No golden age in Irish politics

Opinion pieces about reforming or abolishing the Seanad imply that the politicians of today are not of the calibre of those of the past, and that the Seanad can nurture a new generation of better politicians.

It’s fair to argue about the Seanad’s usefulness, and valid to be contemptuous of the Taoiseach’s record in the decades since he was first elected — his only achievement seems to have been claiming expenses and ensuring the grass got cut on the bye roads around Castlebar.

But when was this golden age of parliamentary giants?

Grattan’s parliament was elected from rotten boroughs and all it took was a few peerages for its members to sell the soul of their nation.

Since independence, the only thing that prevented us imploding was that anyone with any get-up-and-go got up and went to other countries, removing pressure to reform the country.

Then we got a lifeline from EU credit that sustained us for a few decades, while we turned a blind eye to the squalor of our governance and turned on anyone, especially Irish, who dared point it out to us.

Previous generations facilitated and accepted the ethos of jobbery, and the institutional scale abuse of children and the vulnerable.

It was an alcoholic, violent culture, and still strong enough this week that the nuns stuck two fingers up to the victims of their abuse, knowing the Government would do nothing about it.

If we are to debate what we want Ireland to be, and whether or not we need a second chamber, we must stop the delusion that there was a previous, golden age of good governance. There never was.

The evidence, since 1922, shows that we are incapable of running our own affairs for the benefit of all citizens, and especially incapable of doing so for the benefit of the most vulnerable.

But there is hope for the future and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

For example, Sweden’s FOI Act of 1766 ! guarantees unimpeded access to all activities pursued by the government and local authorities — you can almost hear Irish officials break into a sweat at the thought.

Also, their constitution grants the right to inform, meaning that most types of secret information can be passed on to the media without risk of criminal charges, and any attempt to investigate the informer’s identity is a criminal offence.

Yet in Ireland, the type of default response we have, in government, is to investigate who leaked the ‘Anglo tapes’, instead of targeting those who destroyed our economy.

It’s probably too much to hope that we’d ever be mature and honest enough to cope with a system like that in Ireland.

But, maybe, in time, those generations still to come might get a system of governance in Ireland, at political, business and professional level, whereby decisions, even the wrong ones, will at least be based on sound judgement and not just on the needs of the golden circle who fund the political parties and have quick and direct access to policymakers, with no transparency or accountability.

Oh, look, is that a pig I see flying past?

Desmond FitzGerald

Canary Wharf

London