Women of principle forced out by their parties are more trustworthy

I’m thinking about parties, but not Christmas parties. Our thoughts now are about family and the new year, but, more than ever, there is something lurking in the background. It’s to do with stabilitiy and fairness.

Christmas is associated with goodwill and generosity and compassion, but we need these traits all year round.

When we no longer trust, peace of mind is hugely coveted.

So my thoughts turn to political parties.

Róisín Shortall was in the Labour Party, but she stood up for what she believed was right.

The system could not accommodate her, once the leadership of her party refused to support what she believed to be a shortcoming in how decisions were being made.

Her party, wrongly as it has turned out, believed its future lay in turning its back on her.

Much has happened since to discredit the Labour Party, if political polls are a reflection of voter intentions.

Shortly after her appointment as junior minister, Fine Gael’s Lucinda Creighton spoke with Pat Kenny, when he was still with RTÉ.

She expressed a great determination and confidence about her work in Europe.

However, she fell afoul of her party, regarding a piece of legislation that she could not approve of morally. She, too, was cast out.

Two very different women spoke up for what they considered to be right and both lost their party support.

Both are TDs, but outside the party with which they were elected.

Maria Cahill grew up in a political and social system very different from what voters in the Republic know.

She spoke out about personal abuse in childhood and has been cast outside the system to which she once belonged.

What all three women have in common, it would appear, is a sense of expectation of a greater standard, and a hope that making a stand will bring about change.

As a voter, would I approach those persons of principle, rather than the ‘yes’ crowd who make up the vast majority of Dáil membership?

A party that is open to learning and to changing is far more attractive, now, to voters, who are all too aware of party shortcomings, but want stable government and, above all, a listening ear and a sense of someone overseeing fairness.

Caitríona McClean

Weston Ave,

Lucan

Co Dublin