Chrysalis

As you will know by now I am a strong advocate of political reform, I was involved with the Democracy Matters campaign in the recent referendum on the Seanad. Democracy Matters was a civil society group made up of citizens across the country who want a new politics for our Republic. Well we won the day on Saturday with a NO win in the Seanad referendum. However, I found myself asking what type of victory it really was?
I went along to the count centre in City Hall early on Saturday to see the ballots sorted and counted. It was clear from early tallies that this was going to be a very close one. I did a quick ring around to colleagues in other centres and I tuned into media coverage and it was a similar pattern across all constituencies. So I started to get that tingle of excitement us anoraks get when we sense a political win on the way, believe me I know the feeling as it is a rare visitor in my campaigning life.
This feeling of excitement and satisfaction was almost immediately blemished by a throw away comment from a passing member of the YES side. Now this wasn’t a member of civil society this was an elected representative of the Fine Gael party, one that had on more than one occasion publicly called for a YES vote. This person passed and said ‘I’m delighted’… I asked if I had missed something had the tide turned and the response was ‘It’ll be a NO’.
I was flummoxed here was a senior public representative of a government party who it seems was saying one thing in public and another privately. Here was a public representative who went to the electorate and asked for support for the most significant change to our constitution and our democracy while, it seems not supporting the position themselves. I was getting depressed again. Not long after I met a member of Sinn Fein, again a public representative who repeated the same sentiment; their delight in the likely NO win. I had to take a moment, had I gone through a worm hole was I now in backward land?
No I was in City Hall alright and I was surrounded by the embodiment of why the Irish electorate and the Irish media are so cynical toward politics and politicians. Shandon it seems has less faces than our elected representatives. Now don’t get me wrong I am a realist I know that politicians are pragmatic and will turn with the winds at times. I also know that many government members did stay quiet publicly during the campaign while indicating they will personally vote NO. But these two had campaigned.
So was Enda the real loser after the referendum? I would say no, I have to say I think politics lost on this one. We were being asked a question that if it was successful would have altered our constitution and our democracy in a seismic way and with far reaching consequences we could not predict. Here was a chance to have a conversation; for our political classes to engage with us the plebs and talk with us about the nature of our Republic and how we can all move toward a new politics. IS that what we got it is like …substitute your favoured expletive here.
Instead we were offered a shameful campaign that focused on sound bites and crude financial arguments that were proved inaccurate on all sides. We had a leader, who’s initiative this was let us not forget, who disappeared from sight (again) for the campaign. It is also clear that the democratic revolution we were told we got in 2011 is a farce. Our public representatives think so little of us that they openly lie to us. What annoyed me most about my two encounters on Saturday is that these two geniuses said what they did to me; someone involved in the ‘game’ someone who would see it for what it is cheap, tacky and cowardly politics.
So the NO side won the vote. Those of us who were unwilling to take lightly an attempt by the government to railroad changes in our democracy won this fight. But it’s sad to say that on the whole politics lost this one. We were subject to the cheapest form of argument over the past few months. We saw former Senators like Junior Minister Paschal Donoghue talk in very aggressive terms about the Seanad as a waste of time. We had to listen to Minister Richard Bruton and others speak about their Oireachtas colleagues and the work they do as pointless and unnecessary. It was ugly and it was demeaning to all of us.
Where to now you ask? Well I am beating the drum again but it is up to us the people to force the changes we say we want. The local and European elections are coming next summer; we may even have a general election before then (mischief maker), and there will be a lot of candidates putting their names to us. So you have the chance to change the faces and the ideas that represent you, if you don’t see a face you like and you have something you feel is worth saying then get up and stand. If you feel you can’t do it but you know someone in your community who has a positive impact get them to run, support them, help them. If we all take responsibility for our own part in this Republic we can force real change. So while politics was the loser last week don’t let it lose another one.