to think the Irish..

[GeruptaSingh]

...do not know a good thing when they are given one

Let them eat cheese: anger as Ireland plans handouts of cheddar to the poor

That is a headline from a newspaper

I wish someone would give me free cheese,I love the stuff

ungratefull buggers

You cannot just blame the bankers

How many people lived on credit,lied about earnings to get a bigger mortgage etc

And how many people didn't?

I didnt and I am not complaining

cuts have to be made

I think it's fair to apportion an amount of blame to the ones that lied through their back teeth as to how dire the situation was really.

I still don't think we have seen the full extent of the debt yet.

How many other people do you see getting big bonuses this year?

Gerupta there are people who have no electricity in their homes, no food in their cupboards, yes they are the minority, yes banks gave credit to easily, yes people lived on the never never but that does not mean we leave them and their children hungry, cold and homeless, have some compassion we have to deal with the here and now, help people and learn from past mistakes.

I should of said
everybody is to blame not just the bankers

Is anyone else reminded of A Modest Proposal reading all this?

I had forgotten about Swift Angelene

Bankers made commissions on the mortgages they sold, no? I think we can blame the bankers.

I remember nearly having a heart attack when I realised how much of our mortgage was actually interest

GS - this is returning to proper AIBU: yes, you are. Most people I know worked hard, tried to do the right thing, raise their families etc. Most of them took very little in the way of handouts/public services etc (e.g. paying for all doctor's visits themselves, subsidising the 'free' education); in what way are we all to blame?

This is ridiculous.

Also - I don't like the expression 'the Irish'.So that's unreasonable too.

I'm an Irish mumsnetter and I think YABU.

And I totally disagree with the statement that everyone is to blame.

My DH is self employed, built up a business from nothing when a public sector contract he had fell through. We save for whatever we need. I am a SAHM and we put off buying a house because we realised house prices were ridiculously inflated.

We have a daughter with several medical problems and pay ?45 a visit to the GP and pay for all her medication ourselves. We are just over the income level where we could get some bit of assistance.

Times are tough for everyone here - it doesn't mean everyone is culpable. I watched a programme the other night where they spoke to man who had a nice little business and decided to go into property development. He now owes the banks ?20 Million and freely admits he will never repay any of it.
Greed - pure and simple got us into this miss and not everyone is responsible.

I can't even be bothered to comment on the cheese issue.

I'm beginning to think that GeruptaSingh was lonely and his was a quick way of attracting Irish Mners

this

Gerupta, this country was A bloody poor one up until very recently. Its only been the past 15 years that ordinary working class people were able to enjoy a quality of life similar to those on other european countries. Seriously do you want us to sit back and accept it as our lot?

I read a newspaper story not long ago about the hundreds of horses in Ireland being abandend because the owners could no longer afford them
what do people in Ireland do when they come into money?
buy a horse. Why not pay off the mortgage?

I am not talking about individual cases but the population in general

Western Europe has had it too good for too long and do not know what real hardship is

Young unemployed people can still go out and get drunk and end up in A&E knowing they will be looked after at great expense to the taxpayer etc etc etc etc.People still pay tradesmen cash in hand,buy fake goods,do not insure/tax cars.All resulting in less tax being collected and money wasted
We are not as bad off as most countrys in the world just yet

stleger
I am sorry. I should of said people living in Ireland (southern/republic) delete where you see fit

You should have said people living in Ireland too.

Am beyond commenting on the OP's poor grammar.

The ignorance displayed by your sweeping generalisations is breathtaking.

Yes gerupta, many of us went out and bought horses we couldn't afford, instead of paying off our mortgages.

FFS [anger]

Sorry, was obviously too angry to correctly type .

Geruptasingh I don't know anyone who bought horses that is a minority and they are being mainly taken from a specific part of the community .
Those that go out and get drunk and end up in A&E 80% of them pay for the dubious pleasure [or their parents do or their Health insurance] it is not easy to obtain a medical card and impossible to get free treatment. Try having a sick child in this country, it can be bloody scary trying to decided between paying the bills or medical care and forget dental treatment, it will soon be non existent.