How's That Austerity?

BBC:

The Republic of Ireland fell back into recession in the last three months of 2011, official figures have shown.

Its economy shrank by 0.2% from October to December, following a contraction of 1.1% in the third quarter.
The data from the Central Statistics Office showed that the weakness in the global economy had hit Irish exports, while its domestic consumer spending had continued to recover.
The country needed an international bailout in 2010.
While consumer spending in Ireland rose by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2011, exports fell by 1.1%.
Irish economist Conall Mac Coille, of Davy Stockbrokers, said: "Consumer spending and investment bounced back as we expected, but exports contracted on the quarter, highlighting the danger that a key platform for growth is being eroded by the euro area slowdown."

This is bad for the Emerald Isle, and the world.  The Irish people got screwed when the government bailed out the ass clowns at the Irish banks.