Elderfield is a breath of fresh air

HE is not the messiah, but the “reform” gospel according to Matthew Elderfield, the new financial regulator, is like a drink of water in the desert to a population that has become almost immune to being lied to, waffled at, and generally abused by our political system.

Isn’t it amazing that Mr Elderfield, a clearly professional person merely doing what he is employed to do, should engender such awe?

My fear is that like all honourable people who encounter the quagmire that is corrupt Ireland, his integrity will make him a marked man for the “long grass” specialists.

I have no doubt he is a smart man, but does anyone schooled abroad ever really understand the degree to which we can break the hearts of even the most determined reformer?

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is deserving of praise for breaking with the past and appointing Patrick Honohan as Central Bank governor and Mr Elderfield as financial regulator. These decisions give us confidence that an Irish finance minister can also buck the tradition of gombeen politics and actually put the public good before corporate badness. But rather than heap praise on Mr Lenihan for doing his job, we should be demanding a better standard of minister in every department of state.

Likewise, we need to avoid falling into a pattern of excessive deference to Mr Elderfield, a behaviour resonant of a population trained in the obedient “congregation” mindset that demands blind respect for our “betters” — all too typical of old Ireland.

Mr Elderfield, as professional as he is, will not be able to slay all the bogey monsters operating in our system.

Messrs Lenihan, Honohan and Elderfield are fine people who stand out all the more against the background of a miserable rabble in government and public service management.

The coming of these “great” men will be like comets passing across the night sky unless their efforts are accompanied by cultural change in the whole of Irish society. It is up to every member of this community to look around them and ask what have they done to challenge the culture that has so undermined the country?

Declan Doyle

Lisdowney

Kilkenny