Irish house of cards comes down
As the bacon rind turns a crispy brown colour, Dave Jones gives it a generous extra splash of oil.
The food at the Smithstown Diner, a small roadside cafe near Drogheda, is high on grease - the builders who come here like it that way. But lately business has dropped.
"It used to be really hectic in here. Now look," he says, gesturing at rows of empty plastic seats.
The Smithstown is popular with what the Irish call "breakfast roll man," building workers in white vans. This morning, there are just two.
"Times are hard, a lot of boys are being let go," says 40-year-old Robert Daley, who runs an aluminium fitting business.
"We do mainly big projects - developments of shops, offices and flats," he says. "We're just finishing one, so we're busy at the moment but there's nothing else coming up."
His employee, Tony King, nods over his fried eggs and black pudding.
"We're really feeling the pinch for the first time, because you know there's nothing else out there.
"In the worst scenario I could go to England - but it's pretty quiet over there too."
