We must put our trust in Kenny

I, LIKE many thousands of others, watched An Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s state of the nation address Sunday night.

With the country facing very serious challenges, I was heartened by Mr Kenny’s frank and realistic description of the situation we are in.

I note how the Taoiseach has held the same conviction for many years as Fíne Gael Leader and now as the elected Taoiseach of Ireland and stated in his speech that: “I want to make this the best small country in which to do business, in which to raise a family and in which to grow old with dignity and respect”.

This strongly suggests to me that Mr Kenny and his government are guided by a powerful sense of social justice in seeking to care for our elderly with dignity, providing for a safe and sustainable environment for today’s youth (our future) and creating a pro-business environment that will create employment and revenue for both individuals and the state alike.

The most practical way to achieve this aim is to redistribute the wealth of our nation, but not before creating employment and sculpting public policy so as to allow for a permanent reform so can we restore equilibrium and sustainability to the public finances.

The Taoiseach is quite correct and realistic when he refers to the necessity of “moving towards a more manageable deficit of 3% by 2015”.

Private citizens, families, businesses and foreign investors all realise that only when we regain confidence — in ourselves, in how we organise our state and manage our economy — will circumstances begin to change for the better. With the personal conviction and political mandate to do just that, we must trust the man we elected to carry out this task.

Mark Wakefield

Mercier Park

Turner’s Cross

Cork