A letter to Enda

Habe den Link bei Gommbeen Nation gefunden. Wenn ihr wissen wollt, wie die Iren sich heutzutage fuehlen, bitteschoen (lest auch die Kommentare dazu)! Alles in englisch, sorry. Uebrigens: die Behauptung, Deutschland haette fuer Irrlands Schulden bezahlt ist absolut falsch! Dazu jedoch ein andermal ... Hier noch ein Link zu einer sehr guten FB-Seite.

Und nun der Brief an Enda:

Dear Enda,

I voted for you and your party a few years ago because I believed you could fix this. I believed you were a better option than the shower of nepotistic corrupt bastards who helped get us into this mess. I knew there would be austerity measures and I knew it would be tough on all of us but I gave you the benefit of the doubt and I believed.

Tonight as I sit here at 2am listening to my one year old son cry because he is sick and has a crazy fever and wonder how on earth I can afford to take him to the doctor tomorrow, I realise I have been let down. My faith was misplaced. I have been betrayed by my own government.

I stuck with you Enda. We were in trouble like any other family. We had lived beyond our means and we would pay for it, but we could accept that and did. We set up a debt management plan five years ago and determined we would pay back every penny. My husband worked 80 hour weeks. We gave up a car and he cycled to work. We haven't had a holiday in five years. Our children have gone without more than we would like and we have made many hard decisions over the years in order to get this debt paid off.

Yet here I am Enda, five months before all our debt is paid and having had less than ten euro to feed a family of five for the last three weeks. You see Enda, we moved recently as my husband got a new job and needed to be in a new area. We shouldered this expense and knew April would be tighter than usual as a result but thanks to a generous family member we got a gift of some money from the US. I lodged this cheque with Bank of Ireland on April 9th. Normally the funds are always available immediately. We've been loyal customers for 9 years. We lodge these types of cheques several times a quarter and they always clear. We diligently pay back our loans every month and have never been late or have missed a payment. However the bank - the bank my husband's taxes have repeatedly paid to bail out without any democratic due process - decided to put a hold on this cheque. As a result we have had less than ten euro a week to live on these past two weeks and for the rest of the month.

Given that the bank knows there's a good salary coming in month end and that this cheque will likely clear, I asked for a temporary advance or overdraft. Not unreasonable one would think. I did not apply for a mortgage. I asked for 50-100 euro to get us through the month. That's not much Enda and they know we're good for it. But you know what? They said no, we have debt and as such they couldn't help us. I wasn't asking for a mountain just 50 euro to buy milk, eggs and bread for the rest of the month. I'm a creative woman and a good cook, I was confident it would be enough to cover the essentials, but they wouldn't play ball.

This family has sacrificed a lot for this country. We could have gone abroad and left all our debt for you and the banks to deal with but we didn't. We took the hard road and played our part. We pay our taxes and have never taken a cent from the government. We are like most middle class families paying our way and your way and the banks way. Yet in our hour of need, where were they? Where were you Enda?

I didn't think it could get much worse. Today I stood in line to take out the remaining 1.41 in my bank account and fought back tears of shame in front of my daughter. Payday is not too far off and I figured I could grin and bear it for another week, put on a happy face, pretend all is well. But now my son is sick. What can I do Enda? I am not eligible for a gp card. I don't have 50 euro to pay for the doctor. What do I do? Can you please tell me Enda?

I feel betrayed. Angry. Outraged. We've done everything right. We've stood by and done our part for our country and yet when we need our country it's lost somewhere under a mountain of red tape and closed eyes. How can you ask us to go on Enda? How can you honestly ask us to keep on giving when this is what we get?

I don't know where to go from here. I have lost faith in you and lost faith in Ireland.

Yours sincerely,

A sad and distraught mother of three