We willingly handed over our hard-won freedom to the Troika

For hundreds of years, Ireland was under the control of the Crown, economically, politically and socially.

Way back in those dark days, the majority of the people knew who controlled them, and that majority eventually rose up and fought, and they won, or so we are led to believe.

Then, roll on to the 1970’s, when we joined the European Community - we were told it was good for us, it was for equal sharing, equal trading, equal societies - true equality for all.

The difference though, is this time around, it appears that not one of us knew just how authoritarian, totalitarian and how controlling the EU actually is.

We knew what the bailout meant in monetary terms, we are all too aware of that - all €64bn of it, but we didn’t know the devastation it would cause to our democracy, and to our society.

As time goes on, more Chinese walls are crumbling as more deals become exposed as well as the actions of our own representatives.

The breaking apart of ordinary Irish people’s lives is becoming apparent - as are the problems of emigration, homelessness, suicide, mental health .

Unfortunately in the middle of all of this class divisions once again rear their heads as we hear our Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, brazenly tell the elected representatives in Greece they should maybe consider ‘capital controls’, which is flowery finance-speak for ‘take it from the poor man’.

Disturbingly, this was the best that Mr. Noonan could come up with for EU solidarity and for EU equality - you know, that thing we signed up for in the 1970’s.

Maybe the Irish people forgot what the 1916

cause meant and how just as the unelected British were once foisted upon us, so too are the unelected elites that make up the Troika - the EU, the IMF and the ECB.

Is this really what we want to be a part of?

Cáit O’ Beirne

Cnoc Na Si

Tubbercurry

Co Sligo