Was It for This? Why Ireland Lost the Plot

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How the Irish have changed over the last two tumultuous decades. Twenty years after the publication of John Waters' landmark book, Jiving at the Crossroads, Ireland is a country transformed. The remarkable success of the Celtic Tiger years, unforeseen in 1991, has given way to the sudden crash, and a torrent of rage, bewilderment and despair have swept through Irish society. Tripping on the Tiger's Tale takes up the story of the last two decades, delving into the Irish psyche to answer the questions: What happened to the hopes and dreams of prosperity? What is at the heart of the sense of betrayal that the Irish public feel? In the rush to modernity, did we throw away more than the shackles of the past? What sort of inheritance can we leave for our children? John Waters argues that the main problem with Irish society has not been the loss of prosperity but the fact that this prosperity, while it lasted, served to suppress real thought and discussion about how Ireland might seek to move forward. Our political leaders and commentators have clung onto the remnants of the 1960s revolutionary fervour, refusing to acknowledge that they have already triumphed over what they saw as the dark forces of the "old Ireland". Ranging across a vast canvas, Tripping on the Tiger's Tale ponders on the legacy of our love/hate relationship with Fianna Fáil, and its leaders from Haughey through to Cowen; the emptiness at the heart of our "youth culture"; our loss of a father figure; and why Ireland has become "a ghost of a country". If there is hope for Ireland, suggests John Waters, it is in transcending the mundane, material world, and reconnecting with the deepest desires of the human heart.

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JOHN WATERS has been a respected columnist with The Irish Times for over twenty years. As well as Jiving at the Crossroads his books include Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2; An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Ireland; and Feckers: 50 People who Fecked Up Ireland.