Replying To BarneyGrant:  "You missed the point. Of course there are lots of people from other than 'privileged' backgrounds who have done well.

Despite the stifling attitude of much of the professional and financial elite which did not support the sort of indigenous enterprise that Lemass and others tried to stimulate. It was that attitude that led Lemass to turn to foreign investment.

Landlords, barristers, accountants, chartered surveyors and civil service mandarins do not create enterprise and employment. They thrive off getting a cut from those who do."

Replying To Saynothing:  "Could Mc Ilroy be handing over the green jacket to Shane Lowry come late Sunday night?"

Replying To Commodore:  "I wasn't aware that he introduced that, it was a brilliant move, he obviously had the vision to understand the potential of a highly educated Country, in terms of attracting outside investment.

The Civil Service doesn't surprise me sadly, we have a bloated admin heavy public sector with inefficiencies which are maintained by the various Unions. Ireland has a shortage of front line healthcare workers, but has an abundance of HSE offices containing admin workers.

Its not just the HSE, its the same with Revenue, DSP, ETB etc, they have created bloated admin structures and titles such as "officer", which justify paying basic admin roles anywhere from €40k - €78k for a 35 hour week and once permanent, its near impossible to lose your job. I was shocked recently when i got some insight the pay grades in some of these roles, its a huge drain on public finances, yet it never gets mentioned."

Replying To BarneyGrant:  "You missed the point. Of course there are lots of people from other than 'privileged' backgrounds who have done well.

Despite the stifling attitude of much of the professional and financial elite which did not support the sort of indigenous enterprise that Lemass and others tried to stimulate. It was that attitude that led Lemass to turn to foreign investment.

Landlords, barristers, accountants, chartered surveyors and civil service mandarins do not create enterprise and employment. They thrive off getting a cut from those who do."

Replying To cavanman47:  "Again I'll ask: what part of the 'system', as opposed to personal choice, is forcing them to do that?

And what part of the 'system' stops a working individual from upskilling via, say, an online course in the evenings/weekends?"

Replying To Commodore:  "Schemes usually have specific criteria for a target demographic etc, but we all have the same opportunities at primary and secondary education and free 3rd level options which are means tested.

I disagree with a general statement that most lads from poor families have to go out to work at 16 or 18 anyway, this is usually more to do with personal choice, like maybe because they struggled academically and had no desire to pursue 3rd level education. Most families can still claim children's allowance and other benefits while a child is living at home and not working until they are 18."