OPINION:I'm 16 and Europe matters to me. Here's why, writes MAEVE JONES-O'CONNOR
TÁ DÚIL m’anama agam in Éirinn. Is breá liom a bheith Éireannach. Is breá liom Gaeilge, fiú. Mise féin, I believe that Éire holds a special place in our hearts. Personally, I always believe in Ireland. If Ireland had taken part in the Space Race, I would have believed we would have won. I have a kind of indignant, stubborn pride in my country. The kind of pride and belief that comes naturally with loving something or someone. It doesn’t leave you, no matter how aware you are of the outside world. I am not naive; I am aware.
I know that Ireland is only a small island that most people still think is part of the UK. I know that there are more cattle on our island than there are people. I know that we aren’t as powerful as our pride would make us believe we are. But that doesn’t meant that we don’t try. Over the past decades, we have become one of the richest countries in the world. By 2007, we were the fifth richest country in the world, and second richest in Europe. Instead of mass emigration, we had mass immigration, with thousands of people flocking to a rich, prosperous Ireland which had the highest standard of living we had ever seen. We became riddled with pride and basked in the glory of our own grandeur. Personal gain became the aim of the day. Humility was lost. But now we are seeing the remnants of the Celtic Tiger slip into the economic abyss before our very eyes. And for some reason, we have learned nothing.
I have never seen the bad times, I know. I wasn’t alive when the youth of the nation streamed out of our airports to find a living for themselves in places like the UK, the US and Australia. But I am here now, and I am aware. I know of people who are making like the children of the 1980s and leaving at the first hint of employment abroad. They are taking whatever comes their way, be it in Canada, UAE, Brazil or Japan. They have put their dreams from a few years ago in a box and put it away, for what looks to be longer than most had thought.
Some say that my generation, the ones born with a silver spoon in their mouths, will be the generation that flounders. I say they couldn’t be more incorrect. We were born with a silver spoon in our mouths, but that has been taken from us. We will work like no other until we have it back.
Only one thing works against us – we are still the youth. Our decisions are made for us, by the majority who were there in the 1980s. The people who believed, not so long ago, that we were above help. The same people who, now, have the bitter aftertaste of an economic crash in their mouths.
I am only 16. I can’t drive, drink or vote. I can make no decisions about the future of my country. I can only look beyond, to my other resources, which were not long ago snubbed by the electorate. I have access to some of the best universities in the world in the European Union, of which we are a part. Myself, I would like to do medicine in the UK.
Because we are members of the European Union, I can afford to go to my choice of university, which also happens to be the second best medical school in the world. If I was not an EU resident I would be paying over €100,000 in fees for a medical degree instead of about €20,000 as a European student.
Imagine yourself starting your working life with about €150,000 upwards in debt – and that’s not taking housing or transport into account.
I will come back, and things will be good once more. I will drive along the EU-funded roads. I will see my friends and hear stories from their EU-funded Erasmus years abroad. I will use the Luas to go easily from Tallaght to Connolly, thanks to the EU Structural Funds.
I will buy Irish food which is there because of what the Common Agricultural Policy provides to Irish farmers. I will work sustainable hours in a gender-equal environment because of EU legislation. I will be able to bring my dog for a walk on Dollymount Strand without having to hold my breath.
And that’s just me.
Europe benefits everyone, from business people to farmers, from babies to gaeilgeoirí. The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund upgrades farms, their techniques and machinery, and improves agricultural competitiveness. The Urban Programme helps with inner city renewal and the social and economic isolation of these areas. The Regional Development Fund funds the infrastructure everywhere in between.
Peace I and II programmes have funded cross-Border and cross-faith projects since the ceasefires of the IRA and UVF, promoting peace and prosperity in once-troubled areas. The European Social Fund finances training and retraining of those in educational need and helps create more employment opportunities. The Equal Initiative helps to establish equality in the workplace for any group that has been discriminated against.
Most people don’t know it, and maybe some choose to ignore it, but the EU affects every part of our lives.
Think back to 1973. High unemployment. Only 27 per cent of the workforce was female. GNP was a third of what it is now. Average weekly income was about €38. High emigration.
We were classed as an “Objective 1” region for the 24-year period of 1975 to 1999. An economic black spot. After about 15 years of the EU pumping money into us, of being part of a single European market, of free and fair trade between member states and of high levels of foreign investment, it worked. The Celtic Tiger was born.
GNP was triple that of 1973; the average industrial wage increased 15-fold. Taxes dropped. Life was good.
At the height of it, we had to make a decision that, essentially, said Yes or No to the EU. We all remember what was said. It was said on behalf of those living the essence of the Tiger. They decided we didn’t need any more help. Modern Ireland could survive separate to the grey monolith of the European Union. We were too cool for the EU.
But now, here we are. Basking in the bad practice of the past 20 years. There is no point in standing around and pointing the finger at people who didn’t wield the power we thought they had. We need to move on.
Character is made in the hard times. The future has to be built from the start. There is no magic fix. We have to work for our right to a future. Picking holes in history won’t do it.
We have to co-operate, work together, help each other. We need to realise that we are all part of something bigger, more important than we would like to believe. Lucky for us, that “something bigger” hasn’t quite turned its back on us. We have another chance.
We can only do this once, and do it properly we must. I want my future back, and I know that the EU is going to play an integral role in my story.
It matters to me that we stay part of something bigger. Where we can stand up and have our opinion heard globally. Where we can make an impression on the world. Where we can help the people who have real problems and no one to speak for them. We are a part of something special. Now is not the time to turn our back on opportunity.
Why does the EU matter to me?
Because I’m 16 and my future matters to me.
Maeve Jones-O’Connor lives in Dublin, has just finished her Transition Year and plans to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2011