The pressure on Irish people to make it financially was one of the subjects discussed by Dr Trevor Morrow in the second annual CS Lewis lectiure delivered by him in the Mont Clare Hotel in Dublin on 24 September. The lecture, titled Money, Sex and New Technology: an Examination of Ireland's Cultural Obsessions, will also be hosted in University College Cork on Thursday, 4 October.

The former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said that many Irish people had become virtual workaholics and were sacrificing their children, their health and even their own lives for money.

According to a report by the Royal College of Surgeons, a terminally-ill patient has a better quality of life than many in managerial positions, Dr Morrow said.

"Think of the pressure on families as mums and dads weave their way through gridlock Dublin traffic to get their offspring to creches and schools before beginning a day of work in order to pay off their own debts and satisfy the companies' aspirations for 'the bottom line'."

"Is it not ironic that in the year in which we remember William Wilberforce's resistance to the economic arguments to keep slavery, we argue the pros and cons of immigration on the basis of the financial benefits to our GNP?"

"Should it not cause us some alarm that the educational curriculum at secondary and tertiary level, rather than being concerned with knowledge and wisdom in science and the humanities, is increasingly governed by our economic needs for the future?

"Time and time again, research has shown that any happiness produced by an increased standard of living is more than offset by a drop in the quality of relationships ...

"We need to critique the social implications of such rapid wealth creation and consumerism ...

"Is [wealth] to be used simply for the accumulation of more wealth or in the endless pursuit of happiness through the purchase of commodities?"

Dr Morrow highlighted three areas of action in particular which are vital for humanity:

The first is the creation of what is beautiful. "Writers, artists, musicians, film-makers, architects, painters and all who enable us to experience mystery and cause us to hear 'the rumour of angels' need to be a priority, not because they are economically beneficial but because in creativity they are giving wonder and causing us to taste life."

The second is the pursuit of justice . . . "the moral imperative to seek the right for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society."

The third is the encouragement of relationships through which our citizens learn to give and to receive. Individualism and lack of social and civic engagement correlate directly to increased wealth, he said.  (Sources: Irish Times and other)