Is this the Rotten Apple Republic?

Sir — While it’s generally nice to return to my native Ireland, the longer I’ve been away the harder it is for me to envisage living here on a more permanent basis again.

For sure, there’s an element of ‘‘it’s not you, it’s me’’ to this. As you can imagine there’s quite a difference between life in Bogota, my abode for the last number of years, versus life around Ballaghaderreen.

Yet, from a rural west of Ireland perspective, away from its few ‘‘hotspots’’, there appears to be an air of despondency among the populace. One of a number of ways this has manifested itself is in the amount of ‘‘nasty neighbours’’ who seem to have sprung up about the place. People who crave conflict, hoping, I can only assume, to add a bit of excitement to their lives.

Okay, Connacht has always been Ireland’s depressed, poor relation. However, the, ahem, boom years that I grew up in at least jazzed up the place somewhat.

With those heady days now just a memory, but having left nasty wounds still in need of much nursing, it could be argued the West has never been worse, relatively speaking. It certainly feels that way in many aspects.

Unavoidable as that may be, the discourse from Dublin and its environs is that we still have that breed of leaders who believe that the more expensive a country is, the more successful it is. Note to Leo and the rest of his delusional band: this is the Republic of Ireland, not Sweden.

People sometimes call Colombia a banana republic. What’s Ireland then? The Rotten Apple Republic? Brendan Corrigan, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, and Bogota, Colombia