Restoration of hope the greatest gift our leaders can give

In many homes throughout the land, Christmas is the highlight of the year. It's a time to be together with family and friends, to share food and exchange gifts; it's a time of wonder and joy for children, and it affords an opportunity for the adults to, for one day at least, forget about the trials and stresses that have become so much a part of most people's lives at this time of great economic difficulty. Despite the festive season being a special time to spend in the bosum of one's own family, laughing, reflecting and rejoicing as cherished childhood memories come flooding back, many people look forward to Christmas with mixed feelings. There is, of course, the happy anticipation of celebrations, good food, a break from work and time spend relaxing in the company of family and friends, but also the anxiety that comes with decorating, shopping, cooking, baking and entertaining. After three or more years of economic depression, the pressures on family life have never been greater through worries about debt, financial insecurity, unemployment and simply having enough money each week to make ends meet. In the past three years, we have seen a stunning reversal in our country's fortunes. Much of what we as a people took for granted seemed to be crumbling around us - banks that were seemingly bastions of trustworthiness and conservative thinking virtually collapsed before our eyes, politicians in whom we put our faith to steer the good ship Ireland towards a new dawn of prosperity were found to be asleep at the helm, and the Church - whom many look to for solace in times of crisis - was itself having to face up to appalling revelations about the way it sheltered and protected criminal sex abusers. Employment became insecure and many tens of thousands of workers found themselves on the dole. Houses were being repossessed after homeowners found themselves unable to meet their mortgage obligations, once thriving building sites became silent, and disillusioned young people once again looked to foreign lands, leaving their families behind, in the hope of gaining work and making a new life for themselves far from home. It seemed the very foundations underneath us were crumbling away and everyone was plunged into a new uncertainty over which we have had little or no control. This time of year, more than any other, also offers a time for reflection and much of that introspection over the next couple of weeks will be on how Ireland got it so wrong and where we go from here. The Ireland of the Celtic Tiger is gone now and many would say good riddance to it, with its veneer of bling, 10-bedroom mansions in the middle of nowhere, and its developer class with all the trappings of wealth who were, in fact, emperors with no clothes. There is a new realism now and the Irish are having a proper conversation with themselves about where we now want this country to go. In the midst of a severe and protracted recession following on from a period of prosperity never before experienced in this country, we are now faced with tough choices in order to sustain the economy and the social fabric of the country that is threatened with being torn apart by hardship and emigration. There is a deep sense of crisis but there is also that enduring legacy of the Irish - a determination to face up to the harsh truths. It is that willingness to face adversity head-on rather than wallow in defeatism that sets the country apart from some of the other distressed economies that have had to seek EU/IMF bailouts. One of the minimum prerequisites for Ireland's leaders is to give our people a sense of hope and optimism, and instil confidence that the path of austerity they have chosen will see us through in the end. As a government, one of its chief responsibilities is to help its people see that tomorrow can be better than today. This does not mean it should sugar-coat the real challenges Ireland is facing, but it's about deliberately convincing everyone about plotting a path forward so that, one day in the not-too-distant future, this country can be successful again. In the past couple of decades, Ireland was regarded as a positive model of economic development, which many developing economies sought to emulate. Our people need to feel that we can be that country again, albeit chastened after the mistakes of the past. In particular, our young emigrants need to be convinced that Ireland is worthy or their talents and energy.