I live in Ireland and passed around Michael Lewis' original Vanity Fair piece (link below) to friends and family, the majority of whom were in awe of the depth and breadth of insight in this article. There was a consensus of disbelief that someone who was not Irish could, in such a short space of time, grasp so many subtleties about the Irish situation, not just economically but culturally, and with insights about figures in Irish politics that were extremely revealing (e.g. Brian Lenihan). I feel this is a remarkable piece of writing that far exceeds anything that has been written about the crisis by Irish journalists themselves:
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-...