Then & Now: Repeating mistakes of the past

FOLLOWING CONVERSATIONS with people of my own age group in recent weeks the following question kept occurring, where is this country going?

The past number of years has seen a brain drain from Ireland to Australia and other countries around the globe. It is similar to the flight of the Wild Geese in times past from an Ireland under foreign rule. Boarded up businesses in villages and towns are familiar sights as we move around the county. We have witnessed the disappearance of the family run shop where service was personal and appreciated. There is a sameness in the look of the overseas owned shops that have taken their place and only a few words are exchanged as customers pass through the check out.

The college graduates are leaving on a yearly basis as they seek a better standard of living, higher wages, lower accommodation costs and a chance to build up a financial reserve. Our youth are being educated in Ireland to benefit all the other countries as we progress to an ageing society. Who could blame them as they may never be able to own their own home in the land of their birth. Many are still living at home with their parents well into their twenties, because they cannot afford to pay the overpriced rents charged by landlords in the cities and towns.

The start of the housing crisis began when the state stopped building houses and handed over the job to private builders who will only do so for profit. If a couple both working is lucky to be approved for a mortgage, they face into the challenges of house ownership. Getting planning permission in rural areas can be near impossible and financial draining with every obstacle put in the way. Renting for long years and delayed house ownership will push mortgages over a longer life span and people in retirement will be paying when their income will be reduced.

Often our councillors have no say and management appear to call the shots. The power is with them and local rural areas away from the city will always lose out. In France and other countries, the power is with local villages and towns with the mayor having the power. The debate on the newly Mayor of Limerick due to be elected next year has been ongoing for a few years now and nobody knows what real power they will have until they are elected. With management, staff and 40 councillors now we will have another layer of people and administration to deal with, reducing the amount of money to run the services the council was set up to do. There are 350,000 vacant council houses around the country and over 200 in Limerick. Limerick Council at present takes 34 weeks to get a house ready for a new tenant. We now have close to 13,000 homeless in Ireland and 95,000 on the housing waiting list.

In recent years footpaths in villages and towns have been made wider for pedestrians and wheelchair users and the driving space reduced. This has made driving more dangerous as the space is too narrow if errors occur. Our rural roads continue to deteriorate from the wet conditions this year. Some have received resurfacing, but one strip is not sufficient. Both sides of the road should be cleaned into the ditch and two strips of tar laid to widen the road and make it safer for travel.

The energy and insurance companies have too much power and say in this country and increasing costs in the past year have spiralled out of control with many families having to rely on handout food parcels to survive. The rising cost of insurance has forced groups in villages to cancel events and festivals, thus denying businesses much needed income.

Wind energy and electric cars are buzz words but where will the engineers/workers come from to put in place the services needed for their agenda. The Bord Na Mona peat briquette making facility in the midlands was closed and they have to be imported now. The proposed Gas terminal in north Kerry will not go ahead now and gas will have to be imported in the future. A funny way to combat climate change and global warming.

The economy is in a strong position at present with near full employment. Why then have we a shortage of teachers, health care, and construction workers to name just three. The workers are leaving because they cannot afford to live here, secure a house and rear a family Corporate tax is keeping the country running.

What will happen when it reduces or disappears? The pubs in the rural towns and villages have no populations to keep them open as the youth have been forced to move to the cities or abroad. As a result, GAA clubs have to join up to be able to field teams.

With an ageing population who will look after the elderly in the coming years when the carers will be as old as the people they will be looking after. A high percentage of people are living on their own in Ireland and loneliness is another issue that has been ignored by the Government. They gave a commitment to funding which need to be delivered now. The loneliness taskforce report last June, found that 20% of Irish participants feel lonely most or all of the time. This compares with the EU average of 13%. Loneliness has significant negative mental and physical health impacts with costs not only to the individual but also to society. People with disabilities and learning difficulties are also being left behind.

An increasing section of businesses do not want to be paid by cash and are promoting a cashless society. The 650,000 who have no credit or debit cards are being denied their rights to use cash. The banks are cleaning up from people who use cards in all their transactions. Our banks have been pushing people in this direction since Covid. No citizen should be denied access to a government service, or a business if they are prepared to pay with legal tender. The Central Bank is there to protect the consumers but sadly the services offered to their customers in our banks branches are abysmal.

Overcrowding figures at Limerick hospital a 'huge red flag'

As more and more paperwork has to be submitted online, all our personal details are at a greater risk of being stolen or sold on by scammers. Everything going online is food for criminals who are defrauding people at an alarming rate.

Politicians appear more and more like they have to toe the party line. They love distractions away from the real issues of the country. The RTE scandal was a great distraction all summer when housing, and health issues should be addressed. As we enter the winter our hospitals will be in the news daily as overcrowding becomes a major issue.

We must give credit to the government for the good they have done over the past few difficult years, but they seem to be playing catch up all the time. They roll over too easily to big business and neglect the vulnerable.

There is a hurricane coming down the road and it is not being addressed by those we have elected to do so.

Where are we going?