‘Events, dear boy, events!’

This article appeared in the 'View from the Pew' column in the December 2010 / January 2011 edition of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for Limerick & Killaloe.

… as Harold Macmillan is reputed to have said when asked ‘What do you fear most in politics?’

What an extraordinary week it has been for our country!
The dogs in the street knew ten days ago that talks had begun at official level that would lead inevitably to Ireland seeking a loan from the European Financial Stability Fund and the IMF. It was well signalled internationally by blogging economists (see the excellent irisheconomy.ie blog). But government ministers just kept on denying it. Either they were lying, or officials had simply bypassed them - charitably assuming the latter, clearly power had already slipped from their fingers.

Only after EU finance ministers met did the government admit that ‘technical discussions’ were taking place, but they still persisted in spreading confusion about the likely outcome. It finally fell to Central Bank Chairman Patrick Holohan to explain clearly what was happening. Three days later, on a Sunday, the Government announced that it had applied for a multi-billion euro loan facility. We will have to wait a little longer to know what the terms will be.

As I write, on Monday 22nd November, the government is visibly crumbling. The Taoiseach announced he would call a general election in the New Year, once the budget and the four year plan have been passed, after the Greens said they would pull out in January. But it is far from clear the government can last so long – we may well have an Advent general election. The pace of events is accelerating

The people have been badly served by successive Fianna Fáil led Governments, I feel.
Whatever the merits of the bank guarantee and NAMA, it is clear that the root of our financial problems is the mountain of debt taken on in the Celtic Tiger years. And we were landed with the debt by the golden circle of grasping bankers, megalomaniac developers and venal politicians, symbolised by the Fianna Fáil tent at Galway races. Brian Cowen encouraged the worst excesses when he was Minister of Finance. He is now Taoiseach. Fianna Fáil remains in office. It is almost past belief.

Since the beginning of the year the government must have seen the writing on the wall, as their popularity fell and their Dáil majority shrank. It would have been honourable and in the national interest if they had called a general election in the summer or autumn. A new government with a fresh mandate for five years could then have taken the difficult budget decisions now required, and negotiated the package of assistance we need with our European partners. Instead we have political instability coinciding with a massive financial crisis, which threatens the future not just of Ireland but of the Euro and the EU. By clinging to power this government have made serious problems much worse.

Why were elections not called earlier? Is it possible they have something more to hide? I pray not – but I recall that the Greek financial crisis was triggered by an incoming government discovering that the outgoing government had cooked the books and lied about it.

As we wait for the democratic process to take its course, we depend on the kindness of strangers.
Let us pray for the Irish and international negotiators seeking to resolve the present financial difficulties, that their decisions may be for the good of all. Let us pray for our country, that our people may recover the confidence required for economic recovery, and begin the task of creating a just and sustainable society for the future. And let us pray for all those who are impoverished by this great recession, that their lives may be made easier by the support of those less badly afflicted.

O Lord, guide and defend our rulers – and grant our government wisdom.

View from the pew - The glass is more than half full!

View from the Pew is a regular column I write for Newslink, the magazine for the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe - this article appeared in the October 2009 issue.

NAMA, Lisbon, the Budget – and Copenhagen

“NAMA, Lisbon, and the Budget – these are the three immense and immediate challenges facing Ireland”– so said An Taoiseach Brian Cowen to the business luminaries of the Irish diaspora assembled at Farmleigh for the Global Irish Economic Forum.

Brian Cowan addresses the Global Economic Irish Forum

These are important issues, as we all know. Political and media attention is constant and shrill - and focussed on these three almost to the exclusion of everything else. The decisions to be taken are important – they will shape our country for many years to come - so let us pray that they will be the right ones.

But in all the hubbub, could there be a danger that we lose sight of other things? Climate change is by far the biggest challenge we all face in the 21st Century (for the facts see Two Degrees, One Chance). Within a very few years, every single one of us - in every country - must change the way we live and work, in order to protect our fragile planet for our children and grandchildren and the rest of creation. World governments have promised to agree workable and comprehensive action at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen this December. It may be the last chance to do so before the planet passes a point of no return and suffers catastrophic run-away heating. So let us also pray for an effective and just agreement in Copenhagen.

This is what Nenagh Union will be doing on Saturday 3rd October in Teach an Leinn in the centre of Nenagh from 11am to 3pm, together with our brothers and sisters in Christ from local Roman Catholic, Methodist and (we hope) other independent congregations, in a joint day of prayer for climate change. Passers-by of all faiths and none will be invited to drop in for as long or short as they wish, to hear prayers and readings, share quiet time in reflection, and find out more about climate change.

So many crises, so many important and difficult decisions to be made! I would be spoilt for choice if I wanted to write about such grave matters – and looking back over the archive perhaps I do so too often. Are we in danger of losing sight of joyful things too? Forget all the dismal crisis talk – let’s be cheerful, it is a Christian virtue! Let’s think instead of how much we have to be thankful for – our faithful God has blessed us with so much.

Harvest Time
We have been blessed by September’s Indian Summer, haven’t we? It’s amazing how the spirits rise with a bit of dry, sunny weather - mine certainly do. Last Saturday I spent a glorious day in Cloughjordan at the Eco-Village open day and energy fair. I was much too hot in my tweed jacket and woolly jumper – I had to strip them off. In the balmy weather it was hard to remember that creation is in crisis!

2009 has been difficult for those who are farmers, the third bad summer in a row. Many will be disappointed with the return they have got from all their planning and hard work. But the settled September has allowed tillage farmers to salvage something from the difficult season. Yields may be down here in Ireland, but elsewhere in Europe they have been higher than expected, and the total world crop looks set to be a record. Prices will likely be low, but this will be a boon to those short of fodder because of the weather - Teagasc advises not to buy in expensive silage this winter, but to feed cereals.

Many more of us will be anxious about the economic recession and market collapse. Worries bubble up: Is my job safe? What about my savings and my pension? How can I stretch my income to pay the bills?

But let us see the glass as half full, not half empty! Just reflect for a moment on the breadth and variety of our harvest. We have the staples: we have wheat for bread and butter to spread on it, oats for porridge and milk to pour over it, barley for beer, hay, silage and meal for cattle. But there is so much more than staples for us to enjoy, isn’t there! There’s meat and eggs, cheese and yoghurt, fruit and nuts, vegetables and mushrooms, and gardens full of flowers! Many of us keep animals, and there are this year’s foals, and calves and lambs and chicks. But there’s also the fruit of our own bodies - our children and grandchildren born this year - thank God for them too!

Cause for celebration

Some of the produce from Joakim's Garden

My own harvest is as a gardener. In the picture you can see some of what my wife and I are enjoying at the moment: runner beans, beetroot, carrots, onions, potatoes, parsley, garlic, French beans, spinach beet, tomatoes, autumn raspberries, apples, pears, and wildlings from the hedgerow, blackberries and damsons or bullaces, as my mother used to call them. I forgot to include the frisé lettuce (plants a gift from a neighbour) and courgettes. And coming on there are romanesco broccoli, brussels sprouts, leeks and purple sprouting broccoli for the spring. We are freezing pounds of beans to enjoy over winter. Nothing tastes so good as what you have grown or picked yourself. And it is just as enjoyable to be able to give away the surplus. If this sounds like boasting, I can’t help it - God has been very good to us this year!

Above all perhaps we should thank God for our health and strength, and also for our intellects, our God-given cleverness. As every farmer knows, this bountiful harvest does not appear from heaven as if by magic: it takes hard graft and intelligent planning!

In this rich corner of the world today, we will not starve, as our forefathers so often did after a bad harvest. With the gift of cleverness we have invented ways to store food and to transport it, and economic and social systems to distribute it to where it is needed. If we consume a little less, it will probably be good for our health; and perhaps the whole planet will benefit. So let us be cheerful and follow the good advice of Deuteronomy: ‘You shall set the first of the fruit of the ground down before the Lord your God … Then you shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you.’

Let us all celebrate and enjoy our harvest!