Madam, – It is great to see that The Irish Timesis reporting on the beginnings of four new political parties and facilitating open debate on the issue. (Home News/Letters, July 14th). Leo Armstrong, who is spearheading one of them, has written two letters which broadly express the frustration felt by the bulk of the electorate, but which lack even principles or values that can differentiate his party from any other (July 15th). Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI) also plans to register as a political party. As Harry McGee reported (Home News, July 14th), the "main platform" of Direct Democracy Ireland is "to allow citizens to petition for a referendum to allow Government decisions be negated." This means that citizens can form an initiative, with a certain number of signatures, for a referendum that could reverse certain ministerial decisions, such as the closing of a hospital, or legislation such as Nama.
DDI “also wants mechanisms introduced to grant the electorate the power to sack TDs and Senators who are not performing satisfactorily”. In other words, a recall mechanism would be inserted into the Constitution, giving the grounds for recalling elected representatives if they breach their duties in a specified way.
These mechanisms or initiatives, referendum and recall are features of other governments around the world which operate on a direct democracy basis. The basic premise is to give a certain amount of power back to the people, in ways that act as checks and balances on their elected representatives.
For me, the principles of direct democracy are attractive because they fit in so well with the principles of sustainable development, which are based on public participation and transparency in decision-making, access to information and access to justice. Independent expert advice and publication of cost/benefit analysis are mandatory features of sustainable decision-making; a far cry from what we have witnessed with Nama and Anglo Irish Bank.
The three pillars of sustainable development: social, environmental and economic, are balanced to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The Planning Act, along with every county development plan, is riddled with the term “sustainable development”, to meet EU law requirements, but Ireland’s development has been the definition of unsustainable. That will only change with a complete change in how we run our democracy.
For those citizens who would like to build a society on the solid principles and values of direct democracy and sustainable development, our next public meeting will be held in the Aisling Hotel, Dublin on July 20th at 8pm. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In relation to your article on the registering of new political parties (Home News, July 14th), I feel the impression may have been given that I am a prominent and active figure in the new party, Fís Nua. I would like to clarify that I do not at this point have plans to play a “prominent” role in any future political party. While I have attended Fís Nua meetings and lent my support to its efforts to provide voters with some sort of real alternative, I have similarly attended meetings of Direct Democracy Ireland and feel it also has something positive to contribute to the vacuous political arena that currently exists.
However, I have spent over half my life helping to build up one political party and considering how short life is the thought of starting from scratch again is somewhat daunting. This does not mean I have given up, only that I am considering alternative and perhaps more effective ways to change things. – Yours, etc,