Madam, - It is exactly a year since the then taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said he did not know why people who moaned and complained about the economy did not commit suicide.
This comment, apart from being inappropriate, revealed exactly the arrogant attitude to economic policy that has allowed Ireland to fall into a recession with its eyes closed.
As someone working in business, it was obvious to me that a downturn was coming since about mid-2007. Interest rate rises were bound to have an effect. The property market was becoming saturated. The rental property market was largely dependent on foreign construction workers, who could leave again if construction slowed. The high cost of doing business was putting manufacturing jobs at risk. However, these signs were largely ignored by the Government - and indeed the Opposition, which is now so high and mighty.
What has made the inevitable Irish downturn a full-scale recession is the current global credit crunch. But it is not good enough for the Government to blame international conditions for our woes - or for the Opposition to blame the Government. All political parties based their mid-2007 election manifestos on hyper-optimistic growth projections of 4 to 5 per cent a year for five years. They were all happy enough to claim credit for the boom, but are now unwilling to take responsibility for the bust. - Yours, etc,
JIM FORD, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Some years ago I had the great privilege of working with Sean Lemass when he and Dr Ken Whitaker were proposing the first programme for economic expansion in the 1960s. He called all the departmental secretaries together, outlined Dr Whitaker's proposals and asked them to return within seven days to say how they intended to proceed with them. To a man they all indicated that the proposals were not feasible.
Lemass withdrew his pipe and told them they would meet again in two weeks and if they could not find methods to bring the proposals forward he would have them all replaced with people who would achieve the desired result. Lo and behold, all now found solutions to the problems.
The current administration might learn some lesson from this. - Yours, etc,
PATRICK BOURKE, Shankill, Co Dublin.