Madam, – Over the past 18 months or so, when covering the economic situation, the media has looked at every side of the story and every perspective of society. From the trade unions to the employers, government to opposition, taximen to train drivers and public sector to private sector. All sides have had their voices heard. All except one.
For what is not the first time in Ireland’s history, the young people of society have suffered enormously during times of recession, but who cares?
All the talk of pay cuts and strikes have drowned out the voices of the young who will, of course, have to carry the burden in years to come and lift the country back up from the way it was left to us by the current generation.
It was the most clichéd story of my childhood – the “olden days”, harder times, which were long gone. We were the “Celtic cubs”. Often I was made feel almost guilty that I was born around the time this new prosperous Ireland was born.
For all the talk about how easy we had it, in hindsight, we got the least of what everyone else was gaining. It wasn’t new schools being built to replace the thousands of classroom prefabs, it was apartments and houses. The new-found wealth wasn’t spent on facilities for young people, but fuelled the property bubble. It wasn’t spent on new computers to replace the outdated and limited supply in schools, but on things such as the e-voting machines.
It’s clear to see now that we were living in the exact same Ireland in a different decade. The same place my father and grandfather lived in. The one my friends and I were constantly reminded how lucky we were not to have encountered.
The Ireland where young people are seen but not heard is alive and well. An Ireland where the young have been given no option but to emigrate, and will, in the future have to pay for the Nama cure, in order to bail out a banking system we were too young to be associated with.
Hopefully the current generation has made such a mess of things that the young people, when in a position to do so, will learn from their drastic mistakes and finally change things for good. – Yours, etc,