So, do I care about the general erection (sic)? That’s the question. But what’s the answer? Lots of people getting are very excited. There’s a fever in the air. But why? I don’t quite get it. Yes, for sure, everyone should do their citizen’s duty. Everyone should get involved. But then? When we get involved, what then?
Okay, so there was a kerfuffle about the Taoiseach’s finances. It was embarrassing, yes. But fatal? Perhaps not. And there was the whole stamp duty property market hype. And what else?
There was Fine Gael and the PDs competing to claim the hard shoulder in the fight against crime. Aaa-a-a-and… emmm, also there’s the nurse’s dispute which everyone is very tired of and wants settled but not so we have longer queues or higher taxes and about which, despite the various noises made, the political parties aren’t much different.
There’s some small difference in taxation proposals.
And that’s about it. Which is why spin is so important and why personality is still the central issue. Boring boring Airland!!!
The thing is, with our electoral system as it is, parties cluster around the centre ground. Yes, there are mavericks like Tony Gregory and Joe Higgins who sell a more European-style ideologically based politics. But they’re in a minority.
Last week I tried to explain the ideological difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to a Spanish socialist. Impossible really. They are so alike that no rational person could tell which was which except by reference to a civil war issue that is now long moribund…
Well okay, Fine Gael are a bit more pursed-lip, a bit more Reformation than Fianna Fáil, more tweed than mohair, you might say. They think they are less contaminated by power, more trustworthy, more… you know, upright. But in terms of actual policies? Nah…
Which means that their campaign is as much about getting their turn as about anything else. And that may well be as good a reason as any.
But if it’s all so bleeding samey, why are some people so excited?
I think it’s much like watching the scores come in on Eurovision night. Most of us are pretty sceptical that much real change will accrue from the election so it’s the race that gets us. Which horse will we back? We’re a bettin’ people. We love a contest.
The irony is that across the border, real history is being made. Something that many of us thought would never happen, indeed could never happen. Day by day, it’s one thing after another. DUP and Sinn Féin working together in government, Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern walking the site of the Battle of the Boyne, Bertie Ahern addressing the British parliament and the House of Lords…
Now, that’s something. You have people waking up every day and blinking the sleep from their eyes and wondering…is this real? And contemplating, warily yes, yet confidently too, a future that’s utterly different from the past generation.
You may say that what they really really want is what the rest of the island currently enjoys, a dullish wealth, devoid of ideology and excited, for the most part, by hedonism and property and generally little else.
Well, so what? That’s very different from before.
Maybe something exciting will happen before we do our civic duty, maybe an explosive issue will emerge to galvanise everyone and to help us choose. But I doubt it. When a real critical issue requiring decisive action surfaced a couple of weeks ago – the Ms D case – none of the parties wanted to touch it.
And the patsies who tell us they’re tough on crime and anti-social behaviour, did they seem willing to tackle the fundamental issue at the heart of this deeply shocking case? Did they fuck, to coin a phrase. They tippy-toed around it like fairies for fear they might have to actually commit themselves either way.
There are exceptions, sure. But you can count them on two hands. And they are in all parties, as are the craven cowards.
So as they enter the final straight, what I’ll be looking for is some inkling that politicians actually care about anything other than the game before them, being elected. Lots of things don’t work in our society. I want a candidate to convince me that when the shit hits the fan she or he can be counted on.
When someone shows me that s/he cares, really wants to make this a better place for everyone, really wants to effect change, then I’m there. And they’re out there, in all parties, more or less. Our task, in this last week, is to find ’em and vote for ’em.