Let s begin 1997 on a positive note. This is, after all, the first issue of the year in which we will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Hot Press and so, despite the fact that we have every right to feel knackered and bollixed and fucked, having had just four days to produce the issue you are now reading, we are in a good humour. Aren t we, team? (No, we aren t. Now fuck off The Staff).
Ah yes, you can feel the evenings lengthening already. The weather is improving. (No it s not The Staff). The buds will be sprouting on the trees shortly. And after that it ll be summer. And then before we know it, it ll be Christmas again, and we ll get another opportunity to hear the wonderful seasonal music in the supermarkets. Noel, No-o-el/Noel, No-o-e-el/Born is the Ki-ing of I-Israel I can hear the children s choruses chirping already. Oh joy. Oh bliss. How wonderful it is to be alive. Isn t it, teee . . . on second thoughts, I think I d better not ask.
Fact: things could be worse. I know that s not exactly a revolutionary statement, but, hey, it isn t often that you read something you can rely on absolutely in newspapers these days, and that assertion there surely comes into this select category. Indeed if you ve been keeping abreast of the figures being released by the Department of Finance, the National Treasury Management Agency, the Central Bank and various other august bodies recently, you ll be aware that things could be a whole lot worse. The exchequer returns for the past year show tax revenues up, employment up, GNP up. They also confirm that the Exchequer Borrowing Requirement is down, as is the National Debt. Now, without getting into the boring details, these trends indicate that even operating within the tight financial discipline which is being imposed by the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty there is considerable scope for constructive budgeting on the part of the Dept. of Finance, with the aim of contributing to both the rise in productivity and the growth in employment.
Put it another way: there s a lot more money flowing into the system, as a result of the country s strong economic growth. Inevitably, there is pressure on the Government to offer tax cuts of a kind which will benefit those at the upper end of the system. It s what the PDs want. It s what Fianna Fail want. And it is what the heavy vested interests in the media seem to want too.
Against that background, it is probable that there won t be many kudos for either the Government or the Minister for Finance, Ruairi Quinn, in doing the right thing. It shouldn t deter them. A real opportunity exists, as the director of the Combat Poverty Agency Hugh Frazer pointed out in a pre-Budget statement, to begin to tackle the linked problems of poverty and unemployment. The newly-available resources should not be sucked into providing tax cuts for the rich. Instead, the Combat Poverty Agency argued, resources should be invested in a strategic way to enhance the job prospects of the unemployed and to underpin competitiveness the ultimate objective being to re-distribute existing resources in favour of the poor and to provide a springboard from welfare into work.
This, of course, is an unfashionable view to take in an era where the words dole and sponger have become inextricably linked in the degraded currency that passes for public discourse on the issue of social welfare, and where the cult of selfishness has wormed its way into a position of tawdry dominance among those who have the loudest voices. But it is, of course, eminently sane and sound. We ll be watching with interest to see if Ruairi Quinn can make even a half-decent stab at giving it substance in the Budget. Because if he does, 1997 could indeed be remembered in the long run as a very good year.
As 1977 was for Hot Press. This issue we begin to crank up for a year-long stint of celebrations, which will involve a dauntingly ambitious calendar of activities and events. Over the first couple of months, highlights will include the first visit of the Heineken Hot Press Awards to Belfast in February; the publication of the book of Liam Fay s award-winning religious journeys through Ireland, provisionally entitled Beyond Belief; and, a little later on, our collection of the late Bill Graham s writings. But if everything goes according to plan, there ll also be unique supplements, a birthday issue, other book projects, celebratory records, videos and concerts looking back over the last 20 years and the music that moved us profoundly and made us what we are, presents for our readers, competitions, special issues, promotions and a whole lot more fun and games besides.
The last 20 years have seen a transformation take place in Irish society. We are fortunate to have lived through what has in many ways been a hugely exhilarating period and, via the medium of Hot Press, to have been in a position to influence the changes as they took place. But we wouldn t have been able to do that without the support and appreciation of our loyal readers. Hopefully, what we have planned for the coming year will provide us with an opportunity to give something back to those people who have been with us all the way and to the new readers who ve come on board over the years too.
You see I told you we were in a good mood. Aren t we, team. (No, we re not. Now fuck off and finish The Message The Staff).
Ah yes. Some things never change.
Niall Stokes
Editor