And so, we leave 1997 and turn into 1998 with as goodly a tide of optimism as ever lapped around Ireland's shores. The year ends to the merry swish of credit cards swiping through terminals at record levels of spending. Many businesses anticipate even better trading in 1998. To borrow a phrase from a politician in another country at another time; we never had it so good, at least economically.
But there is a sense of well-being which is not confined to economic matters. Mr Ahern's coalition of Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats is seen to function by and large at an acceptable level of effectiveness. The immediate agenda on Europe is agreed -whatever about the longer term - and Ireland's role within the new monetary system appears assured. In the North, although the talks move at a snail's pace and violence breaks through at intervals, there is a general recognition that there have been measurable advances towards normality.
There is an underlying sense of confidence in ourselves. There have been economic peaks before. But there is an understanding that this time there are solid and sustainable foundations. The economic boom is grounded principally upon two things; strictness and restraint in all aspects of monetary policy and a recognition that the wealth of this age derives from knowledge and information - and that the key to these is continuing investment in education at all levels. Virtually all of Ireland's current success stories, whether in business, the arts, entertainment or whatever, flow in greater or lesser degree from these.
Could it all come tumbling down? Some world crisis or cataclysm could certainly do it. The world's economies all but crashed in the 1970s as a result of war in the Middle East. Ecological disaster on a grand scale could have a similar effect. Perhaps less dramatically, some derailing of the EMU project could cause an economic reverse - although its implementation is now virtually a fait accompli. And there is always the fear that the North, rather than steadying through the peace process, could slide to large-scale violence with severely adverse effects on the economy North and South.
We have no appreciable capacity to influence certain categories of world events and to that extent we are a particularly vulnerable economy and political entity. The attainable challenges we face are more prosaic and closer to home. We must ensure that our new found wealth is used wisely to bring comfort and security to those who are most in need of them in our society - the old, the very young, the marginalised, those who are disabled or diminished in their capacities. We must be courageous and far-seeing in how we handle the gathering question of immigration. We must recover lost ground in the protection of our environment, our waterways and our open spaces. We must provide policies and infrastructures to meet transportation needs - especially in the capital. But where we will be challenged most of all by the future - and very likely during 1998 - is in forging a permanent and lasting peace between the two great traditions of the Irish people. It is the longest-standing challenge of modern Ireland. This coming year will almost certainly see the making or the breaking of the peace process. What will our wealth and prosperity profit us if we have not sufficient generosity or wisdom to find a way of sharing our living-space with those whom history has placed as our neighbours and fellow-inhabitants of this small island?