It’s official: Ireland is the best country in the world, for business. For the first time since the list was compiled in 2006, prestigious Forbes magazine placed Ireland first in its ranking of 145 nations, says the Irish Independent. “It is the only nation that ranks among the top 15% of countries in every one of the 11 metrics we examined to gauge the best countries. Ireland ranks near the very top for low tax burden, investor protection and personal freedom.”, says Forbes.
Today, the strongest storm of the century hit Germany: Pat’s flight to Hamburg was cancelled; she re-scheduled to Amsterdam; from there, she was going to get a train, that was cancelled… instead of arriving at 4pm, she will now arrive a 7am on Friday….
Even if you are not interested in the economy and all that, it’s worth, just for the laugh of it, to read the announcement of these great news on Forbes’ website. They say, and I am not making this up, that “Ireland’s recent troubles have made it more attractive for companies moving in. Nominal wages fell 17% between 2008 and 2011, which helped keep labor costs in check. Unemployment remains stubbornly high—a recent 12.8%—providing companies a large labor pool to pick from.” The cake on the icing: foreign investors pay virtually no tax and we all speak English. Not surprisingly, “U.S. firms invested $129.5 billion in Ireland between 2008 and 2012” representing “a greater total than had been invested in the previous 58 years combined. Ireland (…) attracted almost as much U.S. investment as all of developing Asia.
Pádraig is doing well, given the circumstances. I am sure that he was so happy to here a familiar voice, and in Irish, from one of his good friends he had been missing over the past week. We will need to remain hopeful, positive, supportive of his efforts.
Contrast the investment with the news about the “highly regrettable” decision (High Court Judge) by the HSE to admit liability for injuries suffered by patients in Irish hospitals, for the third time this week. Contrast that with the €666m cut in the health budget for 2014 which many predict will rise to €1b. Contrast this with a waiting time of one year for what i consider basic heath care and health services, such as in Pádraig’s case – a waiting time consultants in Germany described as unethical and grotesque. (I was thinking of Louise’s essays on business ethics and stakeholder theory, you might have read about earlier in her comments, when writing this.)
Today’s German Music Tip
Sido feat. Mark Forster, Einer dieser Steine (15 Nov 2013). 4.5m hits on youtube in 3 weeks isn’t bad for a German song…
What’s hot
Dedicated doctors
What’s cold
Storms
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Sturmflutwarnung
Hospi-Tales 
Hello, Reinhard.
I do hope Pat got to her destination safely after that ordeal. The storm conditions, not to mention the plaudits from Forbes magazine, are getting short shrift in the media this morning, as you can imagine, owing to the huge coverage of the death of Nelson Mandela. Perhaps the Forbes issue will get some coverage in the weekend newspapers?
I’ve just added ‘Sturmflutwarnung’ to my list of new words. It’s very helpful to get them in context, I have to say. If and when time permits, I’ll do some revision (of these new words). Unfortunately, my priorities have to be the day job and the MA in Ethics. Though perhaps the universe is telling me to improve my German. I was in the bookshop in DCU, having yielded to the temptation to go in (and fooling myself into thinking that I wasn’t actually going to buy any books). After I had succumbed to further temptation and bought two ethics books (of course), and had a nice chat with the guy at the till about the MA, I found myself back in the office with three books rather than two, the extra one being a German grammar book to which I had inadvertently helped myself, having picked it up from a pile of books along with my folder, which I’d set down for a moment. So, in trying to improve my knowledge of ethics, I’d nicked a book … but I did bring it back!
With best wishes,
Louise
Hello again, Reinhard. Continued thanks for your wonderful blogs. I feel compelled to send a comment today. I have always admired Nelson Mandela since I first heard of him back in the seventies , when I was a young student and my admiration grew over the years. For me he embodied hope, positivity and the power and enduring
strength of the human spirit. The story of his life and how he lived it was testament to this. I have always been convinced of the power of positive energy and I know that this force is all embracing and transcends all boundaries and frontiers .(yes.Matthew and the centurion again!). The youngsters will be in the Conradh tonight , gathered together in support of their great friend Padhraig and glad that they can do something practical too to support the Caring for Padraig fund. We can be sure that there will be lots of positivity, love and support winging its way to Padraig tonight…..and probably lots and lots of noise too! These strong linking threads of their support and friendship will be woven into and added to the very strong threads and fabric of the tapestry of positivity that embraces and surrounds Padraigs room in the hospital in Hamburg, where he is clearly getting such excellent care. Warmest regards Raphael.
Hello,
I don’t know Raphael personally, but I’m struck by his words. I was at a work event this afternoon where (inevitably, perhaps) Nelson Mandela was spoken about, and Pádraig came strongly into my mind.
I’m also struck by the reference to the likely noise at the event tonight. I was thinking that same thought too! This is one thing that really marks the generations off from one another. But I have to say I was really glad I met some of Pádraig’s friends, briefly, in Beaumont though of course I am very sorry indeed about the circumstances that gave rise to our meeting. I will be looking out for familiar faces this evening.
With best wishes,
Louise
It’s obvious you don’t know Raphael, Louise:) What she (!:) wrote is a memory and sentiment many of us share, I think. Tonight on the news, they showed Mandela being introduced to the Dáil by, guess who?, Charlie Haughey. What a contrast! What made Mandela so great was, that he had not be corrupted by power, he stood for his convictions, and people believed him. Where are the great leaders today?
You are right, Raphael, there will be lots and lots of noise and energy tonight. Energy that we are so much in need of and that we are so grateful for. While Pádraig is far away physically, he will be right in the middle of the action. Thank you for sharing your memories , making the links, and continuing your support!
Oh, Raphael, my sincere apologies! Obvious indeed that I don’t know you, though of course I now do know one salient fact about you that I didn’t know before. There was great energy in Club Chonradh na Gaeilge last night. At one stage, I thought: very important not to slide into this curmudgeonly way of looking at the world, where everything exists to be complained about. This city has such a lot of lovely young people in it. (Young readers, please note: this curmudgeonly thing becomes very easy to access in later life. Hard to imagine in earlier life. I remember wondering why older people gave out so much about things. Now I know! But it is a tendency to be aware of and to resist.)
When I say great energy, I don’t just mean in the energetic sense (if I may put things in this rather unimaginative way). There really was a sense of being in very good company – ‘good’ in this instance to be understood in more ways than one. Not surprising, of course, given that the event was for Pádraig and that we tend to have like-minded people as friends. With best wishes, Louise.
Absolutely no problem, Louise. With a unisex name like mine, it happens often that I’m sometimes presumed to be a ” he”, rather than a “she”. It has given rise to lots of smiles and laughs in the past…..all a bit of fun! I’m the mum of Andrew, one of Padraigs very close friends and fellow Conradh devotee. He, Oisin and, of course, lots of other helpers organised last night’s Oiche Padraig. You are right about the goodness of so many of the young people here in this lovely city of ours. We can be proud of them and enjoy them…and they certainly help us to stay young at heart….as per the words of Frank Sinatra….and as per Reinhard’s blog yesterday! As you so rightly say, down with the cumudgeoners!::-) Raphael
You are, of course, right, Rafael. That’s why Pádraig (and all of us) love the country, the language (hhhmmm, working on that one:), and the people so much. I feel really privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know so many wonderful people, Pádraig’s friends, so much better over the past months. They should take over the country tomorrow. No need to worry. There is a goodness, a sense of humor, a solidarity, a warmness, a sense of justice there that I find truly amazing. – All of which makes the damage being done by some, the unbelievable greed, and the blatant injustice we have seen recently so much more outrageous, I think.
I had to look up that word, curmudgeonly, Louise:) The Merriam Webster said: “a person (especially an old man) who is easily annoyed or angered and who often complains”. Seems that women have nothing to fear about slipping into this frame of mind:)
Hello Reinhard,
I don’t know, though … I think that probably Raphael (whose good humour and forbearance – there, I spelt that word correctly this time – I very much appreciate!) and I would not make it too far in the curmudgeon stakes … but that doesn’t mean other women wouldn’t! I do think the connotations of the word tend to make us think of men all the same. I enjoyed the WikiHow entry (though I’m never quite sure what a wiki actually is … ). I remember seeing a very elderly lady on a bus a while back, standing near the driver and giving out yards about this, that and the other – probably doing his head in as she was doing mine. But then, I thought – she’s not young by any stretch of the imagination, she looks quite frail, but she’s there. (I meant to italicise that word, but this system obviously thinks I am technically more adept than is the case). She isn’t apologising for her existence or hiding away because she’s older than most other people. So I decided to adopt her as a sort of role-model for the future!
Today I went to visit Phil, the woman who looked after my mother towards the end of her life and who still lives in my original family home along with Joshua, her son, who is six and a half. Phil often talks to Joshua about the older boy called Pádraig who is not well at the moment, and they pray for Pádraig and light candles. Joshua doesn’t understand in an adult way, needless to say, but he understands in his own way all the same.
With best wishes,
Louise
Yes, Louise, being there is what it is all about, isn’t it. Right in the middle of things, doing other people’s head in. That way they know that you’re not quite gone yet! – I thought what you wrote about your visit to Phil and Joshua was like a (really) short story, for Christmas, for hope.
Hello, Reinhard. Indeed, if you knew Joshua, he tends to feature in stories like that …. I hope Pádraig had a good day today and was as comfortable and relaxed as possible. Hope also that you are minding yourself as well as you can in the circumstances. With best wishes, Louise.
Hi Louise,
continued to check out what the story is about Curmudgeons and found a really funny entry in WikiHow about “How to Become a Full Fledged Curmudgeon“:)
Well, Ireland might be great for big corporations, but for small businesses and regular people, I still much prefer sunny southern Spain. By the way, look forward seeing you in my hotel someday Reinhard! Best wishes, Jesús.
¡Hola, Jesús! I have always planned to visit you and see your hotel in Granada. Once Pádraig gets better, and we have our VW-Bus, we’ll be on our way down South. I don’t know exactly why, but I had to think Serrat and him singing La Saeta by Antonio Machado when I read your comment and started to think of our trip down to Granada.
!Oh, no eres tú mi cantar
no puedo cantar, ni quiero
a este Jesús del madero
sino al que anduvo en la mar!.
– Un abrazo