Ireland to many of it's more sentimental devotees as the Emerald Isle, a land of green mountains, bucolic countryside, leprechauns and donkeys.

In these rural idyll, the smell of burning turf wafts through the evening air while fishermen joke as they land their catch at the quaint little pier in the harbour. It is the world of the Quiet Man and Ryan's Daughter. The locals are ignorant but loveable fools, bedazzled by stories of New York and America.

It is a world of John Hinde postcards. There are no traffic jams in the Emerald Isle, the locals live in thatched cottages, not crap housing estates in Swords or Ballincollig. They do good honest work in the fields, there is no crime and in the evenings the local shebeen jumps to the Bucks of Oranmore while the Guinness and whiskey flows.

Of course this vision of Ireland was probably never a reality, it was an invention of countless migrants forces to leave against their will. There was an element of truth in there all right, but as with much we choose to remember only the good things are recalled in images of the Emerald Isle. Fast-forward to Ireland in 2008 and we seem to be rediscovering a little of what makes us Irish. For the past dozen years or so it's been big houses, flash cars, Jacuzzis, greedy bastards and I'm all right Jack. That though, isn't the Irish way. The Irish way is knowing your neighbours, a cup of sugar for Mrs Reilly, a "hello" to a stranger and unemployment.

The recession which started Tuesday a week ago will introduce many of those under 30, who don't really know what it is to be Irish to some of the basics. The Emerald epithet will apply once more, but not to the scenery, to the diesel.

Green diesel as it is commonly known was the fuel of choice for many a motorist before the boom and it seems that Irish drivers are rediscovering the old inventive ways once again when it comes to fuelling their vehicles.

Green Diesel is the same as your common-or-garden regular diesel except that it has a green dye added to it. It is used for agricultural vehicles and attracts a vastly reduced government duty making it much cheaper than the regular variety sold at petrol stations.