Chrysalis

Below is the text from an article I wrote for today’s Evening Echo looking at the direction our democracy ‘seems’ to be heading…

Government suspends the rules – “A move to Tyranny?”
The Seanad has been accused of resembling a sleepy hollow in the past but recent contributions and debates have sparked it into life in a manner we have not seen for a long time. With the Dáil rising for the summer and the ‘silly season’ kicking in it is easy to see how things slip under the radar but a debate took place in the Upper House late last week that raises serious questions about the dictatorial nature of this government. I know this is a strong claim and it is not one I make lightly. The government may not be intentional in its efforts but it does seem that they are acting in a way that if unchecked could slide down a dangerous route.
It was a hot sunny day like any other (but still a little unusual for Ireland) and the Upper House was deep in debate. Senator Maurice Cummins had moved the Members of Committees Motion at 11.55am on Friday July 19th last. In itself the motion should not have been controversial; it was merely to remove those members who had recently lost the party whip following their votes against the Government on the ‘Protection of life in pregnancy Bill’ from their committees and replace them with more loyal subjects. However this move was circumventing the normal route of allowing the committees deal with their own membership issues. As well as being a slap down to naughty members who did not toe the party line.
The debate hit a bump immediately when Labour Senator John Kelly got to his feet to tell the House that not only had he been given no prior notice that he was to replace Senator James Heffernan on the Joint Committee on European Affairs but that because of the manner in which the vacancy had occurred he was unwilling to accept the appointment. He went further calling the move ‘bully boy tactics’. He asked the Chair to formally remove his name from the committee, a request the Chair not only ignored but ruled out of order.
This led to consternation on the floor, Senator Norris pointed out the anomaly of moving a motion to force a member to sit on a committee even after that member declared no interest in the position. The Chair, Paddy Burke, reminded the House that this motion ‘set aside’ Standing Orders a move later referred to by Senator Norris as ‘nothing short of Tyranny’. Now what does this mean in the real world? Simply put it means that the rules are set aside to allow the government do what it wants and in this instance they wanted to punish former party colleagues for voting against them. Setting aside Standing Orders to circumvent the normal rules of the Oireachtas is a dangerous precedent and it indicates just how petulant this government and its leadership seem to be getting.
The row continued with a number of heated exchanges from a variety of members. Senator Paul Bradford, one of the naughty bunch who was being punished, got to his feet and calmly pointed out that it was unprecedented within the Oireachtas to vote onto a committee a member who has declared no interest in the position. He called for a moment of ‘calmness and reflection’. His appeal was ignored as were further, reasonable, appeals from other members for an adjournment to have the motion corrected. Senator Denis O’Donnovan pointed to the history of suspending Standing Orders in times of deep economic crisis or war and should not now be used to ‘usurp’ existing powers of the committees.
The debate carried on in this vein with threats of walkouts and legal actions but the Chair ploughed on and called the vote with the motion passing. So why did I decide to write about this internal Seanad row? Very simple, it flags two things for me. Firstly it shows the growing disregard this government has for the rules of our democracy. Bending the rules to punish members who have strayed from the path in this way should not be allowed to go unchecked. If one takes into account the possibility that our democracy is set to be further weakened with the loss of the Upper House and the continued weakening of Local Government what is to stop a so inclined government to bend further rules and slip intentionally or otherwise into the realms of Tyranny. It has happened before and can again; we would be naïve to think otherwise.
Secondly it flags rough political seas ahead for the government. With the loss of members on the Protection of life in Pregnancy Bill and the potential for further losses of the Seanad Abolition question the Upper House could become a hot bed for political revolt. They say beware a dying wasp, well if the government wins the referendum campaign and the Upper House is set to disappear at the next election you can be sure that it will not go quietly. Any and all Bills that come before it will be debated scrutinised and delayed if for no other reason than to frustrate the government and make it difficult to do its business.
As the saying goes it’s the small things that get ya in the end. Could Enda rue that night in the Burlington when he took a punt on the Seanad Abolition proposal, one member this week said he knows (we will see) that this will bring the government down within six months. It may not but be prepared for choppy waters. If nothing else it will spark some life and interest back into the increasingly stale Irish political scenery.