On politics and the nature of the beast
Obligatory mention of background: I am Irish and I retain a bittersweet sense of pride in that identity that spins from a guilty pride to a verbose rage. I left nearly two years ago and I don't intend to move back in the foreseeable future. Ireland has started to buckle under the combined weight of a lazy legislature and a global economy that hit the country's fledgling export industries hard.
Friday, an attempted Cabinet reshuffle collapsed and left the government reeling. Saturday, An Taoiseach (Irish equivalent to Prime Minister) Brian Cowen stepped down as leader of the county's dominant political party Fianna Fail although he hasn't resigned as Taoiseach. The minority party - the Green Party - have pulled out. Fianna Fail is only still in power now because of constitutional inertia. After years of hanging onto power by the tips of their fingers and two years of outright denial, the time is coming to pay the piper.
It should be a celebration but the truth is that this isn't an easily fixed situation. Fianna Fail has been the dominant party for so long that there honestly isn't a credible opposition party. What the country desperately needs is a radical change in how the government works; decentralisation - not National Departments being farmed out to towns without the infrastructure to support them - but an actual decentralisation of local government function to working local government bodies needs to happen.
Living in England has shown me what a competent local government can do; TDs are not local counsellors but they act like them and that has to change. TDs should be speaking up for the people on a national level, not local matters that should be a matter for a local authority. Cronyism needs to end. Expenses need to be cut. The hundred and one tiny little 'perks' that TDs and Ministers have because no-one's ever stopped them from taking them need to end. In a country fighting for its economic life, we should not be paying more for our Taoiseach than the US pays for its President. God knows we deserve a refund on BIFFO (Brian Cown's less-than-affectionate nickname for those who don't know).
I just don't think we're going to get it.
Here comes the new government, same as the old government.
It's depressing to think about so here's some fun/interesting links: cute cat video
All Hail Lord Inglip, god of the internet memes
Equal parts awesome and worrying; even if it might not happen for millions of years.
I've never dealt with Mobistar but damn, there are some companies I would love to do this too.
How to watch the Daily Show clips outside the US because it might be useful.
Originally posted here Please comment there using OpenID.
Friday, an attempted Cabinet reshuffle collapsed and left the government reeling. Saturday, An Taoiseach (Irish equivalent to Prime Minister) Brian Cowen stepped down as leader of the county's dominant political party Fianna Fail although he hasn't resigned as Taoiseach. The minority party - the Green Party - have pulled out. Fianna Fail is only still in power now because of constitutional inertia. After years of hanging onto power by the tips of their fingers and two years of outright denial, the time is coming to pay the piper.
It should be a celebration but the truth is that this isn't an easily fixed situation. Fianna Fail has been the dominant party for so long that there honestly isn't a credible opposition party. What the country desperately needs is a radical change in how the government works; decentralisation - not National Departments being farmed out to towns without the infrastructure to support them - but an actual decentralisation of local government function to working local government bodies needs to happen.
Living in England has shown me what a competent local government can do; TDs are not local counsellors but they act like them and that has to change. TDs should be speaking up for the people on a national level, not local matters that should be a matter for a local authority. Cronyism needs to end. Expenses need to be cut. The hundred and one tiny little 'perks' that TDs and Ministers have because no-one's ever stopped them from taking them need to end. In a country fighting for its economic life, we should not be paying more for our Taoiseach than the US pays for its President. God knows we deserve a refund on BIFFO (Brian Cown's less-than-affectionate nickname for those who don't know).
I just don't think we're going to get it.
Here comes the new government, same as the old government.
It's depressing to think about so here's some fun/interesting links: cute cat video
All Hail Lord Inglip, god of the internet memes
Equal parts awesome and worrying; even if it might not happen for millions of years.
I've never dealt with Mobistar but damn, there are some companies I would love to do this too.
How to watch the Daily Show clips outside the US because it might be useful.
Originally posted here Please comment there using OpenID.