One of the most endearing memories of 2007 was the huffing and puffing by Irish politicians and civil servants because of the German ambassador to
Normally the language of diplomats borders on the total inane, and in order to make a strong point about any subject to a host Government, a tortuous and saccharine-coated form of words is used to soften the blow, whilst at the same time getting the message across.
It was therefore refreshing to hear Mr. Pauls speak plain English to an audience of about 80 German industrialists at a conference in
Mr. Pauls mentioned that he was amazed that 20% of the entire Irish workforce was made up of public servants. There are only four million of us in
He then told the audience that our Junior Ministers, of which there are many, earn as much as the Chancellor of Germany. This is true, and that was before TD’s and ministers have awarded themselves yet another massive pay rise.
He spoke of the appalling health service that we have and of how consultants in the medical service consider 200,000-euro per annum “Mickey Mouse” money. Mr. Pauls was spot on again. This was a comment made to the media by a representative of the consultants association during their spat with Mary Harney for higher salaries.
Mr. Pauls spoke of our unrestrained immigration policy and the potential harm to society it could cause in the years ahead. He clearly stated that he spoke from experience in his own country where such a policy had disastrous effects. Here was a man of consummate knowledge, giving us free advice, and all the Government could respond with was a knee - jerk reaction that he was wrong and it was none of his business. They should thank the man!
He enlightened the delegates even more by telling them of our awful roads, lack of transport infrastructure and general misuse of EU monies poured into Ireland over three decades. He suggested that perhaps these massive handouts were a major factor in the birth of the famous Celtic Tiger. He did acknowledge that the work ethic of the Irish had a big part to play in creating our good fortune, despite media reports to the contrary.
He reserved his most penetrating comment to last when he described the Irish people as being ‘coarse’ and attributed this particular trait to their new-found wealth and prosperity in recent years. In one word, he has summed up the dominant part of the modern Irish psyche. Coarse – meaning vulgar, ostentatious, arrogant, ignorant, self-centred and uncharitable
It really does take somebody standing outside the window looking in to see the complete picture. As much as we may deny the home truths that he illustrated to his German counterparts,
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