The New York Times carries a lengthy article (plus plenty of photos in a slideshow format) on the Irish situation: you can read it here.
A more accurate and comprehensive headline might have been: “Ireland paying a high price for boom-bust cycle in property sector and attendant banking crisis, amplified and abetted by procyclical fiscal policy and now requiring a sustained fiscal correction” – but that is probably too long!
Update: Paul Krugman adds his view in this post.