Proven person needed for Presidency

VERY soon we will know who the candidates for the office of Presidency will be, and just as soon as they are known, they will be interviewed ad nauseum about their credentials, what they can bring to the office, what they propose to do for the term, and why they want the job.

They will all give meaningless cliched responses about the Presidency being above politics, about relating to the voiceless, about opening up the Aras to all the citizens, about building bridges, and about being ambassadors for the country.

All very fine and laudable but of absolute no relevance to the Ireland of 2011.

We are on the edge of an economic abyss. We have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. All European eyes are on us and every decision we, as a people make, will be deeply scrutinised.

In many European countries the office of president is political and indeed connected with government. Accordingly, our election of the President in 2011 will arouse global interest, not seen heretofore. Therefore it is critical that we elect a person of proven stature, who has a deep understanding of economics, both national and global, and who has a detailed knowledge of the minutiae of our current predicament, and who can demonstrate this expertise to our European neighbours and gain their respect in so doing.

A precedent has been set by Mary McAleese when she defended our 12.5% corporation tax at a recent speech in Holland, and it did not seem that she had crossed the political line. In fact her speech was deemed to be very helpful to our national cause.

We need someone who can enhance our government’s position without interfering in it, someone who has experience of engaging with heads of state and economic ministers, and an ambassador for the government, in which they have faith.

Such a person is vital for the future well-being of our country.

There may be a place in the Aras at a future date for poets, dreamers and academics, but now is not that time.

Joe Kennelly

Inniscarra

Co Cork