A "sense of malaise" in Celtic Tiger Ireland was addressed at the opening of the Ceifin conference in Ennis, Co Clare, yesterday.
This malaise existed despite the move from narrow nationalism, our greater economic freedom and freedom to reject sexual puritanism. It was also "despite Irish victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Grand National and the Triple Crown, despite the wonderful success of the Ryder Cup", said economist Finola Kennedy.
Delivering the keynote address at the conference, on the theme The Best of Times, the Worst of Times, she said "moral development, in the sense of discerning rights and wrongs as well as distinguishing right from wrong, remains a challenge" in this era of the Celtic Tiger.
"Today, possibly as we speak, someone's child is committing suicide; someone's child is being killed on the roads; and this week, someone's child will be murdered . . . What does it avail these people and their families that GNP is growing by more than 5 per cent per year?" she asked.
She said that (actor) "Brendan Gleeson's outburst on the Late Late Show earlier this year about hospital trolleys in the midst of plenty, could perhaps be taken as a metaphor of the malaise.
"John Boorman's film, The Tiger's Tail, in which Gleeson stars and which goes on release later this week highlights this issue in the context of contemporary Ireland."
Such problems were not new, she said, adding "what is new is the fact that greatly increased wealth in Ireland has led to the expectation that such problems should be solved - that the resources are available to do the job, but some fault line in the system, perhaps lack of political will, has blocked resolution. There are signs that the national conscience has been stirred."
With growth, "we have lost our small national schools, our local Garda stations, our small post offices and neighbourhood letter boxes. Postal collections and deliveries are reduced. Sole practice GPs are vanishing. Housecalls by GPs are virtually extinct.
"The days of small hospitals are numbered. Children are bussed to bigger and more distant schools. All of this growth in the size of service delivery units is done in the name of efficiency.
She noted that "when the State was founded, very few persons lived alone, now more than one in five lives alone". She felt "a curious shift is taking place: as the economy moves more in the direction of private enterprise and the market, more Boston than Berlin, many traditional functions of the home are shifting towards the State . . . At a time when the price of houses is the hottest topic in town, it is ironic that houses have never been more empty of human life and activity . . . during the day."
