The real unemployment figures

Brace yourself for a barrage of ‘good news’ over the next six to nine months or so, courtesy of the Coalition government as it, against the advice of the Fiscal Advisory Council among others, prepares to secure the outcome of the next general election.

You will hear, for instance, that the unemployment level is now magically in single figures and decreasing.

What you will not hear is that the ‘real’ unemployment figure is in excess of 20pc, if the 250,000 young and not so young who were forced to emigrate are taken into account.

This awkward and alarming statistic is equivalent almost to the entire population of Cork city. The media in general has been particularly silent on this matter, often willing to report the official line verbatim.

The permanent loss of many of this young, vibrant cohort of our citizens mirrors, in many ways, the tragedy of the Great Famine era, from which Ireland never fully recovered, economically or socially.

The other conveniently hidden statistic relates to the much-vaunted new job figures. We are not told how many of these jobs are, because of our skewed and inadequate education system, filled of necessity by nonnationals, and how much money is repatriated out of the Irish economy on an annual basis as a result.

We should all be aware that instead of relieving many of the consequences of its disastrous and polarising austerity policies, the Coalition is, like all its predecessors, now preparing to spend over €1bn of borrowed money, paid for by us, to buy our votes in an attempt to convince us that it should remain in power at all costs.

When will the Government, or, more importantly, we ever learn?