Madam, – We are officially out of recession, according to the statistics (Front page, July 1st). If this is the reward we get for the bitter medicine imposed by Government on the Irish people, it is indeed a poor return for being virtuous to the point of self-mutilation.
Where is the payback for abstinence and self-sacrifice? How much deeper can we cut before squeezing the very life from a dying patient? It is high time for a change of plan. We must now bring forward expansionary measures to stimulate growth in the jobs and business sectors, and not further mindless cuts. Instead of hanging our heads in embarrassment at being one of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) countries, we should perhaps consider banding together with our fellow-PIIGS and develop a new approach to recovery.
We could start by ignoring the strict parenting of the big EU players, and not whine like infants for their approval. The next step could be a new set of protocols for doing business within a zone which has become, quite clearly, a poorer subset of the larger EU. This is not to ignore, or opt out of, the EU, which has been of such benefit to us in so many ways; it is simply to explore the various strata of what has become a fractious alliance and attempt to find new and creative ways to advance the fragile recovery. – Yours, etc,