Madam, - They say the truth hurts, and perhaps the German ambassador has done the State some service by giving us a timely reality check as the Irish economy stutters towards a recession, and the German economy moves into growth.
It is often forgotten that it was largely German money that provided the initial impetus for the growth of the Irish economy in the 1990s. It is also been forgotten that the sustained growth witnessed over the last ten years can be attributed in part to the availability of cheap credit borrowed from German savings on the inter-bank money markets.
After 10 years of growth, what have we got to show for our supposed economic miracle? We have a capital city with one of the worst infrastructures in the Western world, of a level that would embarrass a small German city.
While the Irish commentariat like to beat their chests and tell everyone how well Ireland has done over the past 10 years, this belies the fact that the Exchequer has wasted much of the surplus generated; furthermore, much of the individual earnings during those bumper years has been blown on expensive cars (often imported from Germany) conspicuous consumption and an overheated property market (again fuelled by borrowing from the Germans).
Irish companies have performed very poorly over the past few years and, though they may have been awash with money (again fuelled by cheap credit), they have lost competitiveness in international markets. Our exports have not grown, imports have risen and our labour costs are expensive.
The most telling sign of the fundamental weakness in the Irish economy is that domestic construction accounts for approximately 25 per cent of economic activity. In the mean time German companies - in particular the small and medium-sized companies which comprises 90 per cent of German business - have been reinvesting and cutting labour costs, making themselves more competitive in global markets.
Unlike the Irish Exchequer, which is moving into the red, the German exchequer has now returned to the black having spent the past decade paying for the expensive reintegration of East Germany and providing the eastern states with world-class infrastructure. The cost of living is approximately 35 per cent lower than in Ireland, exports are growing strongly, and unemployment is down.
In time it may be shown Ireland's greatest act of political folly in over the last 10 years was that its politicians paid more attention to Boston than to Berlin. - Yours, etc,
NIALL NELIGAN,
Carysfort Park,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Dermot Ahern's leap out of the blocks to tackle the German ambassador over his recent remarks in Clontarf gives wind to the theory that a German ambassador with a sense of humour is something that should be feared! Is it not ludicrous to hint that we have severe traffic problems, or inadequate health services? Things could not possibly be any other way in the Fianna Fáil universe.- Yours, etc,
DAVID O'GORMAN,
Church Avenue,
Delgany,
Co. Wicklow.
Madam, - It appears that Mark Twain was on the money, so to speak, when he declared that "the German sense of humour is no laughing matter". - Yours, etc,
DANIEL JAMESON,
Perth,
Australia.
Madam, - What a refreshing change: a diplomat who speaks his mind plainly in public. Herr Pauls is a man after my own heart (hope that isn't lost in translation). So, some of the Celtic Tiger generation are crass and materialistic. What else is new? - Yours, etc,
HUGH McFADDEN,
Dublin 6W.
Madam, - What, exactly, did the Department of Foreign Affairs find so distasteful about the German ambassador's remarks? Aren't hospital waiting lists chaotic? Of course they are. And brand new cars are paraded as status symbols from Ballydehob to Monaghan. And what about the 38,000 extra jobs that were "created" in the public sector between 2001 and 2006, with salaries rising by 59 per cent during the same period.
The Department of Foreign Affairs should have checked out the realities of modern Ireland before foolishly complaining about the plain-speaking ambassador's spot-on observations. Any exaggeration was minimal and good-humoured. - Yours, etc,
NIALL GINTY,
Killester,
Dublin 5.