one watching Dubliner.rnThis year's St Patrick Day's parties were glum, even in Washington, where Brian Cowen, the Irish taoiseach, gave Barack Obama the usual bunch of shamrock (see above). Ireland is having a deeper recession than any other euro area country. The economy probably shrank by 2.5% in 2008 and may contract by another 6.5% this year. Unemployment has jumped from 5% to 10.4%, a faster rise even than in America.
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