Immoral debt that should not be paid at all

It was a week of two halves for Fine Gael and the Government. It started off with the McAleese report on the Magdalene laundries and Enda Kenny’s mishandling of it and it ended up with what we have been told was a triumph in negotiating a deal on the infamous promissory notes.

 

Somewhere in between, but reported at the weekend was The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll showing another big slide in support for Fine Gael and Labour and also showing that Fianna Fáil is now once again and in spite of everything, the most popular political party in the State.

However, the poll was conducted early in the week before the deal on Anglo-Irish Bank was done and a new poll now would probably show an improvement in Fine Gael support, whatever about Labour.

So this was a great deal. The very best that we could have got, according to some of the experts. To be honest with you, I don’t know. It was some of these so–called ‘experts’ who got us into the trouble we are in. I cannot see where the victory is in forcing a small country like Ireland to fork out more than €30 billion to pay for the bad debts of others. So Michael Noonan and Enda Kenny managed to get the debt postponed.

Future generations of Irish citizens will be paying it and you might ask yourself the memorable question – what have future generations ever done for us anyway? We are talking, of course, of your grandchildren and some young people reading this will be paying that debt when they get older.

The fact is that neither this generation nor future ones have had anything to do with this. It is an immoral debt and should not be paid at all and the deal done last week is an immoral one.

There was a time when the people who fought for this country had the guts to stand up to their masters in London and say “damn your concessions England, we want our country”. Our present leaders are a spineless lot and are unable to say the same today to Europe. If I thought the deal done last week would bring an end to the austerity that has been heaped on us over the past five years I might be inclined to say “well done!” But I cannot see that deal putting one extra cent into my pocket or taking one less cent out of it either today, tomorrow, next week, next year or in two years’ time. We will still be paying the property tax, water charges, the universal tax, septic tank tax and so many other taxes and charges that they will have thought up in the meantime. It is not that I am opposed to property taxes, water charges or septic tank registration fees. Those charges should have been introduced years ago when we could afford them but they are being forced on us now when we are already on our knees.

It is not a question of people not wanting to pay. It is a question of people not having the money to pay. The deal done in Europe is not going to alleviate those burdens. We are still going to have an austerity budget at the end of this year. Fine Gael and Labour may believe that come the next general election the economy will have turned the corner and the people will come to appreciate all that the Government has done to bring that about and will return them to power. That’s wishful thinking for you.

I do hope that the economy will have turned the corner but by the time the election comes we will be paying property taxes, water charges and septic tank fees that we are not paying now. That’s what’s going to matter at the election and not the sleight–of–hand deal brokered at Brussels last Thursday.

Is that deal going to entice any of the tens of thousands who have emigrated in recent years back home again? Is it going to provide jobs for any of those on the dole now? Is it going to restore allowances taken off those who care for their loved ones at home? Will it give back the medical card to any of those who cannot afford to pay for their own health treatment? Does it mean that the Government can now abandon the property tax, the water charges or the universal tax?

Meanwhile, we cannot blame this Government for the treatment handed out to women incarcerated in the Magdalene laundries over several generations. That is not to overlook Enda Kenny’s failure to issue an apology without any ifs or buts on behalf of the people of this State to the women involved.

But Kenny was right to describe the times that were in it in Ireland as “harsh, uncompromising and authoritarian”. I grew up in those times and I will describe them in one word – cruel. It was a shame to be poor or to be sick. Those who had the dreaded TB were shunned. If your child had Down Syndrome you kept him or her hidden away. If your daughter was pregnant and unmarried you either forced her into a marriage she didn’t want or you had her locked away in a Magdalene laundry and pretended to the neighbours that she had gone to England to work.

There was no such thing as love in that cruel Ireland. At least there were no outward signs of it. Grown–up people did not kiss or hug – only in dark, secret, out–of–the way places. Gays were queers. Same–sex marriage would have been an abomination. I imagine that if two people of the same gender loved and had the temerity to live together they would have the house burned down around them.

“Company keeping”, or in other words, going on a date, was condemned from the altar. Fine Gael TD Oliver J Flanagan later remarked that “there was no sex in Ireland then” – not until RTÉ television came along.
We all went along with the cruelty although we didn’t think it was cruel. The Church, the State, the people – priests and nuns, gardaí and teachers, fathers and mothers were all guilty and we should now pay for that guilt and stop talking about “the good old days”.