I was fortunate enough recently to attend a dinner where the guest speech was given by Kingsley Aikins, who was until last year the Chief Executive of the Ireland Funds. The Ireland Funds is a most extraordinary organisation that has raised over $350 million for philanthropic projects in Ireland.
Having spent a career shaking them down for money, Aikins is probably the leading expert on Ireland’s diaspora and how emigration from these shores has been both a scourge and an opportunity. He is, therefore, also well placed to comment on our current difficulty. One thing that he said struck me very clearly: “I am pessimistic about the pessimism industry in Ireland”.
It’s a nice line, and it got a laugh, but it also got me thinking. I have felt for some time that we are beating ourselves up far too much as a nation. We seem to be unable to do economic emotion in moderation. During the boom, we got caught up in a hedonistic hubris, wherein the seeds of our downfall were sown. Now, in the bust, we seem to have retreated into fatalistic wailing. A more measured examination of our situation is appropriate.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the actions of politicians, regulators and bankers that contributed to our present situation agitate and anger me just as much as the next man. I am not presenting an apologia for Bertie, Seanie or Michael Fingleton. However, I equally feel that anger in itself isn’t going to get us very far.
The reality is that we still live in one of the richest countries in the world, a country where the average standard of living exceeds even that enjoyed by those in the countries that are currently lending our State money to keep the lights on.
The mission of The Ireland Funds is to be the largest worldwide network of people of Irish ancestry and friends of Ireland
Of course, that is not to ignore the very real problems of social deprivation in our society, nor does it ignore the difficulties that many face as a result of our changed economic situation. However, household savings amounted to over €11 billion last year. There is still a lot of money floating around our economy, even if people don’t have the confidence to spend it. We are not exactly destitute.
This is a recession. It is not a famine. While there are tragic stories of individuals taking their own lives because of their financial situation, for the most part a recession never killed anybody. As anybody who has been watching Fergal Keane’s excellent The Story of Ireland on RTÉ will know, our country has overcome much bigger challenges in its history. Indeed, even in the 1980s we did not have the same capacity to bounce back as we do now, although I acknowledge the economic challenge is bigger now than then.
Ireland isn’t finished. I am confident about that because for every perma-tanned Oompa-Loompa lookalike I meet in Trinity who seemed to get in here by collecting ten crisp packets, I meet someone else with intelligence, vision, energy and integrity – people who will achieve for themselves and achieve for Ireland. Unfortunately, many of them may have to emigrate for a time. But emigration is not the life sentence it once was. Even in the midst of the gloom of last year, 13,000 Irish people returned to these shores after previously emigrating.
While it can be difficult to be hopeful when our politicians seem to be so hopeless and our media so relentlessly negative, we must force our nerve and heart and sinew to serve our turn, even though they may appear to be gone. Because, almost despite ourselves, this is still a great little country. And, despite everything, to be born here is still a great stroke of luck.
