Annus horribilis - Let’s hope 2007 will be better

AS the New Year dawns, it is timely to reflect on 2006 which, by any yardstick, was an annus horribilis.

In Ireland, an upsurge of drug-related gang warfare saw criminals killing criminals, inflicting a dreadful toll on local communities.

Thanks to the belated garda clampdown on drink driving, fatal accidents were the second lowest in 40 years but 369 deaths are still far too many.

Confirming widespread perceptions of the late Taoiseach Charles J Haughey, who received a State funeral, he emerged from the Moriarty report as a crook. Ironically, however, popular sympathy for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern increased despite taking money from friends and businessmen towards marriage breakdown costs.

Internationally, America and Britain have lost any sense of control in Iraq. Following Saddam Hussein’s hanging, the Western world is debating the pros and cons of capital punishment while tens of thousands of innocent people face certain death.

In Darfur, millions of lives are shattered by murder, pillage and rape, exposing the ineffectiveness of the UN.

While species face extinction, America, the biggest culprit of global warming is denying it exists.

At home, the health crisis rumbles on. Half a million customers insured by BUPA face an uncertain future.

Meanwhile, people remain sceptical that nursing homes where elderly patients are abused will be named, shamed and closed.

With the Government expected to go to the country in May, political parties are on an election footing. But barring unforeseen events, an up-beat economy suggests the FF-PD coalition will be returned.

We wish all our readers a happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year.