The National Recovery Plan: hope arrives on P42 Julien Behal/PA

Before I get too deep into the detail this week I would like to compliment Brian Lenihan on another great speech. He gives us the bad news with such gusto and energy.

We can mark the events of last week as the final nail in the coffin for the old Irish property business. There will obviously still be a property business, but nothing like that of the last 20 years, and with none of the same players. I know that I have said it before, but it really is game over. With cheers from the onlookers and the crowds, all the developers are now dead men walking wrapped in their shredded balance sheets, limping to the Nama electric chair.

The arrival of the IMF and the implementation of the four-year plan will drive a stake through the heart of the economy, and this will push property prices lower again. There is nothing really new here, but it should drive the last whimpers of resistance from the few developers who were still paddling on in the rough seas waiting to be rescued. Stop thrashing about like a fool and let yourself sink to the bottom, I say.

Tucked away on page 34 of the plan is the section dealing with rents and property. It clearly states the government's intention to drive down rents in both the private and public sector. It seems that the landlords are to be sacrificed in the name of international competitiveness. I totally agree with this principle, much to the disgust of my fellow landlords and developers. Sorry about that, chaps, but the facts are the facts. In a modern, open economy, all costs, including labour and rent, need to be low. This is the money game that we have to play in a globalised world. We, the Irish, have a history of dealing with the elite landlord classes so none of us should be surprised that it has come to this.

What does it all mean, and does it matter anymore? The property business has taken so many body blows over the past two years that it seems cruel to keep us in the ring fighting on. As an industry, we are certainly out cold on our feet, and about to face-plant onto the canvas. The Celtic tiger game plan has been completely ripped up and we now seem to officially be a multinational-run free-trade zone. I think we gave our sovereignty away to the multinationals long before the IMF turned up. The multinationals, with the support of the IMF, are firmly in charge and they are calling all the shots. Slash wages? No problem. Trash rents? No problem. Mortgage your future? Where do my kids sign?

There is hope on page 42, and this is the one item that I will be watching very closely. Hidden among the promises to restructure (again) the BES system is the undertaking to overhaul the bankruptcy legislation. This is very badly needed, and I was beginning to get the feeling that this government lacked the bottle to step into the 21st century on this one. The first thing to fix here is the name. Bankruptcy sounds so dirty and final. If the four-year deflation plan can be called "A National Recovery Plan" without everybody cracking up laughing, then I think that we can rebrand bankruptcy into something more appealing. Maybe "rebirth", or "fresh start" or even "a new hope". Something like that combined with the sounds of spring and some happy people laughing in the ad campaign and we might just be there. Lots of us are going to be going through it, so let's have some dignity about it and take it out of the shadows and into the light.

The national deflation plan as outlined by the government is needed to radically correct the cost base of business and society in Ireland. The markets and the multinationals have demanded this and they are in charge as we all know. If we are going to roll over and bow down to all their demands, let's give people a way out of their debt slavery. The banks probably can't afford to encourage bankruptcy, but the IMF are picking up the tab from here on so let's get it right and give thousands of people a second chance. You never know, someone amongst us might be the next Steve Jobs and ride back into town saving us all. There needs to be life after financial death.