Rosalynn Carter, the wife of recently deceased former US President Jimmy Carter, said
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they [don't necessarily want to go, but] ought to be.”
Unfortunately, this new government is not showing any signs of the latter. Populism has won out.
And while I appreciate the need for pragmatism and keeping people on board, there is always a necessity to keep moving forwards, particularly during a time of great economic prosperity when that essential fiscal space is available to us.
As night follows day, hard times are no doubt ahead, when much tougher decisions will have to be made. And the absence of ambition now, and the subsequent decisions made by this new government, may indeed speed us towards this undesirable position sooner than we might wish for. Because really there is nothing much to see on the eve of a new government formation.
This decade should have continued to be one of change and reform, but those winds of change are now nothing more than a breeze, blowing in the wrong direction.
Indeed, I am relieved to see the pledges to continue with some of those hard fought commitments the Greens achieved in the last programme for government - particularly within agriculture and climate action, but unfortunately there are too many shortfallings, inconsistencies and repetitions.
I have read the programme for government with a highlighter pen in hand. As I flick back through the pages, fluorescence is few and far between.
For example, animal welfare commitments have been scaled back, and “vital live export markets” will be protected. This is sure to send a shudder down many a spine. There is no mention of land use, or of supporting farmers to reduce fertiliser or pesticide use on farms; but there are commitments to retain the nitrates derogation and to reclassify the accounting of biogenic methane.
And how this new government can propose to do all of that, as well as increase new roads and data centres, and the possibility of an LNG terminal in Kerry, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions baffles me - it simply does not add up. Emissions which not only add to the global burden, but also reduce Ireland’s ability to attract valuable FDI; and come with the crippling disadvantage of massive financial penalties in 2030 which will swiftly grind any further developments in Ireland to a halt.
On top of all of this, FF & FG have allowed the shenanigans of the Regional Independent Group (RIG) to make a mockery of this government before it is even formed.
First we were told that the RIG had no special deals for their constituencies, then to be told that deals were done but not disclosed (apart from on the national airwaves!).
Then the RIG want to be both in government and opposition at the same time, which it seems has been agreed by one of their own - the Ceann Comhairle.
This demeans the process and the ultimate outcome and, if a sign of things to come, smacks of the dark days of Irish politics in the 80s. That video of Pee Flynn from 1999 popped up on my social media feed this week, the irony was not lost on me. Try it some time.
Another expression, this time from Mary Harney to John Gormley during a challenging time in the 2010s, “The worst day in government is still better than the best day in opposition” takes on a new meaning for me now, having sat at the cabinet table for the last four and a half years - it depends entirely on which government you are in.
This new one fails to inspire, diverse thinking has gone, and I fear will fail to take us in the direction we ought to go in this country.
Pippa