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Irish leader Enda Kenny was unfairly slammed for telling the truth

Taoiseach makes statement at the World Economic Forum in Davos

PAUL ALLEN,

IrishCentral.com Staff

Published Saturday, January 28, 2012, 7:31 AM

Updated Saturday, January 28, 2012, 7:31 AM

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Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

Photo by PHILIPPE WOJAZER

The Irish thrive on blaming others for their woes. We blame the British, the Catholic Church and just about anyone else that saves us from embracing collective responsibility for our own missteps. But it is high time for people to grow up. We claim we want the truth, but it would appear that we can’t handle the truth.

Enda Kenny is now facing a backlash for telling people something they desperately don’t want to hear yet alone believe — we are all to blame for the economic crisis.

The Taoiseach told a gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the problem with Ireland’s economy was that “people went mad borrowing” in a climate where greed saw the system spiral out of control and ultimately crash.

This is of course an oversimplification of our economic downfall, yet it is in essence relatively accurate. The poor judgement of our political leaders and the corrupt nature of certain financiers and developers was all driven by a collective giddy greed that gripped our nation at the height of the boom. The vast majority of us were crying, “more, more, more” when in fact we should have been increasing taxes and cutting our spending levels.

Speak with any rational Irish person about this and they will agree that while the levels of blame rise significantly depending on your role in the crash, we all ultimately have to take a certain amount criticism.

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Decision day for Irish economy - Ireland to pay back €1.25 billion Anglo Irish Bank bondholders

Enda Kenny blames Celtic Tiger collapse on ‘mad borrowing’ by the public

It’s official – Dublin drinkers save money by opting for alcohol in pubs

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But to utter such words in public is tantamount to treason. This warped view of reality is being fed into and fuelled by a media that constantly uses politicians, developers and bankers as scapegoats.

Minister for Transport and Tourism Leo Varadkar condemned this cynicism and highlighted how the media offers a “sugar-coated” truth rather than exposing the real facts. He is right.

The media has become so cynical of politicians and their roles, that it is affecting the balance portrayed in the pages of our newspapers and the broadcasts of our national news.

It is so easy to blame whoever is public enemy number one at any given moment, whether it’s Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton or Sean Dunne. However, these people did not operate in a vacuum and were part of a culture that was allowed flourish during the boom years.

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52 Comments

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hermitTalker | May 12, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT

AmAZING that Mr Kenny did a US-presidential style national TV braodcast to tell the people they were not responsible for the huge bailout. Then on TV later in Brussles he blamed the peoples' wild spending. His handlers tried to "correct" that. SO, with all the leaks, corrections and broken election promises and fumbled handling of the water, budget and health care who really gives a rat's bum about what any of them says.

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faberm1 | Jan 30, 2012, 10:01 AM EST

@MB Dublin: Why don't you come over here and spend some Euros with us. We've spent far more in Ireland than you have here. Turn-around is fair play. And try coming somewhere other than Disney world, Chicago, New York, or San Francisco. We need your money as much down south.

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IrelandNorth | Jan 30, 2012, 08:30 AM EST

"The Irish thrive on blaming everyone for their woes[!]" Was that why Enda Kenny, being Irish, blamed citizens for over-borrowing from over-lending bankers, from which Govts. rewarded themselves 16% salary increases from a booming economy. Kenny! Blame your banker cronies.

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timmy45 | Jan 30, 2012, 12:34 AM EST

typo , DAVOS , (NOT DEAP);

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timmy45 | Jan 30, 2012, 12:28 AM EST

not totally agreeable with your standard report, Kenny ought to have known how much distance he put from mentioning his 'theory' to the general audience , as in Deap Switzerland 'far across the Sea', to the Island of Ireland . Kenny sits like ' Lord Muck ' over his 'peepel',testing the waters for ripple effect , Phil Hogan is then left to skutter the Irish version as if we needed him to decipher the words we heard and the meaning of Kenny;470,000 unemployed, misery everywhere,marriages going along the yellow brick road towards a brick wall of corruption with the legal fraternity at an all time high , civil serpants expecting and receiving massive pensions coupled with hugh 'Fat Kat' ''see ya when i see ya chickens knecks'', try and get a straight reply to and honest question from any government department is a joke , Irish People being hounded off the Dole/ being denied their weekly benefits pre paid for in their work contributions,Houses not worth a tuppeny you know what, etc , and Kenny goes and blabbers off to the World Press how the Irish 'peepel' are to blame for everything is not an uplifting stairway to heaven at all at all . Good afternoon , Good evening & Goodnight to all you Irish and Americans so far away , drop over sometime as we need your company and your dollars like never before . Thank You .MBDublin.

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PolinDeB | Jan 29, 2012, 10:05 PM EST

And most people who bought a 400,000 house at the height of the Tiger are still paying it back if they can, despite everything. We were irresponsible and are paying for our over the top spending.. it's other peoples we object to.. ie the BANKS>.....

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PolinDeB | Jan 29, 2012, 10:03 PM EST

Alright.. but where was Enda Kenny saying this before the crash? It is politicians jobs to tell people what we need to do to succeed, none of our politicians stood up against the Celtic Tiger bandwagon.. and for that they should all be shot ; )

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awoken32 | Jan 29, 2012, 08:34 PM EST

Thats just the way it goes joycean,altleast you respected the that differance,differant strokes for differant fokes

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joycean | Jan 29, 2012, 07:21 PM EST

In American English, middle class,educated Americans do not mispronouce "th." In America, pronounciation is an indication of what part of the country you are from, how well educated you are,and a lot about you. When I moved from Boston to Virginia, I found my Bostonian English could not be understood by my students, so I had to learn to pronouce "r's," which Bostonians do not pronounce in the middle and at the ends of words. My students could not understand my accent, so I had to consciously pronounce "r's." My daughter once pointed out to me that sometimes I exaggerate them and sometimes drop them; sometimes in the same word.

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awoken32 | Jan 29, 2012, 06:52 PM EST

The only differance between fianna fail an fianna gael is,fianna gael are gettimg the bigger wage packet now,their agendas are identical,all lying cowtowing traitors to their people an cultures,they act like solicitors for the elites rather than patriotic leaders of their peoples,they will do what they are told to do aslong as THEIR big wage packets are not affected,now fianna fail are playing the opposition card,its all fake opposition infront of the cameras,they should all be disbanded as failed traitor political parties,there should be accountability on politics,we dont live in democracies at all,we live in dictatorships with the elites controlling everything from politics to education/indoctrination the presstitutes in the media,will the awakening of the masses happen before nuclear WW3 leading to their NWO,were the survivors will live in an orwellion nightmare science dictatorship reduced to human slaves,

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awoken32 | Jan 29, 2012, 06:39 PM EST

the th mainly came about out of disrespect for the queens english as did a lot of the the curses an they just stuck,me myself i think its fkn top of the range lol,i love my irish broga,to the irish it couldnt be further from offensive language,and anyone that knows the irish know it to be the case,it has nothing to do with education its an irish thing

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seanomelbourne | Jan 29, 2012, 06:16 PM EST

Your reference "only working class" Irish harden the "th" sound because of the lack of education is misguided and lacks an understanding of the Irish psyche.

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awoken32 | Jan 29, 2012, 05:54 PM EST

alri ciara hope your keeping well

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joycean | Jan 29, 2012, 05:02 PM EST

Gobdawpaddy, I am pretty sure that the "d" sound replacing "th" is a Dublin accent. I remember hearing it as a child growing up in Boston, usually used by working class Irish-Americans. So it actually made it to this country and was passed on for a generation or two in places like South Boston. I believe it actually comes from Irish-language speakers who were unfamiliar with the "th" sound. I've noticed that my Kerry relatives did not use it, but that might be because they were more educated.

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ciaradexy | Jan 29, 2012, 03:01 PM EST

So Gobshite is now slagging the Irish accent and way of speaking? Im delighted you speak the Queens English better than us. Hope it makes you feel less Oirish and more Irish.

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