We prefer to moan than to seek change

April 07 2010 04:43 AM

IN response to Tom Butler (Letters, April 4), regarding the rejection by his audience and every "right thinking" Irish person of Ryan Tubridy's call for street protests, I feel that this does really show the worst of the Irish national character.

We will moan and bitch to each other about how bad things are until the cows come home, and finish the lament with a "yerra, nothing can be done about it".

A US ambassador's wife once said about the Irish that we are a lovely people but that we lack a sense of moral outrage.

When someone does step forward and 'bell the cat' we are all right behind them. Until it starts to go pear-shaped, that is, and then we are off like the proverbial rodents leaving the sinking ship.

This is exactly what the Dail denizens have realised decades ago.

You can push anything on the Irish people and they will accept it, no bother, as no one wants to lead the charge for change.

The English realised it in the Famine years when we had absolutely nothing to lose, bar our short, miserable, starving lives.

Instead of rising, the Irish chose to die by the roadside, in work houses or on coffin ships.

Did the men of 1916 go out to what they probably knew was a hopeless mission with that attitude? They were vilified by the Irish until the British began executing them.

That is another unique Irish trait . . . we like our heroes to be dead failures rather than alive and kicking and successful.

So don't worry about our image and it being bad for business, Mr Butler.

The world has taken our measure in the last 12 months and sees Ireland as what it is: a godforsaken rock inhabited by gombeen men elected by moral cowards and fools, in the financial and political sense, who export high-proof Blarney and little else.

They would hardly expect us to be even capable of rioting properly.

Until we get some spine or have it kicked into us, the Government and the other powers that be can sleep peacefully in their beds knowing that they need not fear the "risen people".

They are too busy ringing Liveline and Gerry Ryan to complain about the state of things.

Sean mc Govern

Parteen, Co Clare