All processes need change

The end of the beginning.

That’s where we are now. If any senator, deputy or minister feels that we can move on from the referendum and return to an unchanged Leinster House, they are sadly mistaken.

Friday’s vote was more than a defeat of the crude abolition proposal. It was a strong signal that a broken politics, both in the Dáil and the Seanad, must be changed and not in some far away space after the next election. The change must start now.

The ‘Scrap the Seanad’ campaign was an appeal to the voters’ pockets, not a challenge to their intelligence or ambitions. Everybody knows it was an idea generated to win Dáil seats — it was never about reforming politics.

But now the public has said ‘no thanks’ to this political stunt, so we must listen to what was said on the few doorsteps which were canvassed, the callers to TV and radio shows, the letter writers, and the social media participants.

They gave a resounding thumbs-up to Seanad reform, to full public involvement in Seanad elections, and to a stronger role in the policy-making and scrutiny powers of the second chamber.

It is now neither logical nor possible for Enda Kenny to maintain his line that a no vote would mean no reform. He should accept the overwhelming call for an urgent overhaul of the upper house.

That debate must start now and decisions must be made well in advance of the next election. Already, the Seanad has passed two reform bills, which must now get further consideration. Indeed, my own colleagues in the Reform Alliance took the decision a fortnight ago to place Dáil and Seanad motions requesting that, in the event of a no vote, an all-inclusive Oireachtas committee would examine and propose a real Seanad reform no later than Feb 2014.

There may be a giddy air of relief and some settled political scores when senators return to Leinster House on Tuesday, but while we were definitely the pawns of a bigger political chess game, we must now lead the charge for a reformed and better chamber. We have been given a second chance. We must use it to prove our relevance and worth.

But it is not just about the senate. Our entire political process needs a massive shake-up. Real local government reform must give our councilors real power and responsibility. The overwhelming control of the Dáil by government must be balanced to give a genuine, not a rubber-stamped, role to Dáil deputies. Greater independence of thought, speech, and votes must be facilitated by reduced use of the political whip.

But it’s not all about politicians. We must — perhaps through a new electoral system — encourage the public to vote at general election time for national, not local, solutions.

A Dáil full of deputies looking over their shoulders at their local councillor is not equipped to provide the ideas and solutions for todays problems.

In addition, a permanent electoral commission must examine means of facilitating and increasing voter turn-out. Nobody can be happy with an election where 60% see no reason to participate.

Our way of doing politics over the past 70 years has resulted in today’s mass emigration, huge unemployment, broken banks, and massive debt. If we continue doing things as we’ve always done, we will get the same results. That is not an adequate ambition for Ireland.

Friday’s Seanad vote can help herald the birth of a genuine, new politics.

* Paul Bradford is a senator