AM I alone in being rather tired of the persistent and pessimistic tone of the contributions from the Irish Voice’s Irish-based contributors? Even the sports pages are now singing the same song of blame the bankers, the government, the developers.

Nobody is saying "we are all to blame.”  What with the shopping trips to the U.S. and Northern Ireland by the ladies taking trade away from local businesses, the trips to Ireland rugby/soccer games by the menfolk, the expensive family weddings!

Everybody (well, nearly everybody) was having a ball.  One has to ask who asked the bankers for the loans, who voted for the "cute-hoor" politicians, who wanted bigger houses, and associated bragging rights than the one down the road?

It’s about time that someone stated "we were all to blame.  It’s now time to stop whining, admit the party is over and we need to learn our lessons and move on.”

Patrick Crowley
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania