Social contract envisages an agreement between people to form a society, as the alternative would be too terrible to contemplate. The process is entirely consensual. The authority of government is derived from the consent of the people in return for a guarantee which seeks to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

When government fails in this duty it has broken the contract and in extreme circumstances may be deemed to be at war with the people. At this point the contract fails, mutual obligations end and the right to resist government authority is no longer in dispute. At what point in our history did the Irish people assume the status of servile drones subjugated to the cynical dictates of a group of mid-Ireland mediocrities masquerading as political leaders?

Is the west awake yet?

Gerry Walker,

Tinahely,

Co Wicklow.