No Christmas Ham??

Well, this week has proved a somewhat turbulent one for many reasons. It is only a couple of weeks until Christmas, but you wouldn't think it. The magic and warmth of the festive season is being overtaken by a glum atmosphere.

Retailers are feeling the pinch more and more each day, with Woolworths in the UK announcing its closing down sale, having been one of the most successful retailers for years. Amid the doom and gloom of the Financial crisis that is affecting all of us, you would think a glimmer of luck or hope was due to come our way. But you'd be wrong!

Instead, we had the chance to see our government, who, putting it mildy, are somewhat questionable!, attempt to sort out another setback. Last weekend saw the announcement that Irish pork products have been contaminated by deadly toxins and must be recalled immediately. So, in the run up to Christmas, the most productive time of year for pig farmers...the government puts a ban on Ham for Christmas.

Unfortunatey, the more problems that face our government, the less they are doing to convince us they are in control. With the Pork industry work over €2 billion to our country, this was the last thing we needed to break out across the world. Luckily, we did manage to avoid the recall of Beef aswell.

However, perhaps more disappointing than the actual contamination itself was that it later emerged that products not soley produced from isolated herds, and processed ones like cold meats shouldn't have been in question in the first place.

At a time when stress levels are high and finances are low, why does our Government persist in making it harder for us. We know face the task of firstly restoring consumer confindence in our own country, before having to turn our attention to all those countries who receive our exports.

We have an uphill battle on our hands to get this area back working to its full potential.

At this stage, I feel it is time for the government to either step up to the plate or ship out. The budget announced a couple of months back sent shockwaves through the country. And for the first time, it gave citizens the confidence to speak up and stand up for what is right. If they can't see what they're doing wrong themselves, the government have to acknowledge what the people of the country are saying. The face that the EU has now given the go-ahead for a second Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland just compounds the fact our government don't LISTEN.

Comedian Des Bishop made an interesting and very relevant point on the Late Late show a few weeks ago. having lived in the US but having lived in Ireland alot of his life, he is in a prime position to compare and contrast between the two. He told Pat Kenny that he had thought that in a Referendum for the Lisbon Treaty, you either get to vote yes or no - not a crazy thought! Howver, it dawned on him that its like this: We can vote Yes, and thats grand, or we can vote No...and keep doing it until we get it right. They might as well vote for us.