Parliament silenced for summer: Summertime, and the livin’ is easy

POLITICIAN after politician, in response to the latest difficulty befalling the gardaí, has spoken about the need for reform, for a new culture, for a new way of doing things. 

Every discussion on our dysfunctional health service runs along the same lines. All would be well if only we could embrace — never impose — change.

Reform is held up as the great elixir, the precious lubricant for recovery, the catalyst for excellence. Yet, at the very first opportunity to show that our parliamentary system is at last marching to a more contemporary drum our parliament trips over itself to show how deeply ingrained the principles of another time, another world, remain.