VIEWPOINT: BY MARK McCOLLUM, VOICE OF OLDER PEOPLE DONEGAL
On this day, the 7th of February the feast of Blessed Eugenia Smet, the birthday of Charles Dickens and Eddie Izzard… and looking to the future, perhaps historically more of greater significance a day of revisions and Reconstruction re-balancing of fiscal to sovereign debt and of liquidation of banks, payment or non payment of promissory notes to ECB/IMF what a glorious day in the life of Ireland ….
It’s all so much window dressing and appears to amount to no more than rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, all change but all remains the same…. and there is nothing like signing legislation onto the statute book at 3:30am in the bar of the Dail.
With economists and political pundits clambering and salivating to inform us how ‘Positive and significant’ or ‘damming and detrimental’ (delete which every you deem the most appropriate) thids ‘bold’/ ‘misguided’ will be for the Country; what will it mean in reality for the average man or woman struggling to scrape a living on this rock… the stark reality is that despite all the headlines, rhetoric, alleged informed opinions, colum inches and air time devoted to this hastily contrived situation nothing will change for struggling people of Ireland… the situation was bad yesterday… and despite of the all night sittings of the Dail and Seanand… it is equally as bad today… and will be the same tomorrow… all change… but all remains the same…
Our leaders have to get a grip on the reality of the situation for the average person trying to get by and do their best in these abysmal circumstances, they have to stop procrastinating and dithering and actually do what they are in power to do… lead and make decisive well thought through decisions for the benefit of everyone, now, and in the long term. It appears we are creating an unsustainable burden of debt that will now be passed to the next generation; is that the future we want for our children and grandchildren, shackled by the debt burden created by speculators and corruption.
The reactionary improvised policies and ‘make it up as we go along’ of this arrogant and disconnected government has to stop, they have to reconnect with the people of the country and learn that the actions and decisions they make now will resonate long into the future, and history will be the judge of their leadership, wisdom or lack thereof.