Improving people's welfare cannot be achieved without political action, writes MICHAEL O'HALLORAN
TWO POLITICAL events were the cause of my lifelong political involvement – the 1948 general election when I was 12 years of age and persuaded by my father to spend the election day outside a polling station, giving out leaflets on behalf of a Labour candidate.
The buzz and excitement of that day has stayed with me over the years. The outcome of this election was considered historic as it led to the first inter-party government.
The second event which influenced me was two elections in 1959 in which I cast my first vote.
One was a presidential election where Éamon de Valera was contesting the presidency. The other candidate was Seán McKeon, a veteran and hero of the War of Independence.
The second 1959 election was a referendum which had been introduced by Fianna Fáil to abolish the proportional representation (PR) system. The fear among many people was that the abolition of PR would lead to a one-party government in Ireland for the remainder of our existence and this was not considered to be in the best interests of democracy.
Also, of course, it would mean the possible abolition of the Labour Party.
The outcome of these two elections were that de Valera was elected president but the referendum was defeated.
I remember the event that really impressed me on that occasion was the final rally by Fianna Fáil outside the Bank of Ireland at Trinity College at which I was in the audience.
Seán MacEntee, with a reputation as a great political speaker, was outlining the virtues of why one should vote for de Valera.
A large section of the crowd kept shouting “Yes to de Valera but no to the referendum” and MacEntee shouted into the microphone “I hate abominable no-men”. He silenced the no-men.
I came to realise as a very young person, particularly when I went to work and became involved in the trade union movement, the importance of politics in a democracy, not only to maintain a democracy and to give people a say in their government, but the recognition that nothing could be achieved in the areas of the welfare of people without political action.
In recent years the general public and media have lost a lot of confidence, if not in the political system, certainly in politicians and this is unfortunate.
Politics still remains important in Ireland and there is a need for a debate as to what we see is the future of politics. One reads and hears pronouncements from politicians from time about possible reforms and what one hears is anything but reform.
The abolition of the Seanad would not be a reform, it would just simply be a money saving exercise and would, in my view, weaken democracy.
What is needed is reform of the Seanad to ensure it fulfils the functions intended for it when it was being founded.
The reduction in the number of Dáil seats would again be a money saving device that would not necessarily improve democracy.
The issue is to make the Dáil more meaningful in the lives of those who are elected to it, to give them a greater say in the making of laws and their implementation.
Social partnership has made a great contribution to the development of democracy. While the social partners did not make laws, they helped to bring to the table the concerns of their constituents and often these concerns were of the poorest people in Ireland who have a very limited voice in politics.
That form of civic involvement provided a new vision of involvement in politics which had been missing in the early days of the State.
Democracy is still in its infancy and needs to be further developed. One place crying out for democratisation is the workplace.
The concept of industrial democracy was introduced in the 1970s in Ireland in a very limited form in State companies. Governments have been unable or unwilling to consider its extension to the private sector.
This type of involvement would have strengthened democracy and the argument often used against it was that multinational companies would not invest in Ireland if there was a system of industrial democracy.
This is not a sustainable argument when one considers the sophistication of German industry where after the war co-determination, a form of industrial democracy with works councils, was introduced.
Developing co-operation in the workplace, finding solutions to problems, helping an enterprise to grow and develop not in the interests of owners but also of workers requires new initiatives such as industrial democracy.
We must keep our faith in politics, demand a higher calibre of representative.
Unfair criticism or cynicism about politics can only weaken and threaten democracy and we all have a responsibility in this regard.
Michael O’Halloran is former chief executive of the Irish Senior Citizen Parliament, a voluntary representative non-political organisation that seeks to promote the views of older people in policy development and decision-making