POLITICS should be the vehicle for progress, but so often political gestures become embroiled in national pride and preservation.

I suppose it is to be expected that in times of crisis and uncertainty we become territorial. There is little interest in those eurozone countries experiencing financial crisis, apart from some point scoring.

However, the concern for the majority of us is: who will pay for it all?

Whether we are pro-European or euro-sceptic, a healthy Europe is in all our best interests.

What we need is a strategy for avoiding total financial meltdown. We really are all in this together and there must be greater evidence of nations working towards common goals.

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe.