Sir, - The privatisation and sell-off of Telecom shares has been accompanied by a singular lack of protest from any significant political, trade union, or social body.
Trade unions in Telecom appear to have become promotional pawns for a privatisation which, with much brouhaha, essentially cloaks a sell-out to predatory capitalism under the guise of worker and popular public share participation. In other words, a company largely owned by the public is being sold to a section of that public and the large investor.
The need to rationalise and consolidate in the face of competition in a European Union single market is made much of. The single market, as defined in various EU treaties and competition rules, is one designed to limit, if not abolish altogether, a state role in investment and economic activity.
While there can be no going back to economic rationalism, and the goal of a unified Europe is worth achieving in every respect, including political, economic, social, cultural and military integration, there is a need for European social democrats with some guts to challenge many of the assumptions underlying the competition rules and the treaties which inhibit the growth of state, co-operative and other socially-based economic activity which could enhance shared ownership in a competitive market environment and be complementary to it. - Yours, etc., Philip Ryan,
Allerton Drive, Dublin 24.