Editorial – The red rag is flapping

FOR MONTHS, if not years, they have been asking across Europe and the world why the Irish are not demonstrating and rioting like the Greeks and the Spaniards. The answers are many â€â€ the simple one being that we are not as hot-blooded as our southern cousins, one more nuanced being that there is not such an ideological and class divide here as there is in other countries. That is changing, however. The dire straits in which large sections of the community find themselves are becoming publicly apparent.[private] The number of households in mortgage arrears is rising all the time. The Society of St Vincent de Paul has published, not just statistics, but real-life stories of the dreadful situations encountered by its members. It affirms that people who were donors to the society not so long ago are now seeking its assistance. The opening of soup kitchens in Galway and Athlone is something that brings us back in folk memory to the days of the Famine. A class divide is beginning to open up, the division between the comfortable and the needy. But even the averagely comfortable find themselves under pressure, and now all classes other than the upper echelon find themselves angered by the lack of solidarity shown by those who are responsible for the crux we are in. The heads of the banks who condoned and encouraged the most reckless lending are retired on very large pensions. So are the politicians who presided over 'light touch regulation' and chose to believe in the fairy tale of the 'soft landing'. In retrospect we expect no more from these. But we did expect more from the government we voted in less than two years ago. We expected that, in addition to the vital work of repairing the national finances, this government would take steps to ensure that those at the top would make, and be seen to make, some form of amends in the shape of reduced pensions and rationalised expenses. The pensions being paid to retired cabinet ministers and taoisigh continue to be at an obscene level when compared with the average industrial wage, never mind social welfare payments. And the expenses and allowances paid to TDs are still crying out for correction. Nobody expects an Oireachtas member to suffer financially because he or she represents us. Otherwise good candidates of modest means could not afford to put themselves forward for election. But our system rewards TDs and senators out of all proportion to the job they do and the sacrifices they make. It all adds up to the proverbial red rag in front of the bull. Cutting pensions and Oireachtas allowances and expenses would make very little difference to the overall cost of running the country. But it would make a huge difference to the national attitude. The Irish are a fair-minded and sensible people. If they feel fairly treated they will put up with a lot. But the patent unfairness of the present system, if not properly and publicly corrected, will have serious consequences in the future.[/private]