Does personal responsibility for one's situation exist in Ireland?

Quin_Dub wrote: »

As other posters have said, fundamentally we are a very immature country.

Whether it's some weird throwback to Imperialism or not is a moot point but the prevailing attitude is one of "them" vs. "us" rather then simply seeing it as "Us" as it should be.

The joy of the cute hoor and getting one over on "them" and so on is just pervasive.

The continued re-election of TD's across the country who have been repeatedly and undeniable found with their hand in the till clearly shows how we view petty corruption -

We think it's a bit cool, and quietly admire the person for their ability to pull the wool over someones eyes , all the while forgetting that it's OUR money that they are stealing...

Every problem is seen as a result of someone elses action or inaction in the first case.

Bottom line , everything that happens in your life is your responsibility - Of course , other factors are at play and Government policy can impact the environment in which you live. But the reality is that it's your own responsibility to inform yourself properly , weigh up all the risks and rewards and put in place mitigation to reduce the risk..

But - If the worst happens and you lose your job , Mortgages rates spike or whatever.. The 1st place to look is at yourself and how you should have seen it coming and protected yourself..

In Ireland, the 1st response is "Who did this to me , who can I blame?"

Until we grow up and learn to wear our successes and failures equally we are going to continue to make the same mistakes....

Some valid and true points, but there are a number of wider issues, and some of then are tricky.

In most big decisions that are complex, the traditional advice was to rely on the relevant professional group for their (often expensive) input and direction, and to evaluate their response as part of the overall decision making process.

But, it's been made very clear over the last while that some of that professional advice wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

I could go into a lot of detail about some of the things that have happened to me as a direct result of relying on solicitors, accountants, architects, bankers and other state and semi state professionals that were supposed to be reliable, but I won't, it depresses me, and at this stage and distance, I can't change what happened maybe 25 years ago, so there's not much point in even voicing them, even though the results have done massive financial, psychological and emotional damage to me and my family.

In theory, I should be able to do something about it, but fighting professional bodies through the legal system is incredibly time consuming and frighteningly expensive, and I don't have the emotional reserves or the money to be able to do anything at this stage of my life, and the other factor is that life is too short.

It probably means that I won't be able to leave anything other than bills to my children, which was not the way it was supposed to be, and I dread our retirement. but changing it is no longer a realistic option, and I've worked long and hard over the years, so it wasn't for the lack of trying.

So, I will instead mention things like Priory Hall, I haven't seen any professional bodies having to invoke their liability insurance to compensate people who were mistreated by members of their professions, and that covers solicitors and architects, builders and (completely untouchable) local authorities, all of whom have been culpable and negligent in the performance of their duties, and the result was a death trap that had to be closed down, with a fire engine on permanent standby while the residents moved out, as the complex was so dangerous. NO ONE has been put through the courts over that, or made to pay for their negligence and incompetence, are the problems that the owners face their problems, or are the problems the problems of professional bodies that can't be trusted to do the job they are there to do, and often are paid incredibly well for their services?

The Golden Circle is alive and well, and even after a number of years of the worst recession in living memory, it's thriving, and working well for the select few at the top of the tree that are the members of that club.

At the very top of the tree, we have the organisations that run the state, the Catholic church, and the political system, and they determine the tone and attitude that's seen as "the norm", and what a wonderful example of upright and outstanding citizenry we have there! (NOT).

Corruption, fraud, cronyism, nepotism, suppressed child abuse, sexual abuse, and just about every other possible negative, and despite all of these issues, at the political level, the same cronies keep getting re elected into the system by the people they represent, because (as has been mentioned) there is a culture that is only too happy that the top is corrupt, as it excuses and minimises that crime, and makes it legitimate for everyone else to do what the leaders do, and because those same people are very good at "stroking" the system to get results at a local level for the people they represent, which is seen as being more important than their honesty. In other organisations, like the church and state services, the failures get moved or reassigned to a new role, there's no such thing as proper discipline or consequences for failure, we've seen it across both bodies, and it's not a pretty sight.

Some of it is a throwback to the colonial rule times, "Feck ye and your rules" became engrained and implicit in the culture, and the fact that Ireland has been responsible for it's own destiny for nearly 100 years hasn't changed or eliminated that attitude, it's still very much part of the political rule book, and goes right to the top, as was seen when CJ was given the money from Ben Dunne. Then of course, don't forget the old way, where the priest was god incarnate at the local level, so instant obedience to his every word was mandatory, and the rules didn't apply to him. That concept was brainwashed into generations, it then applied to other areas of life, and it's only now in the last couple of generations that the media, the internet and the duplicity and deception of the leaders in so many different areas has become clear, and people are starting to change their attitude towards the old ways.

Only in Ireland would we hear the phrase "It was resting in my account", and even this week, there are more waves about the number of people involved with illegal off shore activities, and there's no smoke without fire from that direction.

Another area that is not helpful is the Catholic Confessional concept. Doesn't matter what you've done, go and confess it, and as long as you do whatever is deemed "appropriate" by the priest, your sins are forgiven. That is such a distortion of the biblical concept of repentance, it's laughable, but it underlies so much of what has gone wrong with the moral structure of life, sin has consequences here on earth too, some of them can be very long term, and the absence of any real moral compass from the church has been another aspect of the disasters that have affected Ireland in the last few generations.

So while personal responsibility is a nice catch all phrase, there are still a number of areas where personal responsibility is both misleading and inappropriate, given the way that Irish Society and culture operates.

Depressing, VERY depressing, as it's not likely to change any time soon.