We’re still on a promise

DO not ask me to write about the banking crisis in Cyprus or about its effects on Ireland and on the eurozone in general. I’m afraid I don’t have a clue about how we can be affected. But then, I am not the only one.

 

Those great big geniuses of finance ministers throughout the eurozone, including our own Michael Noonan, don’t seem to have much of a clue either. Last week, they came up with a solution to the Cypriot banking crisis that would screw all big and small bank deposit holders on the island. The so-called solution would have caused more problems than it set out to solve. If implemented, it would have destroyed not alone the whole economy of Cyprus but also that of the eurozone and eventually the entire European Union. How do I know that? Well, I don’t but my analysis is as good as that of the next man. I believe I am as likely to be right as to be wrong. Those guys who are in charge are more likely to be wrong than to be right, as we have seen over the past five years or more.

Thankfully, the solution originally prescribed by those wise ministers of Europe was rejected by the Cypriots, even though our Government here said it would be a good thing for Cyprus, for the eurozone and for Ireland.

Can anybody have any confidence in the ability of these people to sort out our economic problems? Governments have been elected all over Europe because they promised before election they had a plan to solve the problems and the people believed them. Of course, they ditched those promises and those plans as soon as they got into power. They have only made matters worse. The cures have been far worse than the diseases.

Some of us are blue in the face from shouting about the damage austerity is causing. But those who matter are not listening. Those in control of our destiny want to pile on more austerity on backs that cannot bear the burden and they praise themselves for having the courage to take tough decisions. What kind of courage did it take to reduce carers’ allowances or child benefits? Was it heroic to impose universal taxes on old-age pensioners? Where was the bravery in imposing a property tax on people who couldn’t afford to pay their mortgages? Courage is not a word I would ever use when talking about those people in power. At best, I would say they are stupid. At worst, I would use language not suitable for this newspaper. Let us merely say they are cruel and inhuman.

Those are the people we elected to govern us and don’t say we get the government we deserve. The ordinary people of Ireland – and indeed of Europe – do not deserve this. The worst aspect of all this is that any alternative governments I can think of are no better. We just hope to be able to survive and pray for a miracle. We hope we can be able to pay our bills and pray we don’t have to go into hospital for any reason.
Does anybody know where we are going to be this time next year? Will we be better or worse off? Here in Clare, the best we can hope for is that our senior hurlers continue to do us proud so that we can forget our economic woes even for a short time.

I don’t intend either to talk about the Meath East Byelection this week because this column will be published before the result is announced. I could say that the result is unimportant. A Fine Gael win means the party has retained the seat that became vacant with the tragic death of Shane McEntee last December.

A Fianna Fáil win means the main Opposition party has exactly the same number of seats it won at the general election and before the death of Brian Lenihan. The Government has such a large majority that the gain or loss of a seat here or there makes no difference. But as the famous Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said about football – this was not a matter of life and death; it was much, much more important than that.

I am sure the majority of people don’t care one way or another who wins this byelection in Meath East. But for anyone interested in the blood sport of politics, the result is vital. Fianna Fáil would love to put one over on Fine Gael and vice versa. Sinn Féin and the Labour Party are engaged in a struggle as intense as any you will see on the hurling fields of Munster this summer.

A win for Fine Gael would be a great morale boost for the party, which seems to have lost a lot of support since the general election. A loss for Fine Gael would be explained away as typical of byelections going against the party or parties in power. A win for Fianna Fáil would be hailed as another step on the road to recovery by that party.

The bookies have both parties neck-and-neck with a slight edge in Fine Gael’s favour. I am not going to predict a result; you will possibly know that yourself before you read this paper this week. But I see that the Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald is very happy with Fine Gael’s reception everywhere she canvassed over the past few days in Meath East, whether in Kells, Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne or anywhere else. Reading her tweets and believing them, you would expect the Fine Gael candidate to romp home on the first count. She would have to be telling the truth, wouldn’t she and she married to a decent man from Cratloe.

I can tell you that the four major parties pulled out all the stops in order to get a good result here. You would never guess we are stuck in a deep recession as all the parties spared no expense. I hope for their sakes it was worth it even though there can be only one winner.

Didn’t I tell you I was not going to write about the Cypriot bank crisis or about the Meath East Byelection?