....So as long as it’s not FF you are happy? Do you think a government with the Marxist/communist /isolationist policies of SF would be better?
Of course FF should pay for what they have done and of course it matters what FG/Labour would have done because it tells us what they will do.
As a citizen of this country I have rights but I also have responsibilities. These include accepting that I have to play my part in fixing the state’s finances. I, like most of us, have benefited from the boom; I use better roads and can get home from work faster than I could ten years ago, my son who has special needs gets the extra help he needs in school, a close relative who has aggressive cancer can access expensive treatments that would not have been available without the boom. The fact is that now there will be higher taxes, my son will lose his classroom assistant and close friends will lose their jobs. That’s just the way it is and the way it has to be. Fairness doesn’t come into it. The answer to “I didn’t cause this” is “so what”; you’re a citizen of this country and you have to put your shoulder to the wheel just like everyone else. If your shoulder is at the wheel then stop moaning and push harder.
As for the fat cats... well Dr. AJF O’Reilly has lost hundreds of millions in the last few months. So have Mr. Quinn, Dermot Desmond etc. Property developers have, at the very least, lost most of their net worth. One at least has lost his life. I have absolutely no sympathy for the golden circle but the idea that they have not been effected by what’s happened is ridiculous.
I am not an 'anyone but' FF person. I believe SF might be ready to govern, in 2 or 3.....decades...maybe. Labour deserve to stay in opposition as long as they are 'prisoners' of an outdated ideology, and more importantly - in trawl to the union movement.
FG have an historic opportunity to make a real breakthrough, with a mandate for real change..however, the signs are worrying, it looks like Kenny et al are trying to pull a FF type stroke i.e. oppose everything, talk tough - but ultimately roll over to vested interest groups in an attempt to 'offend' no one. I hope that they avoid this trap, and step-up to the plate.
I am prepared to shoulder my fair share of the burden - reluctantly - because it should never have come to this.
Regarding good roads, improved medical care etc....maybe I have lived in a parallel universe for the last decade - where infrastructure projects were typically delivered late, and significantly over budget, where despite massive extra spending, the health service managed to struggle to deliver even basic services, and where people died needlessly, through misdiagnosis, MRSA etc.
I have no particular axe to grind with O'Reilly and the other millon/bllionaires - but I can't say I'm sorry for those that are down to their last few hundred million. And that those that broke the law should be punished.
Radical reform of almost every facet of our economy and society is required - education,HSE, other public/civil service bodies - power generation, planning; private sector organisations should not be immune - banking,professional services etc need to be regulated effectively - for the public good.
I will not quitely bend to the government's will - I am angry, but this does not mean I am opting out. I believe it is reasonable to want to see brave and tough decisions made to position this country for recovery - and that those who were the primary authors of this disaster should pay the price.... soon...