Irish women and children first to suffer as government cutbacks hit

Nothing but the same old story as the elites go scot-free in Ireland

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Enda Kenny, Ireland's prime minister.

Photo by Jock Fistick/Bloomberg

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“In these situations it’s always women and children first,” said the senior civil servant soothingly as I complained bitterly about the first major Government response to the debt crisis which Fianna Fáil and the decision takers of the hour had visited upon the country.

Infamously, as we know, the action back then took the form of attempting to take medical cards away from the over seventies.

Some several years down the line under a new coalition, the watchword is still women and children first as wheelchair bound sufferers are forced to piss into cans outside the Dáil as they mount an all-night vigil in protest at cuts in their Homecare packages.

Modern Ireland deserves a damn sight better than it is getting. An unfortunate overtaxed people are striving as best they can to pick up the pieces of the bank’s crash.

They are coping with a factor not sufficiently acknowledged, vastly increased suicide rates, emigration, unemployment and a murderous crime wave which is visibly out of control.

And all this for what? I had an experience recently which made me question the validity of all the financial measures that both this and the previous government have taken.

I applied for a replacement for a lost Share Certificate through the large financial services company Computershare and as I was advised by a stockbroker,  had my local bank authenticate my application.

However, I got a letter back from Computershare stating that ‘Bank of Ireland are not recognised by Computershare Investment Services as authorised to conjoin Letters of Indemnity.’ And for good measure, the letter also ruled out Allied Irish Bank, IBRC (the bank mopping up the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank).

When I rang Computershare to seek further information I was told ‘these banks do not meet our criteria’

How many billions have we poured into our reckless, corrupt and negligent banks? Is this the reality of Ireland’s real credit rating behind the posturing on the deal of debt forgiveness which our government expects to get from Europe? Is this the reality for which our people are being scourged?

Given the stoicism and effort which we Irish have traditionally exhibited, it is not surprising that we are coping quite gallantly with our challenges. But we face a monstrous, inhibiting factor, it is the gross unfairness of modern Irish society, the women and children first syndrome.

George Bernard Shaw spoke truly when he said that all professions are a conspiracy against the public. The lawyers, the bankers, the stockbrokers, the accountants and the political class of Ireland brought crisis and tragedy upon their people but they escape justice while the people pay for their crimes.

Not one of the aforementioned categories of professionals have suffered for the misdeeds they committed during the boom years, the reckless lending, the hyping of shares, the covering up of criminal balance sheets, the blind eye turned to regulatory negligence, the political cover given to the disgraceful inertia of the Department of Finance and the Central Bank.

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