Vested interests still hold sway over citizens

When the Irish people voted to join what was then called the European Economic Community we did so on the basis of how it would improve our lives — in other words what we would get out of the relationship.

That might sound mercenary, crude and even basic but it’s a reality.

We also wanted to get away from a virtually closed inward-looking economy controlled by a plethora of vested interests. We were looking for the Promised Land. So a reasonable question to ask is: have our expectations been met?