Madam, - Some participants in the debate on the economic crisis of the West draw parallels with the terminal crisis of the Soviet system. They are on the right track. Both the Soviet system and the Western system of the past half-century were rejections of the inherited rules of European civilisation in favour of a new collection of rules that aimed to bring about a perfect human condition.
In both cases, the new set of dos, don’ts and do-as-you-likes embraced both economic and socio-ethical matters. The fundamental reason why the Soviet system collapsed into painful chaos was that its rules did not make sense as a framework for human life. For precisely the same reason, the West’s post-European framework for living, sponsored by its governments, business sector and endorsed ideologues, is on the way to painful dissolution.
Utopias make sense only as visions and dreams; not, by definition, as homes for people to live in successfully.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – Your Editorial of March 7th asserts as “truth” that “we all lost the run of ourselves, believing in the ‘onward and upward’ myth that sustained the property bubble for so long”.
No, we did not. Fools believed that property prices could not fall and the rest of the guff that was peddled as common sense. But there were many people who behaved prudently and argued against that patent lunacy.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – Your Editorial of March 7th is incorrect. Not all of the Irish people lost the run of themselves over the past 15 years. A large percentage of the population worked hard, saved, did not buy two homes or have two foreign holidays a year, put their children through college, and generally lived well within their means.
They argued in their kitchens, on your Letters page, on RTÉ's Questions and Answersand in the work canteens about the government largesse, the missed opportunities, and the obvious unbridled greed and golden circles that were allowed to unhinge our economy.
Successive governments were kept in power by approximately 45 per cent of the population. The rest were either too young to understand the real implications of their actions, or were incredulous when Fianna Fáil was put in for a third time. Their mismanagement and arrogance was only too apparent in the good times, so the train-wreck solutions and lack of control displayed as this economic crisis unfolds really come as no surprise now.
A percentage of the population got what they paid for and, yes, we are all in it together. The wider population has no problem in putting the shoulder to the wheel to get us back on track. But please do not paint us all with the same brush.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Exchequer deficit, the enormous increase in unemployment and the threatened reductions in welfare in the forthcoming budget are all indicators that must surely alert the Government to rising levels of destitution, neediness, distress and desperation in this country. Ireland will no longer be a rich nation and the national economic wellspring is severely weakened. There is a compelling need for urgent new thinking, revised priorities and new practical initiatives, beginning with a changed approach to aid and welfare.
Last year Ireland spent €914 million on overseas development assistance, making it one of the most generous donor countries in the world. Ireland is committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on overseas development assistance by 2012. That commitment was laudable and realistic when the resources to achieve it were ample but this is not the case in the foreseeable future and the Government needs to pardon itself from fully meeting this objective within that timescale. Charity begins at home and a portion of these resources are now badly needed to provide aid in Ireland.
The Government could begin by diverting at least €100 million to augment the diminishing resources of credible, long-established charities, such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul and the Simon Community. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaelteacht Affairs could be augmented to act as overseer of such an initiative and create practical guidelines and policies. The distributions of funds to charities could be controlled by an independent commissioner operating to specific guidelines and accountable to the Public Accounts Committee.
There is a well developed and experienced set of voluntary agencies in this country that operate overseas and which demonstrate great flair in fund-raising and promoting their excellent work. The Irish people are deeply compassionate and demonstrate enormous generosity in their support of these, particularly at Christmas, Lent and in response to catastrophe, strife and famine. There is no reason to believe that this spirit will abate. Ireland can continue to be a prominent donor to the relief of distress throughout the world while the Government attends to the consequences of poverty at home.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is interesting that, in these times of cutbacks and financial crisis, it is estimated there will be about 12,000 Irish people attending the Cheltenham Festival. The amount of money that these people take out of the Irish economy is anybody’s guess but it is not unknown for rich farmers to have €20,000 in their back pockets at Cheltenham.
I wonder if Brian Lenihan thinks it is “unpatriotic” for Irish people to attend this racing festival – or will there be too many Fianna Fáilers there to make an issue of it? Surely it is time for the Irish Government to stop all subsidies and grants to the horse-racing industry; or is horse racing more important than education in modern Ireland?
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – Mr Dermot Desmond was reported in last Friday’s Business section as being dismayed at the appointment of an internal candidate as the new chief executive of the Bank of Ireland.
I would like to apply this logic and borrow some of his words to comment on the performance of the Government. Credibility and confidence need to be restored. A clean break is needed. The people who got the country into this domestic mess are not the people to get the country out of the mess.
I believe that the people leading us at the moment are patently not capable of managing the task at hand and are totally inept. Their failure to apologise to the public for their blatant and gross mismanagement of the economy is breathtaking in its arrogance and lack of understanding.
Is it too much to hope that the penny will drop and that they will go now, before they inflict any further damage to our nation?
– Yours, etc,
Madam,- May I suggest a 10 per cent reduction in George Lee’s pontifications on RTÉ, just to ease the pain of the nation’s citizens?
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was amused to see the “greening” of Peter Mandelson by a protester who threw coloured custard in his face.
It led me to wonder what colour of custard our Government ministers should receive: red for debt, yellow for inability to make decisions, or black for our future prospects?
– Yours, etc,