Sir, – I was somewhat appalled to find that you had given space in your Letters’ section to Santa (November 16th). This is a man who is located outside normal international jurisdictions and is definitely not part of the euro zone. Furthermore, he has had a track record in inciting many in our country to reckless borrowing and lending and contributing to significant balance of payments issues at family level. It is inappropriate to be encouraging the children of Ireland to be sending him addresses and contact details and lists of their innermost desires. Removing his influence from Ireland could have a very positive impact on meeting our fiscal and spending targets.
For those with less Micawberish tendencies who would not like to see the total abandonment of gift exchanges, there is an ideal public reform solution for 2012 by transferring our gift giving to St Nicholas Day.
First, this is the day of the budget and we can count on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan entering the festive spirit. Second, it is the traditional gift-giving day for our masters in Germany and getting Mrs Merkel’s gifts early would be prudent. While mixing up traditions, can we ensure that the Department of Finance cleans all its chimneys properly. That will ensure there are no barriers to sacks of say €3-4 billion being left for us. They would not need to be ascribed to accounting errors but rather due to seasonal factors. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Further to Santa’s request for letters to be sent to the North Pole (November 16th), I assume these days they are rerouted through Berlin. – Yours, etc,
