Hugo Hamilton on Ireland and Europe

Hugo Hamilton, one of Ireland's foremost writers, writes in the Sunday edition of Die Welt newspaper that in view of the economic crisis the Irish could reinvent their country with the help of Europe: "The old safety valve of emigration no longer works. Where should we go? There is no place, nowhere. Perhaps this time we must really solve our problems by ourselves - with the help of our European friends. Please, please, don't be cross with us for rejecting the Treaty of Lisbon last year! We won't do it again. We Irish are actually good Europeans. Our problem is that we got to the party a bit late and now it's over. We lived it up, like the Americans. Just six months ago there was a strict waiting list for Louis Vuitton handbags. People flew to New York regularly on shopping sprees. Per capita the Irish had more BMWs than the Germans. And now it looks as though Germany will have to bail us out once more. Do us a favour, please buy back all these expensive cars!"

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