We’ve had a change of season, but we’re far from bouncing into spring. As we try to find our feet in the sodden mess left behind by Storm Éowyn and we celebrate our newest Bank Holiday, there are yet more uncertainties in our future.
Over the past half decade, we’ve had Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, dramatic change of weather patterns and the decimation of Gaza. Most of these events have led to a cost of living crisis which shows no sign of disappearing. And now, with The Donald reinstated as the President of the United States of America, it seems that uncertainty is set to prevail, at least for the course of 2025.
Talk of sending more ministers to Washington for the St Patricks Day Parade might be a ploy, but given what we’ve seen thus far in the second coming of President Trump, it could be just the type of lateral thinking that will pay off.
Talk of, and action on promised tariffs has been swift, if uncertain and unpredictable. Mexico has agreed something of a stay of execution with the agreement of a war on drugs and illegal immigrants, while China has rolled up its sleeves ready for a fight.
Prior to his inauguration, here in the Emerald Isle, we would have thought we would survive. We thought would have managed to avoid the gaze of a President debt down on its enemies, perceived and otherwise. Alas, we fall under two umbrellas. That of the EU and the second as the European headquarters of many a US giants of business. Uncertainty is set to linger for some time to come. Trump is nothing if not unpredictable and is destined to talk about many things, but guessing where his hammer might land is nigh on impossible.
Our economic security is heavily linked to the presence and success of the aforementioned US giants. Without them, or with the threat of tariffs being imposed that may scare them back to home soil, our future looks very different.
We’ve lived through a strange time. And with the rapid growth of technology, all that has become certain is that nothing is certain. Spring may have sprung, there may be a grand stretch in the evening, but the world as we know it is in flux.
President Trump has his finger on one of the buttons that will decided how the rest of the year goes for us – at least economically. His latest announcement about his hopes for the future of Gaza and what migh happen with those displaced in the meantime makes for unnverving reading. Whether tariffs do end up landing on our shores might count for little, however the uncertainty might do the damage while we wait.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.