If only we could have heard the brutal truth from Intel’s ex-chief

IT seems Craig Barrett might be the man to give us a state of the nation address.

The retired chief executive of American semi-conductor manufacturer Intel — one of the most important companies in the country — apparently delivered a wake-up call at the Global Economic Forum at Farmleigh last weekend, although unfortunately it was delivered indoors to the select, invited guests, many of whom are not Irish or who, if they are, limit the amount of time they spend here to reduce the tax they pay to this State.

That said, there was benefit in his addressing this particular audience: there are people, many of whom were at Farmleigh, who still think we are a great little nation that has been a bit unlucky recently to suffer unjustly from an international recession and that the same elite who brought us to the brink are the people to lead us from it. This is a complacency that needs to be shattered quickly.