The downturn, the recession, the death of the Celtic Tiger; call it what you want but it is a manmade mess of mammoth proportions. While some like to think of it as a bubble bursting, I personally think of it more like a massive boil or carbuncle exploding. When a bubble bursts it disappears. When a boil bursts there is pus and blood, and then weeping and oozing for some time after until all the infection is gone and the site can finally be allowed to heal.
Now that I’ve put you off your biscuit let me say that I don’t get angry about it anymore. The billions being poured into the banks, the millions wasted by an impotent government who are always, ‘looking into’ some way of cleaning up the mess but never quite delivering, irritates me but then I forget about it and get on with my day. Well all my self control and mild manners abandoned me in the wake of the recent Roscommon child abuse report. While watching Minister David McAndrews on RTE last week I was enraged and felt a distinct urge to hurl something at the television. The comment that provoked me was his despicable and very condescending ‘assurance’ that even in these very harsh economic times the government was putting 200 extra childcare workers into the system. He said it as if we should be grateful! Instead of seeing it as a boast, he should have been tearfully apologising that they can only put 200 in and begging forgiveness that they have been so understaffed all along. While we happily pick up the multi billion euro tab for high living, self indulgent bankers and silly developers our social services have been understaffed and under pressure for many years.
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