Sir, – I read Rosita Boland's interesting article on the town of Kiltimagh ("'Half dead' – a town in rural Ireland", September 19th). Might I suggest a possible, though undoubtedly controversial, solution to the problem of revitalising Irish rural towns? American retirees. Wealthy and upper-middle-class Americans devote a great deal of thought daydreaming about retiring abroad.
Other nations, Panama and Costa Rica come to mind, have identified this potential opportunity and have devised policies to attract well-heeled Americans. There are really just a few things that need to be done to attract their attention. Do not tax their income, give them a favourable property tax rate and perhaps even a tax-reducing inducement to rehabilitate an existing home or construct a new one. Provide them with affordable healthcare that could be entirely at their own expense. That should not be too difficult when you consider what they are paying for healthcare in the United States.
Because of their general disdain for all levels of government, they will not desire to become citizens, as so will never becoming burdens to the State.
And they will generate revenue. One thing Americans do more of than any people on earth is consume. The sales tax and increased income tax generated by higher employment in the service industries are bound to improve finances.
Americans insist on things being new so construction work will increase, automobile sales will be positively affected and sales of appliances, furnishings, landscaping materials will all increase. And you won’t need all that many of them. If Ireland could induce 150,000 Americans to move here that would revitalise many a town or village. Each town would only need 30 to 40 couples living within its jurisdiction to see a marked improvement in the local economy.
Of course, there would be a few drawbacks. As many of you probably already know, they can be an insufferable lot. Ireland’s modern motorways and shopping malls do remind me of California in a disconcerting sense and there would be calls for more of both.
Wealthy Americans soon tire of most things, principally because they can afford to. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, for when they change their minds about living in Ireland they will want to make haste in changing their situations. Americans are an impatient people and they will want to divest themselves of their reasonably new homes, cars and belongings and will compromise on the price just to get going. Another plus for Ireland.
There’s actually little tongue-in-cheek about this suggestion. I’m sure that there are quite a few now financially secure Panamanians scratching their heads, counting their money and saying to one another, “These people will buy anything!” – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL BERNARD,
Escondido,
California.