Madam, – The economic crisis of the past two years has been traumatic, but finally we can see some light. The kick-starting of Nama, the Lisbon Referendum and the Budget 2009 will shape life in Ireland for the next decade. The Irish Times must be commended for contributing to the very high quality of the debate on each of these issues. Nama will see a sharing of risk between the bank shareholders and the taxpayer thanks to the contributions of those in favour and those against Nama.
For political reasons, both Fine Gael and Labour will continue to vehemently oppose Nama – that is politics. However, once Nama is passed into law on Wednesday, it is essential that the public see Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny and Eamonn Gilmore co-operating on a consistent basis to convince the “don’t knows” that Ireland’s interests are best served by voting for Lisbon. Hostilities should be suspended until after the referendum. If this happens, then there is a strong probability that Lisbon will be passed and normal politics can resume on October 3rd. – Yours, etc,