People’s will is not being observed

The Taoiseach says it reflects the will of the people to have a government majority on the banking inquiry.

In 2011, 2.2 million out of a possible 3.2 million people voted in the general election. Just over 50% of those who voted opted for Fine Gael and Labour. That is 33% of the total adult population. Of that 33%, a significant number voted for the current government simply to punish the last. Yet this is somehow the majority of the population!

That is democracy. A citizen gets a voice only every five years. From then on, anything can be undertaken by those elected under the protection and assurance of this ‘democratic mandate’ from the people.

Yet we claim we are a republic. A true republic puts the individual first. Nothing is higher than the man, woman or child. If those people honour the rule of law of harming no other nor violating their property, then balance pervades society. The State is then present purely to serve the people as it administers central infrastructure or social services. A politician does not aspire for power in a true republic. They long to serve the people. That is a significant difference to what we have.

We have a democratic state. It claims the support of the majority and ignores the rights of the individual. It abhors the man, woman and child on the land. It sees itself as above everything and attracts those who lust for power over anything else.

It is obvious then how the State can introduce taxes abhorrent to the sensibilities of the people. They ignore the individual. They assume they are smarter, more insightful and understand the issues better than anybody because of their ‘mandate’.

When they send somebody out to cut the toys, cards, teddy bears and dolls from the gates of the Dáil that honoured and remembered those who were brutalised under the jurisdiction of this democratic state, then we have reached new lows.

But hey, the silent majority still gives you a mandate, right, Taoiseach?

Barry Fitzgerald

Lissarda

Cork