Not wishing to detract from the great works being done by aid workers abroad and even the efforts of the odd Scientologist (all going the right direction).

It is of paramount importance to get ones own house in order as well as or before we look too far afield,

Our service systems from health and social to water for gods sake came very close to complete failure with the onset of a 3 week cold snap. Imagine how good old Ireland would be if we suffered a natural disaster such as the Haitians are going through.

We were a third world country in the not too distant past and have become complacent. Enough so to turn a blind eye to our own citizens sidelined by our “affluent” society. Just listen to the radio any day of the week.

I’m not sure too much information is frustrating. It may thicken our skin somewhat but I’m with you on getting it right locally, then nationally and yeah, who knows!

Moreover, it is not just the Christian religion that has struck fear into the hearts and minds of men and women down the ages as a means of control. Just this week, Mehmet Goran was jailed for 22 years for the honour killing of his own daughter Tulay; who fell in love with a man from the wrong side of the street. Police have now disclosed the catalogue of missed opportunities to save Tulay’s life in the weeks leading up to her death in 1999. It is possible that the establishment was scared to question a man who held his religion in such high regard because of fears of being called racist or ridiculous.

Here endeth the lesson.

Your rant is a quality rant – very Blaneyesque.

But you finish asking Mr Cowen to allow Ireland vote in a new government. What’s the point? Enda, Pat Rabbitte or whoever can’t do any better, FG’s or Labour’s army of teachers, farmers and small businessmen are no better equipped to take our nation into the next decade than Mr Cowen’s.

An election in Ireland will not change one thing. You’ll get the same 2 parties dominating the polls, the issues, and the airways.

Ireland needs a much more radical solution than Irish politicians are prepared to articulate. During the Tiger years we made too much, we paid too much & we owned too much. We Irish can get by on very little because we know that life is for living, talking, enjoying, family, friends, celebrating etc. and we know how to do that well. Celtic Tiger made us morph into something we are not – the equivalent structure of a Bernie Madoff For-Profit Fund. We need to do the sums around what we are good at, what we could 100% control ourselves on our island and what we need to import – from there build a new model for Ireland, it might be a bit socialist but in my opinion we should not try and create Tiger II, the sequel.