(The Nationalist, 19 May 2000)
Do you get tired of hearing about the Celtic Tiger? I know I do. There is much that is good in it, and for that we should be grateful. But that isn’t the full picture.
Guess what country this is. In it:
- A quarter of the elderly in rural areas have no bath or shower in their home, and one fifth have no indoor toilet;
- Twice as many people went to prison in 1995 as in 1960; one third of prisoners are under 21 years of age, and 63% of them are seriously dependent on a hard drug;
- The numbers on local authority housing lists increased between March 1996 and March 1999 by 43%, reaching to over 39,000 households;
- Children between the ages of 11 and 17 drink more than their counterparts in 25 other European countries;
- 28% of all births are outside marriage;
- One fifth of the population are being kept out of the mainstream of life, through factors like functional illiteracy, long-term unemployment and low incomes;
- The percentage of the population living on incomes below one-half of society’s average disposable income grew from 21% in 1994 to 22% in 1997;
- A centre for drop-outs in the capital found that in the 25 years between 1973 and 1998 demand for its services grew five-fold, the principal increase being from women and children.
Well, I imagine you guessed what country it is. Ours. The Tiger has unfinished business.