Madam, – I am an entrepreneur. I keep reading that we will form part of the recovery due to our positive thinking. So here’s an idea that might catch fire.
Bring in national service, not for 18-year-olds but for 55-60-year- olds. One year’s work with no pay, for Ireland.
There are many people of this age who are highly skilled, highly educated, highly motivated, and who retired early, have been made redundant, or are just bored with their work. All that talent mowing lawns, what a waste. Sixty is the new 40.
Here’s how it would work. Each person would come up with a project and write a simple business plan. These would go to a central panel (made up of volunteers, with no pay), who could pick the best 10. The person whose scheme is chosen would pick a cell of six others from the list. They would have all the skills needed to ensure each cell would be fully self-sufficient and capable of working without back-up.
No government assistance, no grants, no reports, no interference would be necessary. The projects would have to be delivered on time, on budget, and in one year. Any profits would go to charity.
The panel would get full sponsorship from Irish business. Each company would sponsor, monitor, and brand their chosen scheme as a separate piece of work.
That’s it. Simple. If there was sufficient interest I would host a first-time meeting and provide a basic start-up office. God loves a trier. – Yours, etc,