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3 October 2016 Edition

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A Better Ireland – Éire Níos Fearr

Editorial – Eagarfhocal

The days of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments agreeing backroom deals with wealthy corporations on sweetheart tax deals must end.

2017 must be a year of change. Budget 2017 should reflect a commitment to change.

The days of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments agreeing backroom deals with wealthy corporations on sweetheart tax deals must end.

Things are starting to improve for some people and in some parts of the country and this is welcome. For hundreds of thousands of others, though, the reality continues to be worries over money, having a roof over their head or paying hospital bills or back to school costs. The high cost of living and poor quality of public services means that many families are working long hours and still cannot make ends meet.

September should be a time of excitement for parents as children continue their school journey, not a time of worry, stress and struggle.

And there are many others who are forced to live and work abroad because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael still think that mass emigration is a necessary safety valve.

Budget 2017 needs to create an Ireland for living in, not for merely getting by in. 

We need to start using money wisely, by investing in the future, reducing the cost of living and providing proper public services. 

We need a real plan to bring our young people home and this time ensure that “no longer shall our children, like our cattle, be brought up for export”.

We need to start thinking all-Ireland. 

The outcome of the Brexit referendum has brought the absolute necessity of the all-Ireland economy into stark reality. 

Brexit is bad for Ireland, North and South.

Brexit will slow economic growth, undermine trade, make our exports more expensive and increase the cost of doing business. It will cost jobs. 

The only way to protect against this is to act now to ensure that the North, along with the rest of Ireland, remains in the EU. 

An All-Ireland Forum needs to be established to look at options that would allow this to happen, regardless of what happens in England and Wales, and we need to work with others across Europe for change.

2017 needs to be a year of change.

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