TO call what C&C has been going through growing pains is one of this year's more dramatic understatements. What should have been a celebratory AGM turned out to be the spark for a "re sale on Friday.

Expectations were pretty high for sales of Magners this summer in the UK. With half of northern England under water it's not surprising that Magners-over-ice-friendly-sunny summer afternoons have been in short supply and thus on-trade sales were not grown as high as expectations. But seriously. A near-20% sell-off in a couple off sessions?

Anyway, more bad apples may be on the way.

Even though Siptu had reputedly agreed some time ago to plans by C&C management to spin up operations of the lovely nectar in Clonmel to 24-hour production, workers will ballot this week for strike action in protest against the company's plans. The company insists that it won't have supply problems this year. Now only if demand would pick up.

Observers will be eagerly awaiting early word from trials in Barcelona and Munich for a bit of positive news. But over the longer term, there is scant evidence that the trend across the entire northern hemisphere, amongst men and women, across all income groups, on-trade and off-trade, for sweeter, colder beverages, shows any real signs of abating.

OPTIMISTS TO THE RIGHT, PESSIMISTS ON SUICIDE WATCH

GUT-CHECK time for the Irish economy. Ulster Bank's Pat McCardle says Tom Parlon will be the poster boy for a construction industry about to shed 30,000 jobs in the next two to three years. McCardle says the numbers will affect the unemployment rate, topping 5% by early next year.

The nearly illegally optimistic folks in the estate agents' suggest it won't be that bad . . . that housebuilding is less labour-intensive these days.

Dan McLaughlin (right) of Bank of Ireland is surely Ireland's most optimistic forecaster, however, pegging Irish GDP growth this year at 6% and 5% next year.

As careful readers will have noted, public expressions of pessimism were banned recently by the taoiseach, so we'll just smile and nod.

GREEN WITH ENVY

WE have to hand it to minister Eamon Ryan. For a guy whose executive experience was previously limited to running a cycling tourism outfit, he's not made a bad start of things as minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources.

Some incoming "re from snipers, but he hasn't offered them much of a target.

Last Friday Ryan laid out a vision that, improbably, rests comfortably both with his Green principles and an optimistic view for Irish business.

With a deluge of venture capital worldwide seeking homes in R&D on renewable power generation, smart metering, transport biofuels, is there really any reason that Ireland Inc shouldn't be well-placed to take advantage of the global trend?

Certainly the dozens of top executives who made their way to Government Buildings to hear what Ryan had on offer could barely contain their enthusiasm.

Ryan pointed out that Germany's boom in renewables followed a Green presence in government there, leading to 214,000 jobs in the sector and making a not-insignificant contribution to Germany's export prowess.

Even Hollywood seems ready to burnish the country's image on the subject . . . last week it was revealed that The Simpsons Movie will feature an Irish love interest for Lisa, who turns out to be an ecocampaigner.