If you had to pick just one company as a bellwether for the wider economy, you could do a lot worse than the Gowan Group. From its headquarters in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh, the family-owned business has interests in a wide variety of sectors and industries. The company is a major player in the Irish car industry, distributing the Peugeot, Honda and Opel brands across Ireland through a network of dealers. It also owns Senator Windows and distributes kitchen and domestic appliances through its KAL Group business. The group also distributes De Dietrich and Nordmende appliances and has deals…