Controlling privatisation - Safeguarding society’s services

ONE OF the daunting and pressing challenges facing Ireland and the rest of Europe is the need to ensue that all of society is served by the insatiable and seemingly unstoppable market economy.

That challenge is especially evident when a State-owned enterprise, established in another, all together different time, is privatised.

When our parents’ and grandparents’ sacrifice and social vision becomes an investment opportunity for venture capitalists; when a cause becomes a project; when idealism is replaced by cold accounting, more often than not, too much is lost.