There are times I wonder where this country of ours is going.  Lets start with our economy.At this moment in time we are borrowing 1 BILLION every 19 days, next year we will need to borrow the same amount every 14 days and this is just for the day to day running of this small country with a population of just 4.3 million, which will be unsustainable unless serious action is taken.  As we all know this state of affairs started in 2002 with the election of the FF and PD government led by Bertie Ahern, Brian Cowan, Charlie Mc Creevy and Mary Harney. This gang of four introduced a range of budget measures which gave a massive tax relief to land speculator, banks and certain building societies which in turn led to building of large office blocks, shopping centres, luxurious hotels  golf course, private hospitals, nursing homes and housing estates. When economists including the ECB and the media questioned the government of the day on their economic strategy Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told them they should commit suicide.

Today we have millions of square feet of empty office blocks, shopping centres, boarded up hotels, thousands of ghosts estates and hospital closures, what a mess.

In 2002 we had a thriving manufacturing base in this country including our own county where we had up to 5000 employed in home grown industry eg furniture, poultry etc.

But when a government creates an artificial boom manufacturers are left unable to compete with rising ESB costs, public liability, wages and rates despite their pleas for help they were left out to dry.

The motto of the day was build or bedamned.  Then we had the debacle of decentralisation were at the height of the boom, billions were spent buying up over priced land to relocate civil servants in rural areas.  Thornton Hall is a prime example of political expediency where 45 million euro was spent on a farm in north Dublin which to this day remains the same with the exception of a partially built wall which was to facilitate a new prison. 

In 2001 we rejected the Nice treaty which would have allowed Eastern European countries to join the EU but just like the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 when the outcome was not to the Governments liking and another referendum was foisted on us, which came with promises of more and more European cash, job creation and numerous goodies in the bag, more spin.  When the Nice treaty was passed it was to enable free movement of workers from Eastern Europe to seek employment.

We were told then we could expect anything up to 10,000 immigrants to apply for work at this point, they were needed and welcomed at the height of the boom.

Now we have 600,000 immigrants which is 14% of the population.  Our social welfare system is under serious threat of collapse.  What country in the world would permit non nationals to fly in collect benefits and fly out again as was proven during the ash cloud crisis when millions was saved by the department.

Then factor in child benefit which is been sent to these countries regardless of the fact they are non residents doesn’t that say it all. 

The richest countries in Europe, France and Germany put a ten year moratorium on the free movement of Eastern Europeans into their countries.  Pity our government of the day didn’t have the same foresight. 

At this time the cost of immigration to a small open economy like ours is 3 billion this year and still rising which is totally unsustainable.  Someone in this government is going to have to wake up  smell the coffee head to Brussels and try to redeem something from the blunder made by Bertie Ahern, before we go totally bankrupt and are thrown out of the European monetary system.  It is hard to believe Canada with a population of 34 million people with virtually no unemployment is willing to allow 10,000 immigrants on temporary 2 year visa’s this year, while here we have half a million unemployed but already this year approx 50,000 new arrivals, that figure speaks for itself. 

Earlier this year members of Monaghan CoCo requested a visit to St Patricks Refugee Centre to see for themselves the conditions in the centre.  When I objected to this I was rounded on by the Sinn Fein members in the council chamber and some members of the Green Party in the media.  As someone who has been to the centre I know the conditions are up to standard.  In June representatives of Dail Eireann and Senate Eireann visited this centre where they were greeted by a huge banner saying “Welcome to the open prison” what a cheek considering not one of these “refugees” are entitled to be in this country.  Under EU rules they are obliged to remain in the country they first arrived at which was France, as there are no direct flights to Ireland from their country of origin, but France did not offer the same accommodation and benefits as we did, we are known as the softest touch in Europe, full of too many quangos made up by very well paid do-gooders.

Among the delegation where our local TD’s Rory O’Hanlon, C O’Caolain and Margaret Conlon the latter of which voiced her concern about their accommodation which of course is her right.  Well Margaret your concern cuts no ice with the people of Monaghan, you received a great vote from the county in the 2007 general election, but when we needed your support and concern to maintain services at Monaghan General Hospital and prevent patients having to lie on trollies in Cavan and Drogheda your concern and support was very noticeable bye it absence.

You decided to stand shoulder to shoulder in the Dail chamber with the most arrogant, self righteous minister of health “Mary Harney” the country has ever had.

C O’Caolain was worried these refugees were not allowed to seek employment, where may I ask would these jobs come from owing to the large numbers already unemployed and seeking benefits.  If this country had been governed properly this situation would never have arisen.  It has been proven time and time again that 90% of refugee claims are bogus. 

I will finish by saying that within the next 18 months we will have a general election after which we are likely to have a change of government.  This would be the ideal time to change the pensions and perks system for former ministers who have mismanaged and decimated our economy and demoralised the people of this country.  They will claim this cannot legally be done, I say it can.  If the opposition parties are really serious about creating a new Ireland they should be the first legislation to be enacted.  Let Bertie Ahern and Co take the people of Ireland to court to fight for their pensions and let the people who have lost their jobs living on 195 euro per week contest their 6,000 euro per week pension and perks. 

We witnessed Bertie Ahern at the Mahon tribunal which was investigating how he accumulated his wealth, his answer, (I won it at the Galway Races or tent)

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Cllr Seamus Treanor

Monaghan County Council