The above image is of the kitchen ceiling in my Uncles home, built by my Grandfather in 1941/42. My mother was born in this house and all my Aunties and Uncles were raised here. The interior empty voids of this dwelling are reminiscent of an older romanticised Ireland. The building emphasises the changes that the country has gone through in the not too distant past. The absence of blood relations now spread across the globe is testimony to the long running history of economic emigration a tradition that continues today and one I am part of.

Within this image the cold light represents the illumination of a harsh reality that economic reversal has provided. The materialistic veneer of the Boom years has now been stripped away via the probing examination of acute fiscal downturn. This highlights the difference between contemporary Ireland and the dizzy heights reached during the so called Celtic Tiger, exposing the false economy personal & institutional. While commenting on the present day Ireland, it also brings to mind the
simpler Ireland that is exported and romanticised.