As I write the result of the Seanad
Referendum has just been announced. The
country has voted No to abolishing Seanad Eireann. Reform – well that’s a whole other day’s
work, particularly since Enda stated clearly that a No vote will not result in
this Government undertaking any reform of the second house.
I am personally much cheered by the
independence of mind shown by the Irish electorate on this issue. Against the
massed armies of Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Labour we had only Fianna Fail as a
party urging a ‘No’ vote. Fianna Fail,
who are still taking baby steps back towards their rehabilitation with the electorate,
certainly seemed to have judged the zeitgeist just right. But it would be foolish for Michael Martin or
any of his colleagues to get too excited about the victory of their side over
the Government parties and the only other party of opposition in this referendum. In my opinion although Martin performed ably
during the two TV debates, this is not his victory.
What is important about the result
of the Seanad referendum was the range of independent, credible and passionate
voices on the No side. Probably most
prominent of these was Professor John Crowne whose insightful intelligent
contributions were hugely important in this debate. Senator Katherine Zappone was another voice
who articulated her view with zeal and enthusiasm. Duirmuid Ferriter too and in the latter days
of the campaign poet Theo Dorgan also spoke out to retain the Seanad.
Political parties would be wise to
learn that the electorate of this country are not stupid. We don’t like being bullied into making a
decision on a matter that no one was campaigning about. We were cajoled into believing that
abolishing the second house would save us €20m and allow us to enjoy sacking a
load of politicians. As a nation of
bullshitters, we see right through bullshit.
As we stand at the beginning of the
decade of commemoration of the events which lead to Ireland gaining her freedom,
it is heartening to know that we continue to value that freedom and our
democracy. We might be a bit slow to
protest against unfair austerity but we have shown that we do cherish the very
freedom that the last Government pawned in order to pay the gambling debts of a
bust bank.
So Michael Martin – you judged it
right and you ran a good campaign. But
this is not your victory. The victory is
the peoples. And the people, mirroring
events almost a century ago were led by academics, thinkers, poets and doctors.
What we need now are new political
leaders. If this folly of a referendum
is to teach us anything it must be that!
