Skip to main content

Ireland: Up The Creek Without A Paddle...

They've gone, but are we safer?...

IT's a sign of the times really. On this weekend in previous years we would have, by now, worked ourselves into a frenzy of outrage about the fact that, as the country faces its greatest challenges yet, our leaders are about to embark on the kind of summer holidays unknown outside the teaching or TV-presenting fraternity. Indeed, many of our leaders are teachers and one can only assume they took to politics because they knew it was one of the few other professions where grown adults get two or three months off simply because it is summer.

This year the outrage is muted. This year we are all half relieved that they are all heading off for a good stretch. "There, there", we think, "let them have a little holiday and see if they feel better after that." We even secretly hope that they might be different when they come back, that they might come into contact with the real world over the summer months, and that such a shock might galvanise them into doing something in the autumn. But, of course, in reality we know that won't happen.

In previous years we used to worry that the country was to be left drifting along rudderless for two or three months. Now we are more inclined to think that on the law of averages, like the stopped clock, the rudderless boat might at least go in the right direction now and then -- which would possibly be an improvement on term time, when our leaders seem to focus on steering us steadily up the creek. And let's face it, when you've been up that creek without a paddle as long as we have, the loss of a rudder is no big deal.

When you look at what they get up to when they are actually "sitting", as it is aptly known, you wouldn't be too alarmed at the idea of them not sitting. The last few weeks have been mainly taken up with breeding bitches, thwarting stag hunts, and other country pursuits. And just when it looked as if people had finally had enough of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael showed they couldn't even get rid of Enda Kenny, despite the whole country apparently being indifferent to Kenny's leadership. With the young bucks of FG having been felled, there was another couple of weeks taken up with John Gormley's preening and ego tripping. God knows what they would have been doing if they were sitting for the summer. Coming up with a regulatory framework for hopscotch? The holiday will do them good. They can meet real people for a change. "What's that you're all talking about?" John Gormley might say to the crowd in the pub, "the economy? Unemployment? Well, I never."

So let them off. And for those of us who believe that politicians should have to bear in mind that cornerstone of medical ethics: first, do no harm -- well, at least for the next few months we can be confident that they won't.

And anyway, no doubt the Germans will be keeping an eye on us.



Report by Brendan O'Connor - Sunday Independent

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland's Celtic Tiger Excesses...

'Bang twins' may never get to run a business again... POST-boom Ireland is awash with cautionary tales of Celtic Tiger excesses, as a rattle around the carcasses of fallen property developers and entrepreneurs will show. Few can compete with the so-called Bang twins for youth, glamour and tasteful extravagance. Simon and Christian Stokes, the 35-year-old identical twins behind Bang Cafe and exclusive private members club, Residence, saw their entire business go bust with debts of €9m, €3m of which is owed to the tax man. The debt may be in the ha'penny place compared with the eye-watering billions owed by some of their former customers. But their fall has been arguably steeper and more damning than some of the country's richest tycoons. Last week, further humiliation was heaped on them with revelations that even as their businesses were going under, the twins spent €146,000 of company money in 18 months on designer shopping sprees, five star holidays and sumptu

Property Tycoon's Dolce Vita Ends...

Tycoon's dolce vita ends as art seized... THE Dublin city sheriff has seized an art collection and other valuables from the Ailesbury Road home of fallen property developer Bernard McNamara. The collection will be sold to help pay his debts. The sheriff, Brendan Walsh, is believed to have moved against the property developer within the past fortnight, calling to his salubrious Dublin 4 home acting on a court order to seize anything of value from his home to reimburse his creditors. The sheriff is believed to have taken paintings from the family home along with a small number of other items. The development marks a new low for Mr McNamara, once one of Ireland's richest men but who now owes €1.5bn . The property developer and former county councillor from Clare turned the building firm founded by his father Michael into one of the biggest in Ireland. He is the highest-profile former tycoon to date to be targeted by bailiffs, signalling just how far some of Ireland's billionai

I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an