The social contract has been “strained to breaking point” claimed three young Fianna Fáil TDs who hit out at the Government, especially over the way it handled the recent fuel protest. Deputies Albert Dolan, Ryan O’Meara, and James O’Connor criticised the Government, placing growing pressure on their party leader Micheal Martin who has about as much contact with ordinary people as my pal who hasn’t spoken to his ex-wife in 30 years. Still, the lads mean well and are obviously aware that young people have never had it so bad and are denied the future their parents and grandparents took for granted. They are also worried that Fianna Fail could be in for a drubbing at the next election as could Fine Gael.
But they are right when they describe a growing disconnect between the public and politicians and this came to the fore last week in the wake of the fuel protests and the Government’s response to it. For those unfamiliar with the term, a social contract is the unwritten agreement where citizens contribute to society in exchange for state-provided services, rights, and a minimum standard of living. While there were always stresses and strains this was deemed the fairest and most workable way of maintaining a cohesive society and a harmonious relationship between citizens and their State.
But all that has changed in the last decade or so to the extent in my six decades on this planet I’ve never known a time when there has been such a divide between the public and those who supposedly represent them. There is now a palpable sense of anger that is only matched by a complete loss of trust and grave misgivings about the future. Until recently there was always a sense that the centre would hold regardless of what forces might be exerted from either wing. After all there was an unwritten social contract which asserted that the citizens would be looked after materially if they played their part in holding the democratic system together.
Even in the hardest of times most workers could afford a home of their own while the State made every effort to provide one for those who couldn’t. Threatening to bring in the military and having the water cannons ready to break up protests is proof that the social contract is not at breaking point, it’s broken. The reality is young people have completely lost hope of ever owning a home in what has become one of the most expensive countries in the world while hundreds of thousands of families struggle to pay bills and buy food.
Yesterday a young woman who is about to turn 30 told RTE’s Liveline that the Government have “replaced the Goddess Ériu for whom people have fought and died with the more selfish god, the Euro”. She said that for most of her generation for their entire working lives they have not been able to make ends meet and, unlike their parents, cannot save or plan for the future. She also rightly pointed out that the cost of living crisis is developing into a population crisis as a generation simply can’t afford to have children.
Again the Government doesn’t care as the population is booming through migration, legal and illegal. But it’s not just on an individual level that the Government has failed, towns and villages as well as rural Ireland have been abandoned and has led to the widespread protests last week. A clear example of this was the Government renewing the contract for the D Hotel to remain an IPAS centre going against the interests of the people of Drogheda and their representatives leaving the country’s largest town without a large hotel.
The rights of those coming to the country, the Government’s own figures claim 80% shouldn’t be here, were placed above those who live and pay their taxes in Ireland. The owners of the asylum seekers centre got a new contract while what was left of the old social contract was torn up and thrown into the faces of the people of Drogheda. Definitive proof that the Government is not listening to those who pay their salaries.
Is the Pope a Catholic?
“Is the pope a Catholic?” is a common rhetorical expression often used to respond to questions that are considered blatantly obvious. But this week many Catholics, this one included, were asking it for real after Pope Leo made some extraordinary statements including a call for Christians to be “less fearful” of Islam just weeks after the horrific attacks on Christians by Islamists in Nigeria. The families of the 30 or so Christians murdered by Muslim gunmen on Palm Sunday might take issue with the Pontiff’s reassurances.
Also, Pope Leo’s citing Lebanon as a country where Christians and Muslims live respectively as “friends” also caused much surprise. His Holiness is obviously unaware that until 30 years ago Lebanon was a Christian majority country but since taking in thousands of Palestinians it is now riven by religious conflict and is home to Islamist terror group Hezbollah, responsible for the killing of Irish soldier Seán Rooney.
Glenside Set to Reopen After Fire
The fire at the Glenside Hotel during the week is a tragedy for the owners and staff but thankfully no one was injured when the blaze gutted the building. But unbelievably the owners Karen and Aogan have announced that Henry’s restaurant will reopen tomorrow at 2pm while its much loved carvery will be back on Sunday with no bookings necessary.
It is understood that other hotels in the area have offered to help with bookings that cannot be fulfilled because of the damage caused by the fire. It is also hoped that the public will continue to support this local business that has been an integral part of Drogheda and district for decades.
