The cries from the media (and many of the assembled public) that nobody told them there was anything wrong with the economy are becoming annoying now.

By jazzmasterson, Flickr (cc)

They were told – but they chose to ignore the warnings.

Two years ago, in January 2007 (yes, despite the media’s insistence that nobody said anything before the 2007 General Election), Pat Rabbitte, then leader of the Labour Party, told a conference that Ireland “could not take a continued strong economy for granted, and claimed the current coalition was complacent to the point of smugness about the situation.”

The following day, Ruairi Quinn, a former Finance Minister, said that “any minor fluctuation in the international economic situation would leave us extremely exposed.”  And:

“Complacency will get us nowhere. We must be vigilant and mindful of our economy’s weaknesses. Otherwise, we risk losing the prosperity built on the efforts of hardworking people across the country.”

But the media in particular didn’t want to know.  Despite their normal penchant for bad news, journalists at the time just wouldn’t cover any negative talk about the economy seriously.

So please, stop saying nobody warned you.  You were warned, and you either chose to ignore the warnings or chose to take Fianna Fáil’s counterclaims at face value.  Face up to it.