Let’s all give an extra hour to save the nation

TO head off economic meltdown and social collapse the most urgent action needed from our Government and all the social partners should include a look at the example of the Germans at the end of the Second World War.

Then, when the regular working week ran to 47 hours over six days, all the people of Germany worked an extra hour a week to help rebuild their crushed country and its economy.

Such a gesture from every Irish citizen now would stand as both a vote of confidence in and an act of loyalty to the nation and also deliver the most emphatic message to the world that a united Irish community was prepared to stand by its beleaguered homeland.