We can little afford this luxury class

Albert Reynolds’s state funeral was a fitting honour for a great man notable for his honesty, integrity and ability.

The TV coverage of the funeral and ceremonies, however, gave us a crucial insight into the vast divide between the political class, the insiders and churchmen, all bedecked in their expensive finery, and the rest of Irish society, struggling to make ends meet.

A high proportion of the attending politicians, ex-presidents, ministers, and civil servants are retired on vast pensions, and clearly looked suitably unfussed and comforted by that status.

One would have to wonder, after six years of swingeing austerity, how a small bankrupt country can still afford to keep so many of these people, of all parties, in such luxurious retirement, untroubled by the vicissitudes of the disastrous mistakes and “hard decisions” they make while in office. The answer is simple: The ostentation is paid for by cuts to the disabled, the sick, the aged and the unemployed, and the ordinary citizen who happens to be outside the pale.

John Healy

59 Bishopstown Road

Cork