Wealthy Old Sod

Times change! Hard to get over the old Potato Famine stereotypes:

THE Irish are the wealthiest people in Europe and the second richest in the world, thanks to exceptional gains in property values and aggressive savings rates, the Bank of Ireland reported yesterday.

The bank's annual Wealth of the Nation report estimated that Ireland has at least 33,000 millionaires in the country of 4.2 million people, up 10 per cent from 2005.

It said the average individual net wealth of Irish people rose 19 per cent to €196,000 ($312,000) in 2006.

In terms of wealth per capita, Ireland remained ahead of the UK, the US, Italy, France, Germany and Canada but lagged behind Japan.

The report said the past 13 years of rapid economic growth had been of greatest benefit to Ireland's wealthiest people, with the top one per cent of people holding 20 per cent of the nation's wealth, and the top five per cent about 40 per cent.