On the day that's in it, it seems a bit churlish to have a go at our so-called leaders; but hey ho!
If we are to seriously set about building a new way of running things in this republic of ours, we need to stop doing a lot of the things which have passed for policy in the past. Prime among these outmoded ways is our politicians' annual migration to the four corners of the world for St. Patrick's Day. Why this is still going on in a world of instant global communication, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and so on, is beyond explanation. But perhaps the only feasible reason is the belief of our political class that they deserve an annual jolly at our expense and by God they're going to have it!
One picture from today is guaranteed to make any citizen's blood boil. Minister for Health, Mary Harney, is pictured in the front seat of a vintage, open-top car, waving to mystified locals at the Auckland St. Patrick's Day Parade. New Zealand is noted for its informality, but it hardly extends to a visiting dignitary venturing out in nothing but a green tee-shirt to represent this country, if this picture is to be believed. Worse still, knowing full well that nobody would have a clue who she was, the organisers, or perhaps one of the Minister's large entourage, had pasted a sign to the door of the car telling people she is "Irish Minister, Mary Harney TD."
The tackiness of this effort is probably replicated throughout the world today, as political lightweights from the Dail spend vast sums of our money making zero impression on unknowing and uncaring crowds in numerous cities. Mary Harney herself seems to need a fortnight to make absolutely no impression on the people of New Zealand, despite presiding over one of the most dysfunctional departments in the State. Why?
The St. Patrick's Day junket, where nine Cabinet Ministers and 11 Junior Ministers are traipsing around the world, is one of the most blatant leftovers from the old ways of doing things in this first republic. Perhaps there was some justification for drumming up interest in the country in the early days of the 1920s and 1930s, when the State was new and underdeveloped and we could not afford numerous agencies to market us on a full-time basis. But with 1,000 quangos sucking up public funds, allegedly on our behalf, there is no need for government ministers to be replicating these jobs.
However, the worst aspect of this junketeering by people who are already elaborately overpaid and overstaffed by us, is the message it sends out to the Irish people and those who care enough about Ireland to attend St. Patrick's Day Parades around the world. What they see is a group of selfish politicians unblushingly taking their own people for a ride. The message is being sent out loud and clear around the world that the leaders of Ireland no longer care about the welfare of the country and its people. Instead, they are demonstrating in the most blatant manner that the institutions of the Irish State exist for the personal pleasure and patronage of the people in direct control. There could be no clearer sign to the Irish diaspora that the first Irish Republic has used up the last remnants of the patriotism that brought it into being.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
George Lee
So George Lee has announced his resignation from Fine Gael and the Dáil. All this after only being elected last June in a blaze of glory. Why?
Early comments have tended to follow the line already being peddled by Fine Gael - he's a prima donna; wanted to be running things when he wasn't a wet day in the place, etc,. Perhaps this is partly true. But I think if we dig a bit deeper we will see a truth to George Lee's decision that has less to do with him and an awful lot to do with the deficiencies of our political and parliamentary system.
George Lee TD seems to have run slap-bang into the wall of irrelevance that is the lot of the modern TD. He clearly thought that, once he had been elected, he would be at the centre of policymaking in the main opposition party and would have a key role in formulating a response to the economic crisis. The fact that a senior journalist of long-standing could actually have believed this, is the real personal failing of Lee in this sorry saga.
The disgust and frustration that has driven Lee to throw in the towel after such a short time is a crystal-clear warning to the rest of us that the system is dangerously broken. That a man of his talent and enthusiasm was so badly misplaced in our national parliament speaks volumes as to the creaking culture of seniority and pettiness in our major parties. This is the same culture that sees the continuous advancement of front-bench spokesmen in the major parties who clearly haven't the first idea about the briefs on which they have been chosen to speak. Rather, they are chosen for the age-old reason that they have been around longer than anyone else, or come from an electorally tricky part of the country, so the profile needs to be 'upped' to keep the folks back home happy.
Lee fell into this quicksand of mediocrity where his own high profile, educational qualifications and insight were of no use to him whatsoever, compared to the semi-literate know-nothings who were cluttering up the benches around him.
George Lee is lucky enough to have a job in RTE to return to. This is a luxury the rest of us don't enjoy so there is no need to feel too sorry for him. But we can thank him for being our emissary from the real world who ventured into the arcane darkness of the Irish political system and returned to tell us it is no longer fit for purpose.
Early comments have tended to follow the line already being peddled by Fine Gael - he's a prima donna; wanted to be running things when he wasn't a wet day in the place, etc,. Perhaps this is partly true. But I think if we dig a bit deeper we will see a truth to George Lee's decision that has less to do with him and an awful lot to do with the deficiencies of our political and parliamentary system.
George Lee TD seems to have run slap-bang into the wall of irrelevance that is the lot of the modern TD. He clearly thought that, once he had been elected, he would be at the centre of policymaking in the main opposition party and would have a key role in formulating a response to the economic crisis. The fact that a senior journalist of long-standing could actually have believed this, is the real personal failing of Lee in this sorry saga.
The disgust and frustration that has driven Lee to throw in the towel after such a short time is a crystal-clear warning to the rest of us that the system is dangerously broken. That a man of his talent and enthusiasm was so badly misplaced in our national parliament speaks volumes as to the creaking culture of seniority and pettiness in our major parties. This is the same culture that sees the continuous advancement of front-bench spokesmen in the major parties who clearly haven't the first idea about the briefs on which they have been chosen to speak. Rather, they are chosen for the age-old reason that they have been around longer than anyone else, or come from an electorally tricky part of the country, so the profile needs to be 'upped' to keep the folks back home happy.
Lee fell into this quicksand of mediocrity where his own high profile, educational qualifications and insight were of no use to him whatsoever, compared to the semi-literate know-nothings who were cluttering up the benches around him.
George Lee is lucky enough to have a job in RTE to return to. This is a luxury the rest of us don't enjoy so there is no need to feel too sorry for him. But we can thank him for being our emissary from the real world who ventured into the arcane darkness of the Irish political system and returned to tell us it is no longer fit for purpose.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Accountability
Proposals for electoral reform are currently bobbing up in the papers and on the airwaves; some of them more sensible than others. But what seems to be missing from the general debate is any vision as to how tinkering with the system (for that is what it amounts to) will contribute to a new beginning for the Irish Republic as a whole.
Some commentators point to the political system as being the Irish Republic itself, treating with scant regard the other elements of national life of which they have little experience. Others acknowledge the interests of wider society but sincerely believe that certain changes – reducing the number of seats in the Dáil, widening the electorate of the Senate – would be enough to solve the most glaring flaws in the system.
Change to our existing system, up to and including a new Constitution, is not to be undertaken lightly, which is why when we do set out to create a second republic we’d better do it right!
Already a consensus is forming around the main elements of change that need to be achieved in the Irish system: a radical reduction in the membership of parliament; strengthening of the presidency; a radical overhaul of the proportional representation voting system to eliminate clientelism and parochialism; the possible introduction of primaries to choose candidates; major reform of local government.
All these changes are necessary and urgent. However we need to think of the framework in which politics operates, i.e., its administration. In terms of national government this is the civil and public service, while local government has many layers of bureaucracy that need to be considered.
Any political decision is only as good as its implementation. Needless to say, if political reform runs into the quicksand of bureaucratic inertia or hostility, it is as good as useless. This is why administrative failures are just as important a problem to tackle as the more obvious political failures.
Reform of the public service is a process that should be ongoing in any well-run system. But the lack of political will or direction that the current system has instilled into our politicians has allowed stagnation and a self-serving attitude to take deep root in ours.
Detailed reform of personnel and procedures has to be undertaken. But the only sure way to create a permanent change in the day-to-day running of the country is to create an overarching value system to which every public servant can adhere. This calls for a simple innovation – accountability.
If it was the case that a minister or his departmental staff knew they would be held accountable for their decisions, even to the end of their lives, there can be little doubt that the egregious mismanagement we have witnessed from previous governments would not have occurred.
No public official should feel themselves “entitled” to waste millions of euros of our money on a whim. No public servant should be able to bankroll pet projects or indulge in social engineering at the public expense without having to fear the consequences of their petty empire-building.
A second republic can be created very easily with all sorts of innovations to the body politic. The trick will be to make a durable and useful organism that grows and beds down with the Irish nation. The only sure way to achieve that is to instil responsibility into all its servants. This can only be done through constitutionally enhanced accountability, with no exceptions.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Make Them Keep Their Word
It was fascinating to watch Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, and to see Gordon Brown fielding questions from all sides calling for a referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) in British elections. What was all the more striking is how the need for change is being taken seriously by a people who have never deviated from the first-past-the-post system for their entire parliamentary history. It is quite a contrast to our own Oireachtas, where much lip-service is paid to the desirability of electoral change, but precious little effort is expended on bringing it about.
To the best of our knowledge, senior figures from all the main parties have expressed the need for change at some time during the past year. Some of them have even mused on the specific changes they would like to see, most famously, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, and his bolt-from-the-blue calling for the abolition of the Seanad.
However, now that the dust of economic collapse seems to have settled, the politicians are conspicuous by their silence. There is no more talk of political reform, instead, our politicians seem to have returned gratefully to 'business as usual'.
Kicking an undesirable demand into the long-grass is a political tactic of great antiquity. If we could go back far enough we would find Julius Caesar or Nero playing the same game. Here in Ireland, this has been brought to the level of an Olympic sport, and our leaders would surely win a gold medal. But the consequences of returning to the status quo cannot be countenanced.
If we acquiesce in the quiet strangulation by the establishment of calls for reform, we will be as guilty as those who directly profit from its demise. The constant winners since our independence in 1922 have been those who created the political system in their own image. To our cost, they are also the people who have caused economic mayhem over the years as well.
It is our contention that the multi-seat constituency, with its tendency towards localism, clientelism and parish-pump politicians, is a root cause of the political and economic failures that have punctuated the history of the Irish state. This is why we are adopting a watching brief on our politicians, to hold them to their words, and to ensure that this issue will not be allowed to disappear but will be always on the agenda.
To the best of our knowledge, senior figures from all the main parties have expressed the need for change at some time during the past year. Some of them have even mused on the specific changes they would like to see, most famously, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, and his bolt-from-the-blue calling for the abolition of the Seanad.
However, now that the dust of economic collapse seems to have settled, the politicians are conspicuous by their silence. There is no more talk of political reform, instead, our politicians seem to have returned gratefully to 'business as usual'.
Kicking an undesirable demand into the long-grass is a political tactic of great antiquity. If we could go back far enough we would find Julius Caesar or Nero playing the same game. Here in Ireland, this has been brought to the level of an Olympic sport, and our leaders would surely win a gold medal. But the consequences of returning to the status quo cannot be countenanced.
If we acquiesce in the quiet strangulation by the establishment of calls for reform, we will be as guilty as those who directly profit from its demise. The constant winners since our independence in 1922 have been those who created the political system in their own image. To our cost, they are also the people who have caused economic mayhem over the years as well.
It is our contention that the multi-seat constituency, with its tendency towards localism, clientelism and parish-pump politicians, is a root cause of the political and economic failures that have punctuated the history of the Irish state. This is why we are adopting a watching brief on our politicians, to hold them to their words, and to ensure that this issue will not be allowed to disappear but will be always on the agenda.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Old Ways Die Hard
If anyone still doubts the need for a new beginning in the way we run our affairs, they might be induced to think again by the actions of our Tanaiste, Mary Coughlan TD, and her erstwhile social partner David Begg. These two pillars of the establishment have taken doublespeak to a level George Orwell never imagined.
Writing in the national papers the other day, ICTU's Begg effectively welcomed the "death of social partnership", proclaiming that it freed the unions to be true to their own interests without being inhibited by the need to satisfy the other partners in the process.
There was no such rejoicing from the ranks of the Irish Government, where they seemingly failed to notice the demise of social partnership, not if Ms Coughlan's antics are anything to go by. Oblivious to silly concerns about fairness and transparency, Coughlan went ahead with a classic remnant of social partnership by appointing an ICTU nominee to the Labour Court because it was their turn - a procedure that had been mothballed by her predecessor as Enterprise Minister, the much-maligned Mary Harney, who went for the outlandish innovation of appointing someone on merit.
Coupled with the disgraceful exemption of the highest-paid civil servants from their fair share of the public sector pay cuts (obviously because they are the ones who work most closely on a day-to-day basis with Government ministers, thereby having the most 'pull'), the 'former' social partners are showing us that as far as they are concerned nothing has changed, and they are simply biding their time before they can once again divide the spoils of the tax take among the privileged few.
Once again, there has to be a fundamental change in the political system to ensure Ireland is run in the interests of all her people. We can not allow the return of oligarchy, despite the best efforts of the oligarchs to make it happen at our expense.
Writing in the national papers the other day, ICTU's Begg effectively welcomed the "death of social partnership", proclaiming that it freed the unions to be true to their own interests without being inhibited by the need to satisfy the other partners in the process.
There was no such rejoicing from the ranks of the Irish Government, where they seemingly failed to notice the demise of social partnership, not if Ms Coughlan's antics are anything to go by. Oblivious to silly concerns about fairness and transparency, Coughlan went ahead with a classic remnant of social partnership by appointing an ICTU nominee to the Labour Court because it was their turn - a procedure that had been mothballed by her predecessor as Enterprise Minister, the much-maligned Mary Harney, who went for the outlandish innovation of appointing someone on merit.
Coupled with the disgraceful exemption of the highest-paid civil servants from their fair share of the public sector pay cuts (obviously because they are the ones who work most closely on a day-to-day basis with Government ministers, thereby having the most 'pull'), the 'former' social partners are showing us that as far as they are concerned nothing has changed, and they are simply biding their time before they can once again divide the spoils of the tax take among the privileged few.
Once again, there has to be a fundamental change in the political system to ensure Ireland is run in the interests of all her people. We can not allow the return of oligarchy, despite the best efforts of the oligarchs to make it happen at our expense.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
What is this?
Welcome to the weblog of the movement for a Second Republic of Ireland. At the outset, we wish to make it crystal clear that this movement has nothing to do with traditional Irish republicanism as it has been understood for the last 200 years. We have no links whatsoever with any existing political party, nor do we wish any.
Since the credit crunch and the onset of the so-called 'Great Recession', there has been an ongoing re-evaluation of politics and politicians in Ireland. Faced with the exceptional challenge of steering a path through the economic carnage, our political institutions and personnel were found wanting. This was seen quite clearly in the scandals surrounding our financial institutions, local authorities and the myriad quasi-autonomous, non-governmental organisations (Quangos) that had been nurtured or created by our politicians in order to reward or control every aspect of public life in Ireland.
This overweening empire-building ensured that when the crisis came at the end of 2008 almost every public and private institution was in serious trouble, requiring the forced help of the taxpayer to survive.
Our contention in the Second Republic is that the system is the problem. Although highly-paid individuals were guilty of breathtaking negligence, it was an out-of-date and deeply flawed electoral, parliamentary and political system that facilitated the near-collapse of the Irish economy. This cannot be allowed to stand.
Every great European democracy has undergone a fundamental re-evaluation of their democratic institutions at some time in their history. In France, these movements of renewal have expressed themselves as quests for a new republic, replacing corrupt, compromised or outdated predecessors. We cannot see why the Republic of Ireland should be any different to France, which is now on its Fifth Republic.
Change should not be cosmetic. If it is, we will simply be recreating the mistakes of the past. What is needed in Ireland is root and branch reform of our institutions, based on the fundamental premise that they should do no harm to the people.
To this end, we call on anyone who cares about this country and its future to contribute to our movement, especially in ideas and energy, to bring about a new birth for Ireland, freeing us from the selfish and self-destructive policies that brought this country to the brink of disaster on at least three occasions since the foundation of the state.
We are still a young country. It is not strange that this republic should be put under the microscope to see if it is fit for purpose. It is, rather, our duty as citizens to ensure that the institutions of the state cannot be hijacked by any vested interest or political party, but will always be preserved for the good of the people. Such an undertaking cannot be left to politicians or the Oireachtas, as these are the people who will be most radically affected by any changes to the system. This is our responsibility as citizens; let's start on that journey now.
Since the credit crunch and the onset of the so-called 'Great Recession', there has been an ongoing re-evaluation of politics and politicians in Ireland. Faced with the exceptional challenge of steering a path through the economic carnage, our political institutions and personnel were found wanting. This was seen quite clearly in the scandals surrounding our financial institutions, local authorities and the myriad quasi-autonomous, non-governmental organisations (Quangos) that had been nurtured or created by our politicians in order to reward or control every aspect of public life in Ireland.
This overweening empire-building ensured that when the crisis came at the end of 2008 almost every public and private institution was in serious trouble, requiring the forced help of the taxpayer to survive.
Our contention in the Second Republic is that the system is the problem. Although highly-paid individuals were guilty of breathtaking negligence, it was an out-of-date and deeply flawed electoral, parliamentary and political system that facilitated the near-collapse of the Irish economy. This cannot be allowed to stand.
Every great European democracy has undergone a fundamental re-evaluation of their democratic institutions at some time in their history. In France, these movements of renewal have expressed themselves as quests for a new republic, replacing corrupt, compromised or outdated predecessors. We cannot see why the Republic of Ireland should be any different to France, which is now on its Fifth Republic.
Change should not be cosmetic. If it is, we will simply be recreating the mistakes of the past. What is needed in Ireland is root and branch reform of our institutions, based on the fundamental premise that they should do no harm to the people.
To this end, we call on anyone who cares about this country and its future to contribute to our movement, especially in ideas and energy, to bring about a new birth for Ireland, freeing us from the selfish and self-destructive policies that brought this country to the brink of disaster on at least three occasions since the foundation of the state.
We are still a young country. It is not strange that this republic should be put under the microscope to see if it is fit for purpose. It is, rather, our duty as citizens to ensure that the institutions of the state cannot be hijacked by any vested interest or political party, but will always be preserved for the good of the people. Such an undertaking cannot be left to politicians or the Oireachtas, as these are the people who will be most radically affected by any changes to the system. This is our responsibility as citizens; let's start on that journey now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)