It is emigrants who truly represent Ireland abroad

We hear it every year; the feeble, unsubstantiated claim that St Patrick’s Day trips, at enormous expense to the taxpayer, yield investment in business in our country.

We already have ‘ambassadors’ in all of those countries: Irish citizens, young and old, forced to leave the vast wasteland of Ireland to search for work.

People living in exile would have welcomed an invitation from their leader to represent their home.

They would better represent a nation faced with hardship than politicians jetting off on expensive jaunts paid for by others. The emigrants represent the soul of our country. The people who don’t lie down when faced with hardship, but gather their belongings and make the biggest sacrifice, leaving their friends, families and all that is familiar to them. They face and embrace new cultures, and work hard to support their families and build a future.

They are the people who accurately reflect our country. Has Enda become so out of touch that he does not understand how offensive it is that the Government should fecklessly spend our depleted funds, or borrowed monies, in what seems to be an unaccountable, arrogant manner?

Maybe it wouldn’t be practical to exercise such initiative, at this late stage? However, imagine what it would be like to show some leadership and humility; to cancel these frivolous junkets.

Imagine how it would feel to look people in the eye and say ‘I didn’t repeat the mistakes of the past’. Imagine if the Government had led by example and didn’t ask its citizens to make sacrifices which they aren’t prepared to make themselves. It would hardly be on par with the sacrifices the Government has imposed on our citizens, but it would be a start.

Colette O’Donovan

S’Gravenhage

Netherlands