Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I share the opinion of Senator Donohoe and others about acting responsibly and extend their request to the Irish media in general. I echo the words of the Minister of Finance at a recent seminar when he accepted, as all of us do, the right of a free press in a democratic society to express its opinions as it saw fit, but we are, as Senator Donohoe and others said, in the middle of a deep national crisis. I had a conspiracy theory dating back to the Troubles. Many of the news agencies were based in London. Therefore, any news about the island of Ireland was filtered through the London media which nearly always inevitably gave one side of the case, to the detriment of the Irish side. However, in this crisis, the news is not being filtered through the London media. What is happening is that the international news agencies and, by extension, those involved in the financial sector are taking their lead from the headlines and stories being printed and disseminated in the Irish media. There was a perfect example last month in the middle of the so-called silly season. One bank, Barclays Capital, stated Ireland was managing its affairs as best it could in the circumstances but that it could at some time in the future go to the IMF. The headline in the best selling national newspaper the following day stated Ireland was going to the IMF. That was irresponsible journalism and as bad as inaccuracies in this House. It is incumbent, therefore, on the Irish media to be responsible, as they have a responsibility to be accurate in what they print, particularly in the current climate where every utterance in Ireland is picked up by the international media.

I would like to paraphrase Senator Mullen whose command of English is excellent. The creativity and imagination shown by the Government in the past few days in putting forward a national strategy to create 150,000 jobs in the next few years are to be commended and I hope the Leader will pass on that good wish. There will be an emphasis on tourism. I was astonished to hear a senior editor at a Sunday business newspaper on the Vincent Browne programme in recent days rubbishing the industry and more or less questioning why we were not placing the emphasis on indigenous industry more. Our most important indigenous industry after agriculture is tourism. It affects every town and village, but if that is the view of a Dublin based business journalist, what hope is there for a proper dissemination of news?

I also congratulate the county town of Ireland, Carrick-on-Shannon. Ireland had two entries in Entente Florale, a flower display competition between 12 European nations. Ireland took gold through Carrick-on-Shannon and silver through Emly, County Tipperary, last year's national tidy towns competition winner. I compliment both communities because this was a voluntary effort on the part of people who have great pride in their community. When there is such an achievement at local level, I no longer despair and hope the hope being portrayed by the great people concerned means the country will get out of the current climate.