Balancing Books

My husband is fond of saying "what goes up, comes down". It seems that has happened in Ireland. Ireland which was doing so well in the past has now reached the point that it is asking students to bring toilet paper to class. Irish parents struggling to buy schoolbooks and uniforms and now some are being asked to provide toilet paper. Students at a primary school in County Cork are being asked to bring their own rolls to help save money, one of the starkest examples yet of the death of Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" economy. "The letter was sent out just as a way of balancing books here in the school and not intended as a demand," said Catherine O'Neill, principal of St. John's Girls National School. The request was made because of cuts to government grants for books and computers. She added parents were responding well. "I've done a quick tour of the classrooms this morning and I'd say at least half the pupils have brought [toilet paper] in," she told national broadcaster.