Artist Frank Buckley sits on the toilet of the house he has
built in Dublin out of 1.4 billion decommissioned euro
notes from the Central Bank's mint. REUTERS/Cathal
McNaughton
An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the
shredded remains of 1.4 billion euros ($NZ2.24 billion), a
monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland
by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to
a wrenching bust.
Frank Buckley built the apartment in the lobby of a Dublin
office building that has lain vacant since its completion
four years ago at the peak of an ill-fated construction boom,
using bricks of shredded euro notes he borrowed from
Ireland's national mint.
"It's a reflection of the whole madness that gripped us,"
Buckley said of what he calls his "billion-euro home".
"People were pouring billions into buildings now worth
nothing," he said. "I wanted to create something from
nothing."
A wave of cheap credit flowed into Ireland in the early 2000s
after Ireland joined the currency zone fuelling a huge
property bubble that transformed the country.
The bubble's collapse since 2007 plunged Ireland into the
deepest recession in the industrialised world, forcing the
former "Celtic Tiger" to accept a humiliating bailout from
the EU and the IMF.
Buckley was given a 100 percent mortgage at the peak of the
boom to buy a 365,000 euro home on the far reaches of
Dublin's commuter belt, despite the fact he had no steady
income.
He has separated from his wife who lives in the home, which
has since lost at least one-third of its value.
Living in his "billion euro home" since the start of
December, Buckley is working on adding a kitchen to the
living room and hall.
The walls and floor are covered in euro shreddings and the
house is so warm Buckley sleeps without a blanket.
Pictures made from notes and coins decorate the walls,
including one of a house, made from Irish 5 pence pieces.
"There are houses in Ireland worth less than that," Buckley
quips.
Buckley said he wants Europe's politicians to solve the
eurozone debt crisis without destroying its currency. But if
the currency ultimately fails, he will happily use the euro
zone's defunct notes as fodder for future projects.
"Whatever you say about the euro, it's a great insulator."
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