The Dáil resumes - Sad day that will foster real cynicism

HEAVY indeed is the head that wears the crown, especially when there is such turmoil, discontent and growing unemployment across the land. Especially as there was an expectation that the resumption of our parliamentary process, the public part of it anyway, might afford politicians an opportunity to indicate how they intend to confront the issues challenging us all.

Especially as it was an opportunity to express understanding of the depth of concern felt by people worried about the near-collapse of the market economy, job security in the face of daily closures, devalued savings por investments, wilting business prospects, pillaged pensions, negative equity, inflation, the price of oil, the prospect of emigration or even, God forbid, Lisbon.

After an 11-week recess the Dáil has resumed and, sadly, our two main parties treated the institution with something approaching Romanov disdain.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was only available for the first act as he has to be in New York today where he will join other world leaders at the UN to reaffirm commitments to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Ireland’s commitment to this project is significant. Last year our overseas development budget was €813 million, though Peter Power, the relevant minister, has warned that figure may be cut.

Confronting world poverty is important work and that great cause might not have been hindered by the absence, on this one occasion, of Mr Cowen. He should have been in the Dáil and there should have been a debate, an adult, constructive and positive exchange of ideas and views about what needs to be done to steady the ship. If the Taoiseach’s presence in New York is so vital, then the Dáil should have resumed a date that would have facilitated that.

If there is an excuse for Mr Cowen’s absence it is the possibility it afforded of avoiding the Punch-and-Judy knockabout laid on by Fine Gael. That party’s refusal to honour the accepted pairing arrangements was more about headline grabbing — successful for all the wrong reasons — rather than constructive politics.

Its stand, if that is not an overly grand description of its tomfoolery, makes no difference to any Dáil vote, all of which the Government and its supporters will win with ease. It makes no difference to what we can do to stimulate economic recovery either.

If Mr Kenny and his party had anything more than stage-managed silliness to offer they should have shared it with us rather than confirming once again that George Hook was right to call them “losers”. This is doubly frustrating as their finance spokesman Richard Bruton has shown time and time again that he can make very valuable contributions to these debates.

Next year there will be local and European elections and there is a very real prospect of secretive, almost sinister forces winning some seats. If they do, then the usual grandfatherly, security-blanket codgers will be rolled out to face the cameras and in their soothing voices explain away how it all happened. It will happen because of days like yesterday, which demean and undermine our democracy. If they were errant teenagers you’d give them a clip around the ear — metaphorically of course — and tell them to grow up, or in Munster rugby parlance, “man up”.

Next month’s budget is just one part of the response needed to confront our economic situation and the early indications are that our politicians, who for so long denied there was any problem at all, have yet to understand how threatened and worried so many of us feel. Let us hope they do before much longer.