There’s no longer any arguments about whether cracks have appeared, it’s now a matter of how far they will spread. The once gravity-defying Irish property market is finally showing that it is not immune to Newton’s axiom. So, the Irish Independent reports today that “The price of new houses fell last month in the most dramatic evidence to date that rising interest rates are rapidly cooling the market.”Meanwhile those saddled with outsized mortgages wonder whether the drip-drip of interest hikes will have an effect similar to the “humane” preparation of lobsters–where the heat is incrementally raised so the creature doesn’t realize it’s been boiled alive.But given that warnings from assorted Cassandras–the ESRI, the Central Bank, and David McWilliams–about the risks of a house price plunge have been circulating for years, the government and its army of advisors must have pondered a strategy to protect the wider economy if the all-too-thinkable occurs. Right? Our flawed-but-noble leader, Bertie Ahern, recently elaborated his administration’s contingency plans (also from the Indo):

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last night told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in London: “Interest rates are going to go up a bit, I think that’s obvious. We don’t want to see that happen too much.”

With rougher seas ahead, thank the Lord we’ve still got Bertie at the helm!