what ireland could be in 2005

Nestled at the foot of Tooth Mountain overlooking Kenmare Bay, it's hard to pull oneself away from the hypnotic landscape and re-enter the wrestling match of real life. But Village has thrown down a challenge to its readers to envisage the Ireland of 2005 they would wish to see and it is one that has succeeded in distracting me even in this beguiling place.

Uncharacteristically, I decided to limit my suggestions on how to improve Ireland for the better. When I first began to ponder Village's proposition, limitless suggestions came to mind. All either began or concluded with the exile of Michael Mc Dowell to Rockall. In a spirit of New Year optimism, I decided to leave Michael where he is – perched between the rock of his own arrogance and the hard place of Roscommon County Council.

But another theme did keep emerging in my contemplations. It is one that has focussed my mind for some time now. It dates back to a few months ago when some barely-disguised homophobic correspondents argued that marriage should remain the exclusive preserve of heterosexual couples because it is an institution established primarily for the procreation and protection of children. One particular self-appointed press guardian of institutional heterosexuality accused same sex couples of using children as political pawns in their demands for gay marriage. That kind of unjustifiable allegation, fuelled as it was by self-righteous hypocrisy really rankled. It still does.

Ireland is a country which is more interested in preserving a foetus in the womb than ensuring its children are accorded basic human rights.

This is a country where children are at the bottom of the political agenda and rarely merit more than the most superficial consideration or accommodation.

So here is my wish list for Ireland in 2005:

I want to see every child in Ireland have access to free, quality healthcare as of right irrespective of where they live in Ireland, their parents' social class, their parents' country of origin or the child's country of origin.

I want to see any family form where children are loved, nurtured and wanted given recognition and respect by this state.

I want to see our courts have zero tolerance for those who inflict violence or who consciously seek to demean, deprive or damage children in any way.

I want every deported Irish citizen child returned safely to Ireland with their families.

I want the scores of unaccompanied, asylum-seeking minors for whom the Department of Health and Children seem unable to give satisfactory explanations as to their whereabouts and welfare to be provided with a care centred environment with educational and emotional supports that reflect their level of need.

I want to see this government allocate immediate resources, measurable effort and meaningful targets for the provision of alternative, supported accommodation for children and young people who have challenging social, emotional and intellectual needs. I want an immediate halt put to the barbarous practice of placing young people with mental health difficulties in adult psychiatric units.

I want to see a teacher/classroom ratio that accommodates every child to develop to his/her full potential.

I want to see the quarter of a million children who currently live in poverty on this island lifted out of that shameful situation and their families and communities provided with the wherewithal to give them a fighting chance in life.

I want to see the most powerful institutions in this land that through their neglect, callousness and cowardice allowed children to be abused to take full responsibility for that role. I want their prevarication, their passing-the-buck and their despicable evasion of the truth and its consequences to end now.

I want this government to cough up the money it promised to alleviate hunger and poverty in the developing world. We owe those children and it's time to pay up.

I want to see social and economic policies in Ireland that are child-centred, where the potential impact on children is integral to the policy-making process. I want children's needs to be placed at the heart of our legislation, at the core of our Constitution and central to our political actions.

I want the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child to be the bible of our political institutions, the mantra of our government departments and its full implementation the objective of all our social and economic exertions in 2005.

I want an Ireland where ALL the children of the nation are cherished equally.

See page 28 for what Village's readers think Ireland should be in 2005