Writing an editorial about an ATM machine that failed to function is indeed shallow. Worse, a comment “about the government doing good things badly” makes it appear that it was the government’s job to make sure that the machine worked properly. In the same light, one would perhaps advise Dr Gonzi to carry a few tools with him just in case another electronic machine breaks down at some public event he would be attending.

This type of editorial really distinguishes between the “professionalism and dilettantism” some writers exhibit when newsworthy events become somewhat scarce.

The success of the adoption of the euro should not be measured by how many bank machines broke down or when, but by the successful withdrawals of millions of euros by thousands of bank clients over the initial four-day period following the adoption of the new currency and the high percentage (second in historical terms) of Maltese citizens who have already replaced the Maltese lira with euros.

A few weeks from now, or sooner, the funny story about the bank machine failure will be long forgotten while the euro will be around for untold decades to come.

Joe Martinelli

CANADA