Mayor in Ireland bans the 'R-word' to lift spirits

The mayor of the Irish city of Cork has banned the 'R-word', recession, for a day in an effort to lift spirits in a country that has carried out some of the harshest austerity measures in the debt-stricken euro zone.

Mayor Dara Murphy signed a decree inviting people not to use the word 'recession' for the next 24 hours and encouraging them to invent their own new terms or phrases.

They have been invited to eliminate the word from emails, workplaces, and everyday conversations, newspaper Irish Examiner said.

"All of us who live in Cork, in Ireland, are sick and tired of this recession, we’re sick and tired of the doom and gloom," Murphy said. "The idea is that all of us will commence the shared ambition of ending the recession."

The move, in which participants can post their new terms online, is part of a project by a Danish art collective, commissioned for the Cork Midsummer Festival.