Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)

In the past week Chancellor Angela Merkel said:

Nobody should take for granted another 50 years of peace and prosperity in Europe ... That's why I say: if the euro fails, Europe fails. We have an historical obligation: to protect by all means Europe's unification process begun by our forefathers after centuries of hatred and blood spill.

Someone should remind Chancellor Merkel that it was her country that started the Second World War. It was her country's lust for control that led to the deaths of millions of innocent people. While there were obviously contributory factors as to why this happened, it would not have happened without the acquiescence of a large proportion of the German population. In order that we do not face such a prospect again, is she seriously saying we must all be subsumed into a united Europe with Germany calling the shots?

In the 1990s I spent two and a half years living in Germany, during which time I visited Dachau Concentration Camp. I was curious as to why such a place remained open as a museum and they had never bulldozed it and moved on. The answer I was given was that people should never forget. It appears that Chancellor Merkel has certainly forgotten one thing, that people do not want to have Germany in control of their lives, whether it be as a result of a war or financial threats. She should also remember that one of the reasons given for the Second World War and the rise of extreme right-wing politicians was that the German people and state had been treated too harshly after the First World War. Now she wants the people of Ireland to suffer extreme austerity as a punishment for the crimes of a previous Government. It is this very pressure which increases the chances of Europe falling apart and descending into mayhem.

What real lessons has Chancellor Merkel learned from the catastrophe of war? We hear that she is incandescent with rage at the idea of a referendum being held in Greece. In other words, we again have a German leader who is annoyed that a sovereign state is making its own decisions through a legitimate democratic process. She is also forcing us to put the interests of gamblers in the bond markets before those of people with special needs, old people and the most vulnerable in our society. In the past week it has also become clear that one of the ways her dream of European integration is being kept alive is by borrowing money from China, a country which to this day has concentration camps.

Many people, including Anthony Coughlan, warned that the process of monetary union would end in tears and the only way it would work was by having complete fiscal union. At the time we were told this was not necessary as a way of fobbing off those who did not want to see further integration into a European super state. Now that the inevitable has come to pass, we are being told that full fiscal union is the only way forward by the very ones who denied it was a requirement in the first place.

While I do not know if this is out of order, the man who inspired me to become involved in politics died yesterday. I dedicate this contribution to John Conneely who was a hero of mine.

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