The fightback starts now
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THE Irish people face the biggest economic challenge this country has faced since the establishment of the State. It would be nice to look to the body politic for a solution but the gravity of the situation goes well beyond any single sphere.
This is one national agenda where the first item open for discussion must not be the split.
No individual can turn things around, but let there be no mistake, it is well within the range of this country to rise to the challenges providing we face them together.
If sloganising or lofty rhetoric could get us out of the disaster zone our worries would be behind us.
But the country has been hit by an economic earthquake and we must respond by saving that which is most precious.
It is time that we asked the question: What is it that we cherish most? The future of our children? Our livelihoods? These must be protected, but this cannot be done without a massive rallying of national determination. We are in a fight for survival and our pride as a people dictates that we cannot afford to bottle it.
The Taoiseach has outlined the first painful step towards the way back. Towards moving from job losses of 330 a day, to getting back to creating employment.
Yes it is an Everest, but as a nation we can scale the heights if we summon our resources. And we have them in spades: We have the most productive workforce and the brightest young population in Europe; simply put we have what it takes.
So are we now going to lie down and let ourselves be relegated to the basket case economies of the world?
It is some time since a captain asked his team in the white heat of a Triple Crown decider: Where is your pride?
We have nine months to save €2bn.
This will not be without pain or sacrifice. But the reality is that there are no palatable options.
It is understandable that people at the lower end of the pay spectrum will be smarting at having their pension contributions increased.
They did not behave recklessly; they were not on a spending spree or a loans' binge.
There is no sole economic strategy capable of shielding us from the international assault. We are facing a currency crisis and the gravest global downturn since the Depression.
Should we have seen it coming? Yes of course. Did we do enough to insulate ourselves? No we did not. But an economic tsunami renders recriminations irrelevant for the moment. There may indeed be a day of reckoning, but when the house is burning down is not the moment to write it in the diary.
Evidently in the teeth of a hurricane the sails of the ship of state must be trimmed, the course altered.
We have a massive hole in the public finances and this must be sorted out by 2013.
We need to borrow €20bn a year for at least the next three years. Already we are paying back €55m a day at three percentage points higher than our EU partners, Germany.
In the credit ratings we have been placed in the same bracket as Greece.
None of this is sustainable, and so the process of cleaning up the mess must begin in earnest. We have the strengths to make a recovery once the collective will is mobilised.
This can be done with an agreed way forward. Mr Cowen has suggested where we begin but he will need to be more forthcoming and more decisive if he is to complete the journey.
The most important factor in achieving consensus will be guaranteeing fairness.
The ordinary working people of this country did not lead us into this quagmire. In these uncertain times they are our greatest asset.
They will take pain and make sacrifices providing they feel that they are across the board.
The rich too must pay their fair share and pull their weight. And those bankers who played such a part in bringing the roof down must be called to account.
All must be fair in this particular war.
