Ireland is a rich country and we have to adjust our mindset accordingly, says Ruairi Quinn. We are seriously wealthy; we may not see it or think it, but all our political neighbours see it, even to the extent that when they come here they can't get a bed to stay in.
The Labour leader told the Association of European Journalists in Dublin that as we took stock for the millennium we had to grasp our utterly changed circumstances in an intellectual and emotional shift. We were now richer than "mother England", yet the beal bocht attitude was still evident in the European elections. What about us giving to mother Europe from the huge surplus Merrion Street hadn't the slightest idea what to do with, he asked. We are the richest country in the EU with a cash-flow of £8 billion swashing around between now and Christmas. Would that convince us to readjust our mindsets? Why should we be Santa Claus in the middle of June?
Quinn said there was no automatic, spontaneous generosity in the Irish spirit; our new-found wealth had not necessarily made us more virtuous or charitable. But Ireland had a unique contribution to make and what's more, he said, it was in our self-interest to do so.
He proposed an Irish institute for democracy which would help and advise the six applicant-members of the EU. Why? Because first, he said, we needed their civic society to work, for if something went wrong in the system it went wrong right across Europe;
second, we needed alliances and votes; and third, it would expand the market. They needed us because of our unique attributes - we speak English; we are a small country without an aggressive past; we have a track record of 25 years on the Euro road - the Paddy Murphia experience - and indeed Poland had already said Ireland was the role model; our wealth could make a tangible contribution to their problems.
"So six months off the turn of the millennium it is time to be generous. We have people on our doorstep who we can help."