The country’s power dynamic must change if we truly aspire to be a republic in which citizens come first, writes ELAINE BYRNE in THE IRISH TIMES February 23 2010

 

OUR CONSTITUTION does not contain the word republic. Although the memory of the republic is rehearsed each year at the gravesides of Wolfe Tone and others, it has never been formally defined or officially acknowledged. John A Costello’s 1948 Republic of Ireland Act contains the wording: “It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland.” Yet the 209 words of the Act never actually clarifies what this description entails.

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Institutional change is necessary to restore public faith in politics – but it can only happen from the bottom up, writes ELAINE BYRNE in THE IRISH TIMES February 16 2010

 

WHY ARE those who seek to make politics better regarded as being anti-politics? Why are practical proposals to reform an antiquated political system deliberately interpreted as contemptuous of Irish politics? In that lazy anti-intellectual paranoia that passes for rational debate these days, reformists are casually labelled as angry cynics with an authoritarian agenda in their back pocket waiting patiently for the fall of Ireland’s democratic structures.

 

In that bastion of representative democracy Seanad Éireann this day last week, Taoiseach’s nominee Eoghan Harris made reference to the “delusion . . . of the younger sections of the political correspondents, not the old guard, that all one has to do is assemble people with first-class honours degrees, involve them in politics and the country will be a land flowing with milk and honey. That is not how the real world works.”

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The message for those contemplating making the jump to public life is that only insiders will dominate politics, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES February 9 2010

 

“IT IS a privilege to be here, of which I am conscious . . . Given the outcome of the byelection, there is no going back now . . . It is all about people . . . When a person has something powerful like a gun it is about how they use that power; it is about the responsibility with which he or she uses it . . . . I do not have much confidence in the Government’s ability to get us out of where we are and that is why I am here.”

 

George Lee’s maiden speech to the Dáil nine months ago was pregnant with anticipation and optimism for Irish politics. That he was now a Fine Gael TD was neither here nor there, he was someone the public trusted and listened to in an age when cynicism contaminated any hope in the very possibility of politics.

 

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Reform of the Irish political system will only happen when the public takes ownership of the reform process In the IRISH TIMES February 2 2010

 

HENRY GRATTAN retired from parliament in 1797 in protest over his proposed political reforms being ignored. He was convinced that in the absence of vital and fundamental reform, Ireland was drifting towards rebellion.

 

No one believed him.

 

In his 24-page “Letter to the citizens of Dublin”, Grattan explained his dramatic decision. In order to “save the country”, he wrote, it was “absolutely necessary to reform the state”. The “continuation of the old system” would lead to Ireland’s downfall because the people no longer had confidence in parliament.

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WHEN WAS it decided to call this inquiry into our financial crisis a banking inquiry? By limiting the description of what is under scrutiny, the perception may arise that the Irish banking and regulatory systems are the sole focus of inquiry, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES January 26 2010

 

In the Dáil last week, Brian Lenihan spoke of the need for “a comprehensive analysis, which will enable us to understand the origins of the crisis and help us to learn lessons . . .”

 

This absolutely includes a thorough, honest examination of the political decision-making which facilitated the circumstances responsible for the worst financial crisis in the history of this State. A credible inquiry must embrace an analysis of systemic governance and policy failures. This would include:

 

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Irish Times Report.

Trinity Students Submissions.

Parliamentary Record

Photos.

TCD JS Irish Politics class & TCD Department of Political Science
with The Joint Committee on the Constitution of the Houses of the Oireachtas

 

Public consultation @ the Public Theatre (Exam Hall) Trinity College Dublin Tuesday, February 2nd @ 7pm. Ticket only event, places limited, please rsvp at tcdirishpols@gmail.com   DIrections.

 

The Department of Political Science will co-host a public consultation on electoral reform with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. This is the first time in Trinity’s history that a fully constituted Oireachtas Committee will have sat in Trinity. The formal session of this meeting will be on the official report of the Oireachtas.

 

The first part of the evening will consist of the submissions, presentations and interaction with the twelve cross-party members of the Oireachtas Committee by the students. Only the Irish Politics students will be making a formal submission.

 

The second part of the evening will be a panel discussion on electoral reform chaired by honorary Trinity fellow Dr. John Bowman, joined by Noel Dempsey, Minister for Transport, Professor Ken Benoit, head of the Department of Political Science, Senator Ivana Bacik, Trinity Fellow, Seán Ardagh, Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, Jim O’Keeffe, Vice Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee,  The Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Clarke and contributions from the audience.

 

Senator Bacik’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

Minister Dempsey’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

Prof Benoit’s contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee

 

 

You are invited to a reception afterwards hosted by the Department of Political Science in the GMB (Graduate Memorial Building)

Facebook page and Facebook group

 

Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore need to convince the public of the radical policies they intend to put forward, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the Irish Times January 19 2010

 

THE RETURN of the Dáil today marks the inauguration of a decade which will commemorate the 100th anniversaries of the 1916 Easter Rising, the seminal 1918 election, the first Dáil and the commencement of the War of Independence. One hundred years later and the national question is no longer one about the fight for political independence, but economic freedom.

 

The gross cost to the exchequer of the banking crisis is estimated at €80 billion when the recapitalisation, nationalisation and Nama-isation of the banking sector are taken into account. The “Ireland after Nama” academic website estimates that there are more than 300,000 vacant houses in ghost estates. Defaults on EBS mortgages are up 487 per cent over the last year. There are 130,000 more people unemployed than this time last year.

 

These are not ordinary times and demand extraordinary responses.

 

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The long-term consequence of ignoring the obvious is, sooner or later, yet another ‘crisis’ in the IRISH TIMES January 12, 2009

 

WHEN SNOW falls heavily, the pressure from the accumulated snow piles up on top of itself. By failing to take immediate action to clear or grit the snow, falling temperatures combine to create the perfect conditions for compacted snow and icy conditions.

 

In the absence of a plan and the wilful approach to ignore the inevitable in the hope of something undefined, a country can come to a standstill. Its schools are shut, water supplies run low, emergency services are overwhelmed and transport services are severely curtailed. The long-term consequence of ignoring the obvious is, sooner or later, paralysis. The everyday normalities of travelling to work, going to the supermarket or feeding animal stock become treacherous.

 

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We cannot fix what is permanently broken – we must fundamentally reconstitute our political and economic systems, writes ELAINE BYRNE in the IRISH TIMES January 5, 2010

 

THE FIRST Irish Times editorial of 2010 stated that “at least there is a balance to be debated between optimism and pessimism instead of unrelieved gloom”. This is the typical black or white choice presented to those who contribute to public debate. The rules of engagement insist that we must agree or disagree with one another within the confines of a mindset limited to discussing whether the proverbial glass is half-full or half-empty.

 

But what if that glass is already broken?

 

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Icelandic protests about the economic collapse were mobilised by the young through social networking websites in the IRISH TIMES December 29, 2009

 

ICELAND HAS been overwhelmed with civic action movements since its dramatic economic collapse in October of last year. In the beginning, my Icelandic friends went every Saturday afternoon to Austurvöllur Square in central Reykjavík. People just gathered to talk and listen to one another, unsure of what to do but knowing that they had to do something.

 

Like the Iranian protest of last June, the Icelandic demonstrations were mobilised by a young generation communicating with each other in real time through Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites.

 

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