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PRESIDENT MARY McAleese made a most interesting speech about the state of the nation to a private luncheon at the Institute of International and European Affairs recently. Ireland had gone, in a relatively short time, from being the economic toast of Europe to being excoriated for a champagne lifestyle that was based on unsustainable levels of borrowing. We had come face to face with confidence and crises of confidence, she said. Consensus was hard to find. She suggested that “tabloidism, anecdote and stereotype” were fuelling heady panics. The President has a point.

We have become a nasty, self-interested society where heads on a plate, or pensions, are the media witch-hunt of the day to serve the court of public opinion. But, we have to get beyond the anger and constructively move foward to the next phase of dealing with our problems.