Picturing the Bust: Documenting the Celtic Tiger 10 Years On

Venue: Theatre 3, Alan Gilbert Building

Presenters: Mr Nicholas Grundy

Ireland's Celtic Tiger property bubble came undone in 2007 when the country's own banking system collapsed prior to the GFC. As a result of this building boom, Ireland was left pockmarked by thousands of ghost houses, apartment buildings, offices and retail complexes. Ten years later and the Irish government and media, sheltered in newly booming Dublin, prefer to put the past behind them and ignore the remnants of the Celtic Tiger.

Nicholas Grundy's work documenting the legacy of the construction boom reveals the more than 300 ghost housing estates and other objects still dotting the landscape today. Of particular concern are two current trends. Firstly, the recent reemergence of the so-called Celtic Phoenix, motivated by a severe housing shortage across Ireland as well as a lack of office space for the much-hoped-for influx of Brexit corporations leaving London. Dublin's crane count today is fast approaching that of its peak in 2006/2007. Secondly, the over-inflated property market of Australia echoes that of the Celtic Tiger. The parallels displayed in the research, photography and videography of Nicholas Grundy reveal what we could soon see in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, as was previously seen in Ireland, the United States and Spain.

from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/9747-picturing-the-bust-documenting-the-celtic-tiger-10-years-on