Madam, – Kevin Ryan (Opinion, April 15th) asks, where is the compensation for a generation which spent years in college to obtain third-level education? He asks how long it will be before he, and others in his situation, are compensated and recognised? The answer, sadly, is that there will be no compensation. Ever.
Instead, Mr Ryan can look forward to years of hard work, safe in the knowledge that his taxes and the universal social charge are not being used to better his quality of life, rather they are going straight into paying off the debts of the feckless morons (politicians, bankers, developers, baby-boomer property speculators, unions, etc) who nearly crippled our country.
You can scrimp and save for a deposit, and go cap in hand to a bank (which you now have the privilege of part owning), to ask for a mortgage which you will not get. You can live in Ireland for what should be the best and most enjoyable part of your life, safe in the knowledge that your kids will still be indoctrinated in schools by the same organisation that raped and abused in times past, and will never be held to account for it. You can stay in a country where if you get sick, you will more than likely lie waiting on a trolley in hospital, while behind closed doors, bureaucrats push pens and earn exorbitant salaries.
You can acquiesce to this, beaten down like generations of Irish, all the while wondering why; asking fruitlessly for answers and looking for some meaningful acknowledgment of your sacrifices and hard work.
Or you can leave. You can take your skills, your education and your work ethic and apply them in a country where you are appreciated. I have recently taken a graduate position in the resources sector in Western Australia, and I now earn multiples of what I ever earned in any job in Ireland. The work is hard, yes, but the quality of life is head and shoulders above what it was back home.
I miss my family and what few friends remain in Ireland, but thanks to the availability of free and easy-to-use technologies I can communicate face-to-face with them, whenever I need to. When I want to return, it is no more than a day’s travel, and my salary affords me the luxury to pick and choose when and with whom I want to fly. The most satisfying part of it all is that I can pay my taxes here in the knowledge that I am not under an obligation to do my “patriotic duty”, and help pay off an €85 billion debt, which I had no hand, act or part in running up.
This is a far cry from previous generations of the Irish Diaspora, I agree, and I concede it sounds almost too good to be true, but this is my reality.
There is a whole world out here, and a whole network of people who can help Mr Ryan make the most of the opportunities provided. Mr Ryan has the power in his hands to reach for a better life. The choice is his. – Yours, etc,