Coillte sale a grab for profits

So the Troika still expects the Irish Government to sell Coillte. This must be resisted. Make no mistake about it, selling off our forestries to private enterprise will deny Irish citizens access to a natural right.

Our forests are a delight for walkers and are educational for our children.

There is no reason why the status quo should not remain and still return revenue to the Treasury.

You would be hard-pressed to find a citizen who would wish to see the fences going up, together with the signs on the gates — proclaiming ‘No Entry, Private Property’ — in forests throughout the country. Handing the future of our forests and land, oil and gas, water and energy over to boardrooms, stock exchanges, commodities marketeers and hedge fund managers, et al, is not responsible governance.

This attempt must be seen for what it is, another grab for profits and power for private, wealthy investors enabled by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and, it would appear, by our government.

At no time during these years of austerity, imposed by these organisations, have we heard the Troika recommend that the agreement made by the Government with the oil and gas exploration companies was too generous, which it is, by far.

Why? Because it is not in their interests to do so. They themselves are the profiteers.

We must ask ourselves the fundamental questions: do our natural resources belong to the people? If so, are the wishes of the people being carried out responsibly by our elected representatives?

Joe Brennan

Ballinspittle

Co Cork