Less than one hour after arriving we decide to leave. The beer, music and dancing are still in full flow, but we paid only €3 each in, so it’s no big loss. It also happens to be 6am in the morning.

Back out on the deserted street, I notice the twin lights of a tram approaching, timed to perfection. It’s peopled with an eclectic mix of people, dogs and beer bottles.

This is Berlin. The occasion was a last hurrah for my brother who is about to return to Ireland after four years in the German capital. But what a land he’s in for when he gets home!

I thought I had bagged great value when I booked a return flight for the weekend for €50, courtesy of Mr O’Leary. I figured it was a small price to pay to escape the farm and gloom, but little was I to know that this was just the beginning of trip that would make me think hard about the cost of living across the EU.

My first eye opener was breakfast on Saturday morning as we landed into the city center direct from the airport. It was an all-you-can-eat affair in one of the countless cafes that litter the city. Cereal, fruit, egg, meat, cheese, soup and salad. Nothing fancy, but certainly enough to get the day rolling. I got a shock when the waiter produced the bill though. €5 a head!

This was no one off. All weekend we dined out and were astounded by the value on offer. A 14″ pizza and salad – €5.50. Pork fillet, chips and salad – €11.50. Four mains, drinks and starters in a Thai restaurant for €41.53! There was none of your Michelin Star nonsense but tasty and filling in every case. And it doesn’t stop with food. A 1000ft2 apartment that is located 15 minutes cycle from the city centre costs €500 a month to rent. An all-day (including 6am on a Sunday morning!) ticket to travel on the huge network of trams, trains and buses costs just €6.10.

Why is this the case? Why is the cost of living in the capital of one of the biggest and richest countries in Europe a least half the price of anything you could get in the smallest Irish town?

Granted, Berlin is one of the cheapest cities in Germany to live in. Wages are also lower. The level of tax might give you a bit of a fright too – 50% of your take home pay for professionals on a good wage. And while much of the rest of Europe prospered over the last decade, the German economy struggled to show any reasonable levels of growth.

But it is still the largest economy in Europe, dwarfing Ireland in terms of its output. And public services are excellent. Even as we left for the airport during ‘rush hour’ on Monday morning, cars flowed freely through the streets.

After all my sermonising a few weeks ago on why we should ‘go local’, this trip clouded the issue for me again. The cost of living in Ireland is totally out of kilter compared with the rest of Europe. The underlying costs of doing business here, be they the cost of labour, rent or utilities need to change. Only a crisis will allow this to happen. Could this be the silver lining to this recession?

From Darragh’s Diary
http://darraghsdiary.blogspot.com/