Stop putting our country down

DAILY, the Irish people have to digest the unravelling uncertainties of the Irish economic situation and search, as is human nature, for the causes of our difficulties.

The media core is not slow in attributing blame for our predicament to a variety of sources but mainly to the politicians elected by us who run the country.

I would argue that the blame game culture of the Irish media serves the profession well as it deflects from any sense of culpability that the Irish media have in contributing to the current lack of confidence both inside and outside this country.

Economists suggest that the reason Irish bond yields/loan interest rates are so high is that the bond markets, or international money lenders for want of a better phrase, have lost confidence in the ability of this country to control our own finances and repay our sovereign debt. Where do these foreign people get the information that informs their lack of confidence? They get it from the Irish print, audio and visual media.

Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

It is a source of constant embarrassment to me to have to listen to news presenters attack, badger and humiliate government ministers to get the elusive admission of blame that they seek to claim their headline. Words such as meltdown, catastrophic, nuclear, basket case are now common currency in Irish media. Very rarely do we hear them ask for the solutions, the positives or some guidance for the future.

I worry that this country is in fear of losing its personality, or worse still becomes the personality of a bitter little nation that is so contrary to our past, driven by the ubiquitous negativity of the media.

I believe in my nation, our culture, our society and our character. I call on everyone to stand back from a culture of negativity and stand up for this country by not constantly seek to put it down.

Jonathon Roth

Castlecourt

Clancys Strand

Limerick