Others hailed him as a messenger of the truth. Like it or not, our new-found and hard-earned prosperity can sometimes expose a nasty side to us. All those unnecessary SUVs hogging the roads and car-parks and excruciating conversations about property are just pathetic signs of new money and not much sense.

I recently overheard a telling exchange among a group of firstyear university students squealing about questions that had come up in their summer business exams. "Omigod what about that question on the four types of unemploymentf what was that all about?" Unemployment had no resonance in these youngsters' lives. I hope it stays fine for them.

Suggestions of a wealth-related descent into a moral swamp is not new, so don't blame the ambassador. The left has been banging on about it for ages. As all the economic grievances on which they had traded for so long were removed by our booming economy, a new gripe was needed. 'But are you happy?' was the rather subversive slogan to kick off their general election campaign. The idea was to prompt a low-level guilt about our wealth. Were we not a nicer lot when we were poor?

The slogan flopped because frankly most people are, in the round, happy enough . . . certainly in better shape than when mass emigration and 15% unemployment was our lot.

It's not as if we are unaware of the changes that prosperity has brought, or the challenges we face in the new land of plenty. The recent RTE drama Prosperity laid it on thick, but we now at least have the billions needed to respond to the most vulnerable.

We have not lost our souls or the run of ourselves as a nation. Volunteerism is still very high, even in the context of pressurised lives.

We have chronic problems of drink and drug abuse, a malaise that was there long before our recent prosperity. The suicide rate of young men, which crosses all income groups, is a source of desperate national anxiety. How can we protect the emotional lives of boys and young men? What intervention will work?

There are no simple answers. But we are grappling with this terrible problem at political, community and family level in an intensive way, perhaps for the first time.

My own view is that we are not identifying emotional pain in boys early enough or in the right way. Girls, it would appear, have coping mechanisms not available to boys in adolescence. If you are a boy, you are more likely to be a school drop-out, a victim or a perpetrator of violence, a drug abuser, a prisoner, a fatality in road carnage or a victim of suicide.

It might help to have them taught by men in primary school in a way that is nurturing and brave and, well, masculine. One creative primary school principal in a disadvantaged area of Limerick told me the first time he had full attendance in his sixth class of boys was when he brought in a chef to cook a Chinese meal for them. It was interesting, relevant and fun.

Marching as we are towards a knowledge economy, with massive investment in thirdand fourth-level education, is it fair that the vocational sector has become the Cinderella in the whole system? Not all our kids can be scientists, engineers or lawyers or high academic achievers. The Leaving Cert is a tunnel of pain for many youngsters and their parents. One size does not fit or nurture all.

We need to accept this and create a dignified educational space for children struggling to fit into a system which is failing them in their personal growth.

How ironic that in the same week as a pony club was closed down by the authorities in a disadvantaged area, more juvenile diversion programmes were announced by government. Over 10 years ago, I visited Mountjoy as part of a delegation. I saw a young prisoner lying on a cell floor, wrapped only in a blanket and crying like a baby.

When I enquired about him, I was told he was an addict in solitary for his own protection. But as a TD, I was ashamed; the boy needed a hug.

More therapeutic rehabilitation is the only way to respond to these lost boys. And there are signs of moves to modernise and, I hope, humanise the way we deal with young offenders rather than just detain and brutalise them.

So, rather than beat ourselves up with guilt about our prosperity, the focus should be on action to address critical challenges.

Our wealth is new and there will be some who lose the plot. But in general, we are a compassionate and intelligent people with strong community and humanitarian values.

We are famously generous in our personal contribution to good causes at home and abroad; Ireland is ranked in the top seven countries as a donor of aid to the poorest countries of the world.

In three consecutive elections, voters have endorsed liberal economic policy with strong social supports funded by increased tax revenues. Most people now see that the best poverty beater is a job, that profit is not a dirty word and that our national wealth can deliver social justice and a better quality of life for all of us. Let's get on with it.