Presidential race - Integrity of politics under threat

LAST February’s evisceration of Fianna Fáil at the polls was a direct response to their championing of the Hollywood slogan that greed is good, to their lazy, self-serving conservatism and to their habit of borrowing money to buy support that beggared the country.

However, that unprecedented vote was an indictment of our entire political system too. Such an absolute rejection expressed the outrage felt by an electorate traditionally content to suffer in silence and vote along tribal lines. The vote was a judgment on a system that facilitated greater division between rich and poor, the protection of privilege and the type of soft corruption epitomised unvouched expenses for politicians.

It was a rejection of a political class that presided over failed regulatory authorities and a system that has yet to show it is prepared to tackle white-collar — or clerical — crime in any meaningful way. The electorate voted for great change, and may do so again. Not only has our Government got to rebuild the economy, our self-respect and our international image, it has to restore our faith in the business of politics. It has to show that politics is more than a process that embeds privilege and indulges vanity. The scale of this challenge can not be underestimated.