Sir, - I have recently returned from a number of years working in Africa. As we come to the end of the year and close to the end of the century, permit me to offer some personal reflections on Ireland as we prepare to enter the new millennium.
That Ireland has enjoyed phenomenal economic progress over the past 10 years is well documented and in evidence for all to see. One is struck both by the increase in the number and size of cars, the rapid rise in house prices, the type and cost of Christmas presents and the amount of money in circulation. It is something that is the envy of many societies and something that we rightly take pride in.
But I'm also left wondering on the type of society that has evolved over the past 10 years and the values which are driving it. We have always prided ourselves on being "Ireland of the Welcomes". Yet the events related to the influx of refugees over the past couple of years lead me to believe that we are now constructing fortress Ireland rather than welcoming Ireland. This is ironic given that we Irish have enjoyed welcomes in many countries whether we entered legally or illegally. Is it not a chance to return the hospitality to others that we have received down through the years?
Another irony is the fact that at a time of unprecedented wealth we have decided to cut our assistance to people in some of the poorest countries of the world while we reduce taxes to those who spend some of their surplus wealth on gambling. It is particularly ironic given that recently so much energy and effort went into commemorating our own famine. We seem to have forgotten that countries as diverse as the Philippines and Australia helped us in our time of need.
Much has been made of our democracy, especially the political system whereby we can change governments on a regular basis. It is a fact to be proud of especially when one works under regimes which are accountable to no-one. On the other hand we seem to developing a society where there is a developing cosy relationship between the business world and the political world despite public unease about it. Witness the recent protests about the construction of Esat telephone masts which followed a cosy arrangement between the Garda and Esat. If we are to call ourselves a democracy could there not have been a public debate on the issue so that Esat, the Garda and the public could discuss views and work towards some form of consensus? I thought that this is what democracy is all about.
One could say the same about the recent directive on the patenting of biotechnological inventions passed by the EU last May. We had no proper public discussion on the issue, only a massive lobby by biotechnological companies which entailed the passing of a directive which now allows patenting on certain forms of life. We have succeeded in putting complicated language on the directive in case the public might understand what is being discussed. Yet the EU and Ireland can make "democracy" and transparency a precondition to other countries before forwarding assistance to them.
We talk about a just and equitable Ireland, yet we have a system where one of our former leaders can be told by an appeals commissioner that he is not liable for tax on his gifts. We have people being sent to jail for shoplifting and petty crime while bigger fish can convolute the truth by elaborate legal arguments and get away with it. We have tribunals on various aspects of the darker side of Irish life but the only winners are the lawyers. The big fish have us all confused about what the truth is and the few small fish that get caught have to take the brunt of the law to show that the tribunals were effective after all. I could go on and on!
What I am trying to say is that a particular society has evolved which many people feel uncomfortable with. As the new millennium peeps its head over the horizon perhaps it is an opportunity for a truly democratic debate about the kind of society we would like and how we are going to build it. If Ireland was known as the island of saints and scholars in the last millennium, how will we be known in the new millennium? As a garrison of unscrupulous industrialists who rule by tribunals and lawyers? - Yours, etc., Eamonn Brehony,
Marine Village, Ballina, Co Tipperary.