There is never a good time for a country to hear bad news about two of its big manufacturers. But the word from Dell and Waterford Wedgwood last week sounded particularly bleak for Ireland amid the global downturn and after the bursting of its housing bubble. The Irish government will have a tough task to restore public finances and set the economy on a sustainable growth path.

Just a week ago, Waterford Wedgwood, the luxury tableware maker. was put into receivership. A few days later Dell, the US computer group, said it was moving its European and Middle East production from Limerick to Poland, at the cost of 1,900 jobs.