Celebrating St Patrick's Day

This St Patrick's Day finds Ireland in need of a boost in optimism and self-confidence. There is good reason to believe this is possible following the last two national days in 2009 and 2010. They inescapably registered pessimism and gloom because of the spectacularly hard and deep landing of the 2002-2008 property bubble. But it has been well said that an optimist is a pessimist with experience of life. St Patrick's Day comes as spring is under way and provides a fitting opportunity to develop a renewed sense of pride in irishness after this traumatic period.

A well-argued election campaign has produced a secure Government capable of inspiring hope and a radically changed Dáil with many fresh faces. There is room to think this more constructive political atmosphere can lift the national mood by helping find the best ways to tackle the deep problems we face. Most of these were self-inflicted, but within an interlocking political and economic system in Europe and wider afield which bears some responsibility for stoking the bubble and should therefore share the burden of solving them. Since St Patrick's Day symbolises Ireland's international identity just as much as its national one, it is a suitable occasion to drive this point home.

There is much for Ireland and the irish to be proud of after the experience. The talents and skills which developed this society are well distributed throughout it and underlie its outstanding strengths. Politically, Ireland has used the ballot box to effect change rather than more direct means of protest and campaigning. That gives the new Fine Gael-Labour Coalition a strong democratic mandate to negotiate with its interlocutors in the EU and the International Monetary Fund. Commitments to political reform will also enjoy popular support if they are well formulated and targeted. Fresh wells of innovation and creativity are visible throughout the island, creating opportunities in sectors as varied as alternative energy, agriculture and food, the arts, tourism and in the high-technology fields like pharmaceuticals, computing and communications. There is ample scope for much more extended North-South co-operation now that peace is bedded down.

Renewal must deal fairly with the major victims of the bubble's collapse if it is to be democratically legitimate and if a stable recovery is to be achieved. Latest figures for unemployment, emigration and indebtedness are worse than expected and raise expectations of help from the state. Such a solidarity, if applied, will stimulate a willingness to co-operate when conditions improve. Alternatively if recession and recovery generate permanent winners and losers, all will suffer.

St Patrick's Day is a religious commemoration of the man who converted Ireland to Christianity. It then became a symbol of irish nationality. There will be no recovery worth its name without the spiritual, moral and cultural dimensions which renew Ireland's self-understanding and confidence. That poses great challenges. But it is well within our capacity so long as good policies and favourable circumstances allow.

(Published by The Irish Times - March 17, 2011)