The Rats are Leaving The Sinking Ship

Things like this go down a little bit slow in Ireland. We are bankrupt. It is not a tragedy, but we are bankrupt, as a matter of fact. The Brian Cowen government just kindly made everybody aware of this inevitable fact in November 2010. The immediate reaction was somewhat like an animal instinct – “Hey, we are found out”. Yes, from that moment in time everybody could eventually find out what the had done to the country within a decade of economic success and great support by the European Union. They wasted every Cent that the exchequer had collected on dubious measures and on inflating the already over-dimensioned property sector in Ireland, and as a result of that the banking sector as well. And that although for instance the health sector still only supported a health system as we know it from third world countries. So, they had to act concisely and quickly, before they were found out, or so to speak, before the truth hits home with Irish people.

Image via Wikipedia

It all developed slowly – first the opposition, then some people in his own party Fianna Fail started giving him trouble, and it came the way it had to go – trust in Mr. Cowen was lost step by step on the way, until he had to buckle under the pressure of his party comrades, and give up on the leadership of his party. But if anyone thought, that now that he lost confidence of his party, and that the mismanagement of economy was unraveled in public, or in other words, that he as the leader of the country had failed, he would resign as the Taoiseach (President), then they were wrong.

Image via Next Steps Blog.

And there he is, still clinging on to power, purely defending his own skin and that of his party, before even thinking about the consequences for the Irish people. But for them it IS hitting home now. It does, when they look at the unemployment figures, when they look at their pay cheque in order to discover how much more has been additionally deducted from their wages to cover for the crisis. And it is hitting home when they see young people flee the country for jobs, when they don’t know how to pay the next mortgage instalment.

Image via GNU Cash.

And now the rats are leaving the sinking ship: one after another, ministers resign, senior party figures decide not to contest a new election, and nobody wants to be in government. So the question is: where are we heading? There is no captain, no mate and no crew, the ship is hit by  a massive impact, and water is pouring in. And the orchestra is playing for their life – I think I’ve seen this before on screen in the cinema! Where is the captain for a sinking ship?

Image via UKPR Watch.