Most times, we don’t like the idea of something coming to an end. The end means change, and change is often difficult to manage. People really change only in response to a crisis, they change because they have to. So do systems.

Today is different. Today we have a good this-is-the-end story, at least this is what they want to make us believe. Today is the end of the bailout programme for Ireland. But Noonan warns: “We can’t go mad again!” (RTE news). (I wonder whether there is a connection with a punch line in the recent This is the End movie: “They’re partying like there’s no tomorrow. And they might be right.” (This is the End, June 2013).)

“While Athens burned and strikes paralyzed Lisbon, Dublin remained calm enough for politicians to take a different tack: stealth, deference and diplomacy in cozy chats over drinks in Victorian bars. There were Sunday afternoon crisis phone calls, successful efforts to charm the Germans who would ultimately decide the nation’s fate”, wrote Dara Doyle, Joe Brennan and Brendan Greeley for Bloomberg on 13 Dec., last Friday. – Drinks in Victorian bars, this is how it’s being done.

Among all the celebrations and sense of achievements, there is also a sense that it’s not all over yet.

• Ireland exits bailout with warnings of more austerity (Bangkok Post)
• Few cheers as Ireland’s rescue ends (CNN Money)
• Irish bailout exit ‘not end of the road’ (Sky News)
• Ireland faces more austerity as bailout era ends (ABC News)
• Bailout exit does not mark end of Ireland’s financial crisis (The Guardian)

And this is the reality: In 2008, Ireland’s national debt was €79.6b, 44.2% of GDP, and €17,889 per capita. Last year, it was €192.4b, 117.4% of GDP, and €41,941 per capita. Listening to the news over the past week, it’s clear, as incredible as it might sound,  that for many many people the party is not yet over. –  “They’re partying like there’s no tomorrow. And they might be right.” (This is the End, June 2013) – There is not even a sense of wrong-doing. They still think it is alright. And it’s still official government policy to charge virtually no tax to multi-nationals in Ireland – while even their own shareholders are complaining about companies that apparently are sitting on $170b of cash.

I have had enough – not so much of bankers, builders, and politicians; failed health systems, and a lack of care for the most vulnerable in society – I got over those some time ago (and have lost ‘faith’ and hope). I have had enough of beeping machines, long hollow corridors, rubber tubes, needles, bandages, and beds you can move into any kind of direction. I am ready to see the end of this. So, as the church year comes to an end, Christmas is nigh, and 2013 is just a few weeks to go, the time has come for an end and a new beginning.

This is the end is also a song by The Doors. Jim Morrison once said that “Everytime I hear that song, it means something else to me”, and “I really don’t know. I think it’s sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be.” I want it to be the end of suffering for Pádraig, and his return to a meaningful life with his family and friends. – This week again, he will be visited by some of his friends, and they will notice how much more alert Pádraig is and how well he reacts to his friends being around him, supporting him, providing him company. This is the end, and a new beginning.

Today’s German Music Tip
Wolf Mahn, Deserteure (1983). I had completely forgotten about Deserteure – one of the most popular songs with German students during the cold war (“Die roten Flecken aug meinem Hemd sind Wein und nicht Blut”)
What’s hot
Can’t wait for the key to the apartment. Visitors. 60% discount on Hamburg Hotel.
What’s cold
Rubber tubes, beeps, band aids.
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Wir stoppen das Rad der Geschichte
Du und ich, Hand in Hand
Wir flüchten vor Fahnen und laufen über
Ins Niemandsland
– Denn wir sind Deserteure… (Wolf Mahn)