Little to choose between FF and FG policies if election occurs

Even as they debate triggering a poll, Greens know power is necessary to affect climate change

WHILE MANY people in the country are panting for a general election, I can’t summon up any enthusiasm.

For a political junkie, that’s quite an admission. The only good reason for a general election is the possibility that some other combination of parties could do a better job.

Given that some two-thirds of our recession was caused by factors outside Ireland, I remain to be convinced, and that is as someone who feels that Fianna Fáil is so long in office that it has gone beyond stale to mouldy.

The antics surrounding John O’Donoghue and his expenses are a depressing indicator. You got the distinct impression that Opposition politicians felt it would be unfair to single out the Bull for something many other politicians would have done in his place.

Then Eamon Gilmore went for the jugular, but only because Sinn Féin was making the other Opposition parties look like wimps. Combined with the resignation of Tom O’Higgins, the auditor of the expenses regime for TDs and Senators, it begins to look as if far too many politicians have a highly flexible approach to expenses and perks.

Many politicians have failed to convince the public that they are any better than John O’Donoghue when it comes to a casual, spendthrift approach to public money. Sure, they all acknowledge the need to cut back, but the impression remains that in good times the sense of entitlement was not confined to high-ranking members of Fás.

Then there is the spectre of Enda as taoiseach. I keep trying to reassure myself by repetition of the mantra, “John Bruton, John Bruton”. Virtually every media commentator declared John Bruton to be devoid of leadership qualities and gravitas. But within weeks of becoming taoiseach, he had mysteriously acquired both.

However, Kenny is no John Bruton. Mind you, the late US senator Lloyd Bentsen might have demolished rival Dan Quayle in a vice-presidential debate two decades ago by declaring him to be “no Jack Kennedy”, but the Bush/Quayle ticket still got elected.

So Enda is still likely to make it as taoiseach. And the positives about Enda? Well, he united a divided party and he probably knows every Fine Gael voter by name, given that he has spent so long travelling the length and breadth of the country.

He is smart enough to know when other people are smarter on issues than he is, and therefore has given space to Richard Bruton in a way that other party leaders might not have. He is affable and personable in a way that Taoiseach Brian Cowen appears to be only in Offaly.

But what exactly does Fine Gael stand for any more? It seems to be a party whose raison d’etre is to oppose Fianna Fáil. Where are the significant differences? Of course, given the simmering fury the electorate feel towards Fianna Fáil, they may not care about policies. But they should.

It is true that under Enda Kenny, Fine Gael will purloin some of Fianna Fáil’s “family values” clothes. Enda is emphatically pro-family and anti-abortion. Yet with no major issues to focus the voters for whom such values are important, how crucial is that as a distinguishing factor?

As for the economy, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has mastered his brief. Whether or not you agree with his stance on Nama, Lenihan has been impressive in presenting a rationale for his actions. In contrast, some of Fine Gael’s suggestions have had a “back of the envelope” feel to them.

The reality is, aside from George Lee, most of Fine Gael looks as jaded as Fianna Fáil. The Lisbon campaign reminded us that on many issues, there is scarcely a hair’s breadth between the major political parties.

At the time of writing, it all hangs on the Green Party’s special convention. What a dilemma they face. On the one hand, they are only too painfully aware that difficult fiscal decisions must be made. They are also close to a carbon tax, a major plank of their policy platform. Yet, on the other hand, it is unclear whether they can stay in Government with any credibility if Fianna Fáil fails to concede enough to convince the Green membership.

Politics has always been a short-term business. No votes in posterity, as the saying goes. Yet a party like the Greens cannot afford to forget the long-term view. Despite all the information, all the dire warnings, people are more worried about their job security than they are about climate change.

A job is tangible, and measurable. Climate change is vast, scary, and there are no easy solutions. While Fine Gael and Labour make Green gestures, there are few in either party for whom it is a core conviction. Of course, the Greens could be back in another coalition, but the chances are high that being associated with Fianna Fáil would mean electoral disaster.

It is not that there has been no growth in awareness at all of the need to tackle climate change. For example, last Sunday, for the first time, there was an ecumenical Climate Change Day of Prayer. Methodists, Church of Ireland members, Catholics, Quakers and other Christians prayed for a positive outcome to the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen.

Yet none of this is enough without decisive action at governmental and international levels. No doubt, even as they debate triggering an election, the Greens are aware that staying in Government probably represents their best chance in the next decade to have a meaningful impact on climate change.

bobrien@irishtimes.com