Ireland out of its league

The facts and figures in the F and A columns don’t lie (and it’s not over yet).

If we needed an analogy of what’s wrong with Ireland, the European Football Championships couldn’t provide a better example.

First of all, we have players who are grossly overpaid when one compares their technical ability to their counterparts in leagues other than the Premiership, while their worshipping fans are hardly paid more than subsistence wages in comparison; do I have to mention politicians and the people who elect them in the same breath?

Then we have chairmen and CEOs in private and public enterprises similarly rewarded compared to those they employ; the list goes on and on, from bad to worse.

Probably the only solution is to start telling the truth to ourselves — a good beginning would be to ask why we continue to elect so-called ‘disgraced’ politicians in one constituency after another, despite what is commonly known about their business ethic and their moral character.

It’s no wonder that some bankers felt they could get away with denying the scale of the losses they had accumulated.

How many people now remember that the original Anglo shortfall was €7bn, which miraculously mushroomed to €100bn in the twinkling of chairman Fitzpatrick’s eye.

What’s the right time, Seanie?

Liam Power

Bangor

Erris

Ballina

Co Mayo