A chara, – In his excellent analysis of Ireland’s dire fiscal position (“Last chance for Cowen to avert looming economic meltdown”, March 20th), Dan O’Brien highlights the most serious obstacle to Ireland’s emergence from the current mess: lack of talent in Leinster House.
It is easy to blame the politicians for this. But in an electoral culture that places dubious local considerations above all else, we the electorate have only ourselves to blame.
Just as we are asking leaders in all sectors of our society to rise to the challenge of this crisis, we ordinary Irish people must now ask the same of ourselves. It is incumbent on us to vote strategically, maturely, and in the national interest. Let’s return only the type of candidates who measure up to the challenge of executive power – regardless of party affiliation – not those who will “look after us” and our local community.
This will empower us to transform Leinster House from the ground up.
Building such a meritocracy is the only way we can encourage our brightest minds to enter the political arena. Only then will we see an injection of the excellence and innovation that have become the hallmark of modern Ireland into a political class that is clearly out of its depth. – Is mise,
STEWART K KELLY, James Street, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA.
Madam, – We trust our logic is flawless. We live in a democracy where a democratically elected Government administers the affairs of state on behalf of the citizenry and ideally for our mutual benefit.
On our behalf and supposedly for our benefit, our democratically elected Government bailed out the now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. The pundits tell us we can expect at least a billion of Anglo Irish debt which is tied to the property market to remain unpaid.
In such an event, would not all the properties and lands tied to those bad debts revert to Anglo Irish Bank, the Government and ultimately the citizenry?
We suggest that the properties and lands tied to those bad debts are investigated vis-a-vis their ability to satisfy the national requirements for social housing, school buildings, libraries, hospitals, clinics and other essentials which somehow got blown away by the Celtic Tiger’s roar.
Who would build them? Many people with trades and professions associated with the construction industry are now cramming social welfare offices. Do we need to continue?
In view of the recession, it would also seem prudent to avail of a dormant land-bank by reintroducing the practice of self-sufficiency through cultivating allotments. As a gesture to public outrage, we suggest that Seán FitzPatrick should be allowed to practise his financial wizardry for the national good, as treasurer to the scheme, with Michael O’Leary of Ryanair as CEO. – Yours, etc,
Madam, — As we await the special budget, may I compliment you and your Letters Editor for the consistently high quality of the exchanges on this page in recent months? You provided an outlet for those of us who are excluded from RTÉ and other media platforms dominated by the usual suspects with their tiresome, predictable, bankrupt ideas.
It is appropriate that the exchanges morphed into a focus on sharing pain. Too many have forgotten that it has been evident for a long time now that the hangover of a decade of bingeing would be either a “soft landing” or a shattering, “cold turkey” one. No amount of Obamaesque rhetoric and monetary juggling can hide the fact that the economy will continue to shatter painfully, including by way of inflation – the coward’s taxation device – in due course.
The fact is the bingeing was tolerated and stimulated by politicians of all sides. The persistence of their “what we have we hold” greediness is unforgivable. The political scapegoating of bankers is a red herring.
In my Tipperary Star outlet I have explained at length that things would have been different if we had had modest Aidan O’Brien types at the top in our little State. That outstanding young man explained once: “Look – I’m the luckiest man in the world. I get the best bloodstock in the world. My job is not to mess them up.” The same could be said of Declan Kidney.
It cannot be said of our politicians. They were given a grand little economy. They have messed it up. Worse still, they persist in denial and in their refusal to share the pain. They have lost our respect utterly. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The persecution of Gerry McCaughey for using a legal loophole to reduce his tax obligation smacks of short-sighted populism. Mr McCaughey and his tax advisers have shown a flair for financial management and have respected the letter of the law. As for the spirit of the law, Irish tax law allows many multinationals to deprive their home nation of billions in tax revenue.
In some cases the multinationals are genuine, diversified employers with a manufacturing base; in others, the Irish operations are little more than a phone and a fax, a merry-go-round for cash-flows. The IDA and related bodies have for years tempted foreign direct investment into Ireland by helping companies stay within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law.
A dangerous game is being played here. Mr McCaughey has shown an ability to manage and deploy capital efficiently. He has helped to create employment. He has doubtlessly contributed significant amounts to government coffers over the years.
If we are to become a competitive economy again, the efficient deployment of capital and iron-clad financial management will need to be the cornerstone of revival.
The current Government and the financial kingpins in the civil service have shown astonishing incompetence in managing the country’s capital, with no contingency for the well-signalled economic slowdown and related contraction in tax revenue.
Anyone working in the private sector who gets budgetary projections wrong by several billions will be fired on the spot for gross negligence. Is there any accountability in the upper echelons of the public sector? I applaud Mr McCaughey for bowing to the inevitable outcry – but I lament the drain of leadership skills from important public roles through populist persecution, while the real villains are still very much at large. – Yours, etc,