ProfessorPwn
05-01-2010, 09:19 AM
Business as usual then......
Last June, Pat “the Cope” Gallagher and Alan Kelly were elected to the European Parliament. Their successes created vacancies in the Dail and Seanad respectively. More than six months later, Mr Kelly’s position has been filled by a by-election in which only TDs and senators could vote. The winner was Niall Ó Brolcháin, a Green party nominee, following an agreement between his party and Fianna Fail, the coalition government partners.
Mr Gallagher’s position in the Dail, however, remains vacant. Indeed there is no prospect of a by-election in the Donegal South West constituency, which will have to make do with two TDs. Why? Because Brian Cowen, the taoiseach, dares not go to the polls in Donegal. Almost certainly, a by-election would be won by Sinn Fein, further reducing the government’s Dail majority. So because the people of Donegal South West are likely to give the “wrong” answer, they simply will not be asked the question at all. The only way this could change is if an opinion poll indicated that Fianna Fail’s fortunes are recovering and the party could retain Mr Gallagher’s seat.
The government’s refusal to hold a byelection in Donegal is typical of the cynicism with which all Irish political parties treat the democratic system when it suits them. Other examples abound. Today, for example, we reveal that John Gormley, the Green party leader, has appointed two of his party members to a state board, where they will earn approximately €25,000 each in fees and expenses. Both were failed candidates in last summer’s local elections. Both are members of a party which, until it attained power in 2007, lectured opponents about “cronyism”.
Fianna Fail, of course, has never made any secret about its intentions when it comes to the political process. Mr Cowen openly admitted that his recent appointment of Paschal Mooney to the Seanad was a reward for loyalty and hard work during the European elections. Mr Mooney was rejected by the electorate last summer. That, apparently, is a help rather than a handicap in becoming a member of the state’s Upper House.
Why does any of this matter? Simply because the aggregation of all these “strokes” has engendered a deep and weary cynicism in many Irish people about the political process. An Oireachtas which has vastly too many members for such a small country, and which costs vastly more than it should, always seems more preoccupied with furthering its own interests than with taking complex and courageous decisions on behalf of the citizenry.
Ever since the recession bit in late 2007, the lack of a national spirit in Ireland has been painfully noticeable. There has never been a sense of us all being in this together. No group or sector has volunteered any sacrifice whatsoever. Only a tiny number of individuals have put their hands up and said, “I could take a little pain in the national interest”. Instead, each sector furiously guards its patch and declares “not a cent”.
The government, but also the political establishment generally, must bear most of the responsibility for this lack of civic mindedness. It is a direct descendant of cynicism and weariness with a selfish and at least semicorrupt political system.
If Irish people thought that the country was being run fairly, and that decisions were being genuinely taken in the national interest rather than purely in the self-interest of ministers and political parties, they might sign up as equal partners in the great programme of national self-sacrifice that still lies ahead.
http://www.timesonline.co.u k/tol/news/world/ireland/article6973882.ece
Last June, Pat “the Cope” Gallagher and Alan Kelly were elected to the European Parliament. Their successes created vacancies in the Dail and Seanad respectively. More than six months later, Mr Kelly’s position has been filled by a by-election in which only TDs and senators could vote. The winner was Niall Ó Brolcháin, a Green party nominee, following an agreement between his party and Fianna Fail, the coalition government partners.
Mr Gallagher’s position in the Dail, however, remains vacant. Indeed there is no prospect of a by-election in the Donegal South West constituency, which will have to make do with two TDs. Why? Because Brian Cowen, the taoiseach, dares not go to the polls in Donegal. Almost certainly, a by-election would be won by Sinn Fein, further reducing the government’s Dail majority. So because the people of Donegal South West are likely to give the “wrong” answer, they simply will not be asked the question at all. The only way this could change is if an opinion poll indicated that Fianna Fail’s fortunes are recovering and the party could retain Mr Gallagher’s seat.
The government’s refusal to hold a byelection in Donegal is typical of the cynicism with which all Irish political parties treat the democratic system when it suits them. Other examples abound. Today, for example, we reveal that John Gormley, the Green party leader, has appointed two of his party members to a state board, where they will earn approximately €25,000 each in fees and expenses. Both were failed candidates in last summer’s local elections. Both are members of a party which, until it attained power in 2007, lectured opponents about “cronyism”.
Fianna Fail, of course, has never made any secret about its intentions when it comes to the political process. Mr Cowen openly admitted that his recent appointment of Paschal Mooney to the Seanad was a reward for loyalty and hard work during the European elections. Mr Mooney was rejected by the electorate last summer. That, apparently, is a help rather than a handicap in becoming a member of the state’s Upper House.
Why does any of this matter? Simply because the aggregation of all these “strokes” has engendered a deep and weary cynicism in many Irish people about the political process. An Oireachtas which has vastly too many members for such a small country, and which costs vastly more than it should, always seems more preoccupied with furthering its own interests than with taking complex and courageous decisions on behalf of the citizenry.
Ever since the recession bit in late 2007, the lack of a national spirit in Ireland has been painfully noticeable. There has never been a sense of us all being in this together. No group or sector has volunteered any sacrifice whatsoever. Only a tiny number of individuals have put their hands up and said, “I could take a little pain in the national interest”. Instead, each sector furiously guards its patch and declares “not a cent”.
The government, but also the political establishment generally, must bear most of the responsibility for this lack of civic mindedness. It is a direct descendant of cynicism and weariness with a selfish and at least semicorrupt political system.
If Irish people thought that the country was being run fairly, and that decisions were being genuinely taken in the national interest rather than purely in the self-interest of ministers and political parties, they might sign up as equal partners in the great programme of national self-sacrifice that still lies ahead.
http://www.timesonline.co.u k/tol/news/world/ireland/article6973882.ece