The more things change ...
We have also witnessed a political lobbyist admitting and being jailed for bribing politicians where no politician has been charged and no sanction against the ultimate beneficiary of the planning permission. Further, we have had political incumbents retiring on all sorts of grounds and the only one with very real grounds for retiring being returned to “serve”.
Now we have two very diverse political parties — one centre right and the other centre left — contemplating going into coalition together.
Fine Gael, with 36% of the popular vote just failing to achieve an overall majority of seats, should form a minority government with the tacit approval of Fianna Fáil and a few like-minded independent individuals for a period of two years to drive through the changes needed to get this country out of receivership. This is not an outlandish idea, as the last thing Fianna Fáil need in the next two years is an election.
They also need to be seen for once to do the right thing by the people if they are to avoid extinction. Some might call it karma.
Labour, with just less than 20% of the vote, should battle on in opposition and build on their solid base and keep Sinn Féin at bay and in time to come provide Ireland with a genuine alternative government. Fianna Fáil has been the de facto “Labour” party over the past years with their socialist agenda and their purchase of the unions or, should I say, ’benchmarking’.
But this will not happen because it is the right thing to do and it is in the “national interest”. The oldest serving TD will do a deal with the aging old guard of the Labour party because it might be their last turn on the merry-go-round. Plus ca change. The more things change the more they stay the same. They really don’t get it, do they?
Brian Twomey
Wandesford Quay
Cork
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