Unemployed being blamed for their plight

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s insulting “nothing is free” comments take waffle and subterfuge to new levels. His comments were made in the context of another ‘jobs plan’, and it is obvious that the Government is admitting defeat and blaming the unemployed for being unemployed, so as to divert attention away from their abject failure.

It should hardly be necessary to remind Mr Kenny of the debacle over which he is presiding, but it seems it is — in June, the numbers of people looking for work amounted to 435,357.

But even more extraordinary is the fact that while Mr Kenny was attacking people who are not in a position to defend themselves, standing nearby were three senior members of the Labour Party, and not one of them raised an eyebrow, let alone a word of contradiction, to the Taoiseach’s comments.

19th century British prime minister Disraeli considered a conservative government to be no more than “organised hypocrisy”. What would he have thought of a Labour party in power— hypocrisy in action?

Jim O’Sullivan

Rathedmond

Sligo