The sick and homeless don’t have enough votes to sway this government
‘SHOW me the biggest crowd – and I’ll follow it!” Through many decades of this State’s existence, this satirical mantra was used to caricature the typical Fianna Fáil backbencher, explaining how he – and it invariably it was a he – contrived to hold that Dáil seat and pass it on to a close relative in fullness of time. The castigation invariably came from Fine Gael, more usually on the opposition benches.
Less than two decades ago then-Fine Gael leader John Bruton accused Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fáil in government of “followership – never leadership”.
But who is following the biggest crowd these days? Could it be this Fine Gael-led Government? And could it be that this kind of “biggest crowd” mentality is feeding into the entire apparatus of national administration? It certainly looks that way. In the past two days we have seen 159 rural post offices axed. Yesterday we learned that, while the increase rate has slowed, the overall number in emergency accommodation is still just shy of 10,000 people.
We have also learned that throughout the month of July, there were more than 7,000 people on hospital trolleys awaiting treatment.
There is a common trend here: none of these groupings, and others on the losing end of things, of themselves constitute “a big crowd”. It is also most unlikely they will combine into a massed “big crowd”.
There will be no shortage of sympathy and vague pledges of remedies to come. But the brutal political calculation is that these beleaguered groups very probably do not count when polling day comes.
Viewed from Government Buildings, “the biggest crowd” have money to spend; access to services like the post office; they have a place to live which the property surveys tell them is appreciating in value.
So, if you are among those whohavetodouptoa30km round trip to get to the post office, or you’re sick and waiting on a trolley, or somebody close to you is in that parlous position, or your days are spent waiting for notification of your next temporary bed, then you really don’t pack much of a punch politically.
Is that good enough? Of course it is not. But it’s a distinct political drift which risks becoming a reality if most people allow it happen.
Right now, the parties in opposition are casting about, wondering how to overcome this very obstacle. They are asking especially how to “politicise” the two key social problems which now confront the Irish people: a huge crisis in housing, and chronic problems afflicting our health services.
They know the bulk of voters are aware of the key facts behind these mammoth issues. But they are struggling to frame that message to make an impact.