March 2011: Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have just formed a coalition government between Fine Gael and Labour. Ireland’s banks are broken, unemployment is heading for half a million, the public finances are in deficit, international lenders rate Ireland as ‘junk’ and the country is in an IMF bailout.

As Tánaiste in the new Coalition, Eamon Gilmore was at the heart of every major economic decision taken during his term, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was primarily responsible for restoring Ireland’s international reputation and trade connections.

In his extraordinary political memoir of these dramatic and turbulent times, Eamon Gilmore writes frankly about the political price the Labour Party has paid for some of their choices, reflects on the circumstances that led to his own resignation and assesses the prospects for Ireland’s continued recovery, including the risks which could yet blow Ireland’s economy off course.

Table of Contents

• Prologue – The Sycamore Room
• Chapter 1 – Endings and Beginnings
• Chapter 2 – Economy’s Fall, Labour’s Rise
• Chapter 3 – You’ve Got the Numbers?
• Chapter 4 – Come Together, Right Now
• Chapter 5 – On a Promise
• Chapter 6 – Private Battles, Public Compromises
• Chapter 7 – The Public Sector
• Chapter 8 – Jobs and Growth
• Chapter 9 – After crisis at home, now crisis in Europe
• Chapter 10 – From PIGS to Presidency
• Chapter 11 – It’s Not Just About the Money
• Chapter 12 – The Price You Pay
• Chapter 13 – Family Matters
• Chapter 14 – The Ways Ahead
• Epilogue – Sally Glen Road