Green Party At Last Re-Discovers Some of Its Core Values as O Cuív attempts to Rekindle Social Principles of old Fianna Fáil

At last the Ireland's Green Party has finally re-discovered some of their fundamental principles and core values, by refusing last week to accept Taoiseach Brian Cowen's attempted 'stroke' of appointing new appointments after the mass ministerial resignations, & decided this week to resign from government.

So well done Gormley and co on this issue!

'Tis a pity though for the rest of us that they did not refuse the blanket bank bailout in 2008 nor vote against the loss of economic sovereignty in 2010 amongst other things.

Sad too that they never ensured, in their 3.5yrs in office, reform of local and national government reform of the civil service, reform of the financial sector, desperately needed curriculum reform and re-investment in education, support of local eco community campaigns such as the 'Stop the Headford Road through the Terryland Forest Park' in Galway City, protect the destruction of bogs across Ireland, introduce a levy on beverage bottles and cans, end party political influence in appointments to quangos & semi state/state agencies, the passage of a Climate Change bill, the abolition of corporate funding to politicians, protection of communities against cutbacks to their neighbourhoods and support groups, secure public ownership of Ireland's natural resources such as natural gas, end the Shannon stopover, protect the national heritage locality around Tara from motorway construction...

But still a positive though belated move.

Éamon O'Cuív- attempt at a return to core values of early Fianna Fáil

I am glad too that Eamon O'Cuiv has made a bid for the leadership of Fianna Fáil. Though he was part of the government that brought the country to near ruination, nevertheless I believe that he is not tainted by the 'me feinism' of the greedy self serving pro-property speculator mentality that is endemic amongst too many FF politicians. Though I disagree with many of his policies, I still think that he is an honest public servant that has a strong community and social inclusion ethos, a sense of justice and civic duty, a belief in the importance of national and cultural identity including a love of the Irish language.

'Men of No Property'

In other words, the values and beliefs that were part of the republican movement of the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and early Fianna Fáil. During these wars of liberation, many members of my family fought with the IRA, were prepared to give their lives to defend and give recognition to these principles. Ultimately they heeded the call of De Valera and followed him into Fianna Fáil. I am sure that they are now turning in their graves at how the party has gone from being the party of the downtrodden and men of no property to becoming the party of the absentee landlord and property speculators' who have the arrogance to call themselves up 'developers'.

Yet, 'tis a pity though that O Cuív became such a supporter of Cowen & did not stand up to & speak out against the other FFers who were too close to the financiers & property speculators

Holding Out For A Hero

Jennifer from "Women's Heart" who does so much for women suffering from abuse

I recently had this letter published in the Galway Advertiser:
In a time of great economic uncertainty, our younger generation more than ever before need positive role models and motivational leadership to inspire them to work towards creating a better tomorrow for themselves and for society.

Therese Carroll leading a merry band on a community clean-up in Ballinfoile Park

Thankfully there are in Galway, as elsewhere across Ireland, legions of citizens who do serve as iconic heroes to our teenagers. Every week, ordinary people living amongst us give their time and energies ‘free gratis’ to work for others in sporting clubs, neighbourhood associations, arts organisations and community support groups. From the volunteers who can be seen training children on the playing pitch in all types of weather; to the providers of food and solace for our older people living alone, through to the members of An Taisce defending our heritage from the uncaring bulldozer. There are, too, the front-line state workers in schools, hospitals, police/fire stations and local authorities who take the term ‘public servant’ at face value. Let us also not forget that our city was a shining example to the world of community volunteerism in action during the Volvo Ocean Race.

Gort's Quadrilha Festival that was organised by local Brazilan volunteers

Sadly the demise of the Celtic Tiger has exposed the unpalatable truth that there are too many villains in high office who seemed to have viewed public service as an opportunity for personal gain rather than for serving the common good. Recent revelations have robbed us of sufficient examples of selfless heroism where one would expect to find it in abundance, namely in the higher echelons of state institutions whose raison d’etre after all is ‘to serve the people’.

Sharon McHugh with community volunteers at the first 'Glan Suas Gaillimh' clean-up

Yet the forthcoming budget presents a golden opportunity for TDs of all political parties to start the process of winning back public confidence by leading by example. Politicians must first tighten their own belts before asking the citizenry to make sacrifices in the national interest.

The success of the GAA in sport & culture is due to its army of parish-based volunteers

Over the last year this has not happened as it seems that too many of those that caused our recession are being protected by an ‘old boys network’. For how else can one explain why top civil servants, bankers and directors of state agencies, who resign after being found out to be incompetent, walk away with huge taxpayer-funded ‘golden handshakes’ and life-long pensions? Or why most members of the boards of discredited banks still hold office? Or why senators from a largely meaningless institution (Seanad) still manage to earn on average €47,000 annually in expenses alone? Or why former government ministers from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour can sit as public nominees on the boards of financial institutions earning up to €100,000 in yearly fees while failing to protect the common interest? Or why An Taoiseach is one of the world’s highest paid political leaders? Or why serving TDs refuse to give up ministerial pensions that can be up to €40,000 per annum? Or why top managers of public organisations are allowed to benefit from an annual lucrative financial bonus system for doing nothing out of the ordinary?

Thousands give their time every week to help bring some sunshine into the lives of asylum-seekers

Surely savings should be made in these non-essential areas first before cutting into the coffers of front-line services?

The trojan efforts of community organisations are now threatened by government cutbacks

Of course, there are conscientious politicians locally and nationally from all political parties (and none) who work tirelessly for their constituents and who energetically investigate questionable practices and expenditures.

Environmental campaigners such as 'Friends of the Forest' have campaigned for years against built development that destroys green spaces & wildlife habitats

But they need to unite and demand a full root ‘n’ branch reform of our political system in order to secure proper democratic accountability and regain the public’s trust.

Important School festivals such as the Galway Science & Technology Festival rely on voluntary personnel for survival

Our young people need patriots to emulate amongst our present political leadership rather than only amongst the men and women of dead generations who sacrificed so much to give us a democratic republic.

Learning about our seashore and its wildlife during the annual BeachWatch

Ironically it is the heroes of local communities who have worked so hard for so little pay who now face the axe as a result of the actions of property speculators, bankers and their bedfellows that have left us with national bankruptcy and a blighted urban landscape. Ireland's National Aquarium organises a series of annual public aquatic awareness events

Hopefully our TDs will ensure that the recommended An Bord Snip’s cuts aimed at young people will not be included in the forthcoming budget. For we must not deprive our children of a future by curtailing investment in schools when it is needed to provide the foundations for the much needed ‘knowledge-based’ economy that could make us world leaders in green and high technology industries. Nor should we slash the community-support schemes in deprived neighbourhoods that are the legacy of irresponsible development and planning.

St. Patrick's Day Parade, Galway city

Likewise government must give back to our unemployed people a sense of dignity by looking at productive alternatives to the ‘soul-destroying’ dole system such as creating worthwhile Roosevelt-era ‘New Deal’ public work schemes.

August Rural Village Fair in Monivea Co. Galway

Arrogance of the Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue defies belief!

(Click on picture for larger version)

It is not surprising that John O'Donoghue and his government defenders can use in his defense that he abided by parliamentary rules thereby breaking no laws in the huge expenses that he accumulated over the last few years that was paid for by the ordinary tax-payers of Ireland.
But hasn't the ruling establishment since time immemorial written the laws to protect their own selfish interests? Morality and ethics sadly does not figure high on their agenda.
Yet even still his behaviour goes way beyond these low political standards.
For what can you say about a servant of the state that reclaimed a miserly stg£1 donation that he made to Unicef while on a visit to Scotland? Or who stayed at a 5 Star hotel and spent 65,000Euro of taxpayers monies with other TDs while attending a Conference in South Africa on Combating Poverty?!
Due solely to public anger at these unethical abuses, he has been forced to announce his resignation, the first time that this has happened to a person in such high political office since the foundation of the state?
A honourable act on his behalf? Not bleeding likely? For he has postponed his resignation until next week knowing that the Green Party at their convention over the weekend may decide to pull the plug on the government leading to the dissolving of Dail Éireann and the announcement of a general election. Clever man that John is, he knows that, as he will be still hold the office of Ceann Comhairle, he will automatically be given a seat in the next parliament hereby avoiding the anger of the people.
Selfish interest comes before civic duty.
What is the morality and sense of patriotic duty in this Green-Fianna Fáil Government. Let all true civic-minded people in both parties stand up and be counted. Demand an immediate end to politicians and top civil servants filling their pockets at our expense and a return of integrity and honesty to Irish politics.

Reform in the British Political System Should be Repeated in Ireland

The recent revelations about British MPs’ expense claims is both scandalous and heartening. Scandalous because it revealed the arrogant misuse of public funds by politicians to ostentatiously upgrade their private properties. Expenditures that included cleaning a castle moat, constructing a duck house in a garden lake and repairing water pipes under a tennis court were carried out, according to claimants, so that they could better serve their constituents!
These instances had been proceeded by media stories of ‘right honourable’ Labour members of House of Lords charging tens of thousands of pounds for submitting questions.
But the whole saga was heartening too because it represented a triumph of true investigative journalism. The British newspaper–led campaign into political greed shook Westminster to its foundations due to the resultant public outcry leading to ministerial suspensions, resignations from high political office and the first steps in the reform of parliament. It is worth noting that MPs had previously tried to scupper attempts to open up their income to scrutiny by the public i.e. those to whom they are suppose to serve. Now we know why!
The old adage that ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ has sadly proven all too true in the case of British parliamentarians of all political persuasions.

On face value it looks likely that Irish national representatives are more morally upstanding than their British counterparts due to the fact that similar stories have not and are unlikely to surface here.
But could this be because Irish TDs do not have to submit receipts for their claims? While it is true that the vast majority of politicians and government ministers that I personally know seem to be honest, hard-working often idealistic civic-minded people who use their expenses to pay for legitimate costs related to staffing and renting local constituency offices, nevertheless it is unacceptable that in a democratic country such an unmonitored financial system operates. It defies logic that these unsubstantiated annual claims can exceed over 80,000Euro annually for some national politicians. Irish parliamentarians are amongst the highest paid in the world via a combination of wages, undocumented expenses, a Dáil Éireann daily attendance fee, an annual financial bonus given to those who serve 10 years or more and an additional income of up to 20,023Euro for those chairing/co-chairing Oireachtas committees .
It was only last month that as a result of public pressure 31 current TDs from 4 political parties, who are former ministers, stopped receiving annual pensions which varied in size from 6,100 to 110,000Euro. Now they are only allowed to receive these payments (on top of their TD pensions) when they retire from politics.
Furthermore it was recently too that some TDs that were listed as teachers but who may not have had taught for decades finally gave up their sizable teaching pension rights. Yet even still, two present Ministers refuse to surrender these entitlements.
The proceedings of tribunals such as the Flood Tribunal and the jailing of Frank Dunlop provides ample evidence that certain prominent politicians, builders, landowners and developers worked together to corrupt the democratic process in this country.
Their greedy antics in cahoots with the other group in this ‘old boys network’, namely influential bankers, may have made them rich but brought the country to the brink of financial ruin. Little thought was given to long-term sustainable economic development shown by the fact that , during the Celtic Tiger epoch, only 4% of bank loans were provided towards the manufacturing sector while circa 80% were provided towards property transactions.
Even now, the government has failed to reveal the names of the infamous and immoral ‘Golden Circle of 10’ business people from the nationalised (i.e. citizens) Anglo Irish Bank.

Halla na Cathrach, Gaillimh (City Hall, Galway)

At local government level the abuse of expenses also occurs according to serving councillors. Trips overseas undertaken as part of their council remit should be listed online with a report detailing the work undertaken. Nine of our MEPs recently refused to give details of their very sizable expenses for 2008 when questioned to do so by the Irish media.
In a period of severe austerity with unemployment at record levels, such a situation cannot be allowed to continue. TDs of all political parties should now have the moral courage to come together to make strenuous efforts to implement political reform in order to regain the trust of the people and rekindle respect for the democratic institutions that our forefathers fought so hard to establish. These measures could include the regular provision of detailed documentation of their state incomes that should be overseen by an independent community-based overseers board; abolishing political quangos and agencies that duplicate the work of government departments; ensuring that promotion and bonuses for public service management is based on merit and performance; ending the over-reliance on expenses by councillors for financial remuneration with a corresponding implementation of a proper salaried wage structure; undertaking the long promised reform of local government where our political representatives have little power of note except in the area of zoning and planning which so many have abused by caving into vested interests and forgetting the national interest. It is time too to consider the abolition of the Seanad which seems to serve little purpose in modern Ireland except primarily as a home for failed or aspiring TDs as well as a reward for political kudos.