Irish Examiner view: Engage with politics or face an ugly tomorrow

There are far too many reasons to shrug off the idea that we get the politicians and hence the politics and outcomes we deserve

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the united EU approach to COVID-19 vaccinations at the European Parliament in Brussels onWednesday, February 10. Picture: Johanna Geron/AP

It is not difficult to be disinterested in how politics work or don't work right across the Western world. There are far too many reasons, or excuses, to disengage, to shrug off the idea that we get the politicians and hence the politics and outcomes we deserve. 

That disdain is not without some justification but it has a cost, one that manifests itself in many disheartening ways. That not-for-me choice has many fathers and in recent weeks and months, they were all too plain to see.

Days ago, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke to the European Parliament and tried to explain the border blunder and why the EU is so slow at delivering Covid-19 vaccines. 

At the other end of the spectrum, there was another Sinn Féin funeral that again showed particular disdain for Covid-19 restrictions even though the person being so honoured died of Covid-19 related issues. 

Both of these events had an impact in their own particular bubble but the reactions outside of those bubbles were probably very different from the expectations of the EC, von der Leyen or Sinn Féin. 

They may even have encouraged scepticism rather than win new support.

The ways different expectations shape political posturing was highlighted it the Dáil this week when Labour TD Duncan Smith attacked Kerry's Healy-Rae brothers for "putting on a political costume" to appear working-class. 

TDs Michael Healy-Rae and Danny Healy-Rae: the Kilgarvan brothers were described as "sons of Fianna Fáil privilege". Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Kilgarvan brothers were described as "sons of Fianna Fáil privilege" after Michael Healy-Rae said that the Labour Party was "lost" and "does not understand work and business". 

The second of those accusations could never be levelled against the Healy-Raes as they epitomise transactional politics, politics that can often seem an extension of business.  Were the brothers representatives of Kansas rather than Kerry they might be described as pork-barrel politicians. 

Though the Labour Party, for far too long a captive of public sector unions, is not without its own challenges, Mr Smith's accusation has more than a ring of truth about it. 

Whether it will cut deeply enough to end the tribalism behind the Healy-Rae dynasty remains to be seen but it is obvious that the joke, if that is what it was, has worn a bit thin maybe even for the people who "have  their dinner in the middle of the day".

This local spat is real and important, especially as there is a current and sobering example of what happens when tribalism and transactional politics become the dominant forces in any democracy. 

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump has heard details of what went on before and during the January 6 assault on the US Capitol building that showed how vulnerable a system imagined secure can be when it is attacked from the inside. 

The evidence is so damming, so clear cut that a particular, once-in-a-lifetime onus falls on those Republicans in a position to defend Trump or American democracy.

That dilemma has led to dozens of former Republican officials who recognise that the GOP is unwilling to stand up to Trump to open talks around establishing a centre-right breakaway party. 

They have seen the consequences of disengagement and realise it is not a viable option. We should absorb and act on the lessons this sorry sage offers.