'Progress' and 'Values'

What is progress? What are the criterion by which we measure the advancement of our country, the yardstick by which we measure improvement on all that has gone before? The materialistic character which is considered progress within the new Ireland has been much maligned in recent years but I think it incorrect to suggest this. Ireland as a nation has improved in real terms, not just economically and the citizens of the state are rightly entitled to reap the rewards of this progress.

Statistic ‘evidence' would suggest that economic indicators such as employment figures, disposable income, GDP etc. place Ireland in a privileged global position. The value that the Irish nation's psyche has attributed to these considerations is historically understandable but where do we go from here? It is my understanding that a fair-minded economist applying a cost-benefit analysis to the Republic of Ireland might suggest that the standard of living of the average Irish citizen would be improved not by further economic success but by a reassessment of the socio-cultural values of its population.

Looking with nostalgia to the past is one thing, but one mustn't look with nostalgia to future - that said however, that which defines what we classify as progress will need to be reconfigured in the forthcoming years, as that which we now consider of great value, is increasingly becoming recognised as socially debilitating.

I believe a socio-political debate regarding ‘progress' is long overdue, as we begin to recognise that a reorientation in public values is becoming increasingly necessary. I am confident that the general public will not allow our public representatives to blindly assume what we as citizens consider to be of value in the future of our country.

House prices, Traffic congestion, price inflation - political discourse in Ireland has been increasing dominated by such issues, addressing only the ‘Price of Progress' but isn't it time that we questioned what we consider to be ‘progress' itself.

Shaun Gavigan. Phibsborough, Dublin 7