Ireland is now at its lowest ebb since the blood-soaked struggle for independence in 1916. The nation is a shattered mosaic, its political heart in chaos, its spirit crushed under the weight of an enemy that defies conquest – an invisible, insidious force that mocks our resilience and drains our energy at every turn. Our so-called leaders, pitifully inept, stumble through a quagmire of their own creation, while the Presidential race descends into a grotesque parade of charlatans and fools. The solution? There is none. Or at least none that I can envisage. The reforms required to drag this island back from oblivion are so vast, so monumental, that inaction feels like the only logical choice. Yet, the alternative looms like a storm on the horizon: civil strife, fuelled by far-right militants, echoing the violent unrest of a century ago. Do we leave this smouldering ruin to the next generation, hoping they might find something worth salvaging? Or do we rise, defiant, and forge a path through the chaos? I’m at a loss, but I’m eager to hear your thoughts on what’s needed to restore this magnificent island to some semblance of its former glory.

Posted by Fred Bassett