Ignoring political storms would be a real scandal
THERE’S a danger we could miss real scandals under our noses – we’ve had a scandal or two a week already this year.
Last count was at least four and we’re only at the start of February. It’s Postergate to nursing homes to refugees.
Twitter goes bananas for a while, and you’ve just got to grips with the details, before it’s on to the next one.
These issues may be important. But does the overload mean they may be starting to lose their impact? A scandal is defined as “causing public outrage”. Do we really have the energy to be outraged again and again?
Instead, the public may be reaching a threshold of “scandal fatigue”.
Ask most people what they think of Postergate and many tell you it was a total waste of time.
They see it as a few lads in a van out hanging up a few posters for a few nights.
The danger is, if and when the huge, corrupt scandal comes our way, we may dismiss it as just another whipped up frenzy.
We know a national wrongdoing – think the Cervicalcheck case exposed by the tireless campaigning of the late Vicky Phelan.
We should never be so jaded by controversy on top of controversy that we lose our perspective on issues like that.
So far in 2023, scandal number one saw Junior Minister Damien English resign from office after he found himself in hot water having made a mistake in a planning application when building a house way back in 2008.
He forgot to mention in the application that he already had a family home.
It came back to haunt him 15 years later and he promptly fell on his sword on January 12.
Next up was Paschal Donohoe, the poster boy – if you’ll excuse the pun – of Fine Gael rule-following.
The Public Expenditure Minister and
A scandal is defined as ‘causing public outrage’
one of the darlings of European politics as head of the influential Eurogroup of finance ministers had to apologise to the Dail twice.
He was hauled over the coals by Sinn Fein after postering work Paschal didn’t pay for in 2016 and 2020, which is considered a political donation in lieu.
It was revealed after a member of the public complained to SIPO, the ethics watchdog. Paschal survived, with the bonus that his chief inquisitors in Sinn Fein were caught up in a similar election expenses quagmire themselves.
They could have heeded Barack Obama’s advice on avoiding “circular firing squads”.
Then a damning indictment when memos emerged showing how State lawyers allegedly pursued aggressive legal actions against pensioners or their families who may have been wrongly charged nursing home charges.
By Tuesday night there was another, similar scandal where vulnerable people entitled to disability benefits in care had been stiffed.
However unjust, these two shocking scandals didn’t quite catch on.
And Joe Duffy’s Liveline phones were not hopping for either, the real barometer of the nation’s disgust.
If such revelations are not prompting widespread anger or outrage, what does that say?
Is the “rinse and repeat” political controversy cycle risking a “boy who cried wolf ” scenario?
Let’s hope not.