Signs of recovery.

This is going to be a long blip, but bear with me, it's kind of important.
Ten years ago I sat on a hill in the Phoenix Park surveying my surroundings. In the two mile corridor between where I was and my house I counted 17 cranes. That was in an already highly developed area. If I looked to my left towards Dublin Bay the number of cranes was inestimable. I remember saying to the Redhead as we shared a bottle of Martini, and as many commentators have since said, that we were losing the run of ourselves.
Two years later all the cranes were gone, along with the employment that they represented.
I thought that they had become extinct, but it seems they were just in prolonged hibernation. Today, in Dublin City Centre, I saw two. Hard hats and high viz jackets have also been as scarce as hen's teeth in the interim. There were quite a few of them around today.
Today is Budget Day 2015 (I know that it's still 2014, it's next years budget) and for the first time in seven years we got a few goodies. Not an awful lot, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
The Irish people have been very compliant and patient for many years of austerity and it is nice to get a break, however small. However, an electoral war is brewing about the water charges.

That's your political history lesson for today.