HEART BEAT:Internal strife diverts attention from villains of the piece, writes MAURICE NELIGAN
WHEN HAROLD Wilson was informed of a conspiracy against his leadership of the British Labour Party in 1969, he said, “I know what is going on. I am going on.” Shakespeare’s Henry IV said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” The Duke of Wellington, who one might suspect was not deeply imbued with the principles of democracy, said of his first cabinet meeting, “An extraordinary affair, I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them.”
Leading is never easy, and many in that position would at times see great merit in autocratic rather than democratic principles. The trouble is that from time to time those being led grow restless and begin to question the authority, competence, wisdom and whatever qualities they deem important at the time, of those in the “enviable” position of leading the pack. In Irish political terms, this is referred to elegantly as a “heave” and, for the population at large, has all the fascination of a blood sport. It leaves stag hunting, fox hunting and coursing far behind as attractions.
This diverting sideshow, however, simply should not have happened. Would it be too much to ask that the Fine Gael politicians involved settle down and bury the hatchet, preferably not in one another, and get on with the task of marking and bringing the Government to account? Every single day, every step of the way, these people must be questioned and pressed for accountability. Internecine strife among those in Opposition renders this vital function more difficult.
It is hard to see any credible government being formed after our next election other than a coalition between Fine Gael and Labour. Whoever inherits the chalice that their predecessors have well and truly poisoned is going to need a stable majority to implement what needs to be done. It will not be a time for posturing or impossible ideological demands, nor will it be a time for cobbling together a shaky coalition where those with a tiny mandate can essentially dictate the course government takes. We have had enough of that.
The coalition across the water found, as new governments often do, that the cupboard was even barer than they had been led to believe. The phrase "the fundamentals of the economy are sound" should always be taken cum grano salis. Those elected next time are not going to attain office on the grounds of promises. Discussion is going to be about the cut of the hairshirt. Whether Enda Kenny or Eamon Gilmore is taoiseach depends on how the votes are cast on the day.
Meanwhile, there are a diversity of politicians, bankers, developers, auditors and others who are blameworthy for their role in this national calamity and they must be held to account. We have 450,000 unemployed and the emigrant ships are afloat once more. Thousands have lost their money and their pensions. Their homes are worth a fraction of what they paid for them. Our health, education and social services are in freefall. The €22 billion required, we were told, to prop up Anglo Irish Bank, turns out to have been no support at all and the money is gone with no chance of recovery.
The ordinary people are left bearing the burdens of this gross systems failure while those responsible continue as if nothing untoward had happened and there should be no consequences for themselves. We are told that there is only a small group of people who are qualified to hold directorships, often multiple, in banking and major industry including semi-State companies. Some genetic genius beyond the common masses, it is inferred, is possessed by this group. God forbid that “golden circles”, nepotism and naked political partisanship play any part.
The possibility that incestuous inbreeding can often stunt the growth of organisms seems never to have impacted here, even when it became apparent that many of these same names had been associated with egregious failure in their institutions. The assertion is, of course, nonsense.
There are many accountants, lawyers, businessmen and citizens with common sense, who are just as qualified as the anointed group. They unfortunately lack that indefinable and deniable Irish attribute – pull.
Get to it Enda and Eamon, there’s work to be done.
mneligan@irishtimes.com