It is time for fresh elections before the country is brought to its knees

Government is paralysed by fear but recent seismic events dictate that voters must come to their senses, writes Jody Corcoran

IN the last 10 weeks, two of the most significant events in a generation have taken place at a time when the country is governed by what is turning out to be one of the weakest administrations in the history of the State. The time has come to shout loudly and clearly: enough is enough. The next election, whenever it comes, cannot come quickly enough. But when it does, will the country come to its senses? We had better hope so.

Both of those events relate to the European Union, which itself is still reeling from an existential crisis presented by the fall-out of an ill-conceived common currency followed by a massive economic and banking collapse.

The events are Brexit and the Apple tax ruling of last week. Separately, both have the potential to set back the economic development of the country by a generation; together, the medium-term impact of both events could have even more devastating consequences, for which the country is manifestly totally unprepared.

While this is happening, a government cobbled together in the toxic political backwash of that massive economic and banking collapse has shown itself to be, at best, paralysed by fear of a still volatile electorate and, at worst, incapable of rising to the challenge presented by these two events.

It is all very well to chin-stroke and to speculate upon the eventual scorched earth outcome in a generation or two, but right here, right now, the country can no longer afford to indulge in, to date and counting, eight years of relatively pointless naval gazing.

This is senior hurling now boy, as the man said. The ball has been thrown in and the pulling is fast and furious, but our Government is still in the dressing-room waiting for half the team to show up. It has not even togged out, in fact, and while it stretches and yawns and scratches its collective self, history is happening all around us, quite literally, and with the furthest of far-reaching consequences.

The events of the past 10 weeks have been already cast in stone. In June, the people of Britain, in their wisdom, voted to leave the EU. But what did the Government and extended political class here do in reaction? They went to the summer schools and pontificated about a united Ireland, is what. Old habits die hard.

The first definite step towards UK exit will be taken early next year, but already the repercussions are being felt here. Those repercussions will be nothing compared to the impact when the UK sets out a roadmap and eventually leaves. The consequences for the economy here will be massive, particularly for those indigenous export-led enterprises of the type, long the poor relation to mostly US corporations which have benefitted hugely but also conferred great benefit on the country’s economic development since the early 1990s.

Now that benefit is under direct attack from Europe, which has Ireland’s foreign direct investment policy, particularly the country’s corporate tax regime, in its sights. That policy has morphed over the decades, the pace of which has been dictated, by and large, not by government but by cute hoor lawyers and accountants determined to exploit all of the many evident loopholes left open and available. Economic policy is written down in the IFSC, quite literally, and in the oak-panelled boardrooms of some of Dublin’s blue-chip law firms.

This has become an international controversy, raging for at least three years when the US Senate finally opened the can of worms. And little old Ireland is a central player. In the relatively recent past, the country managed to get out in front of the curve: Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, or those in the IFSC who dictate such policy, came up with a new tax break — the Knowledge Development Box, which leaves knowledge-based multinationals such as Apple paying 6.25pc tax in Ireland on much of their profit earned throughout the EU, complying both with EU state aid rules and the latest OECD anti-avoidance rules.

But last week, and to the astonishment of many, the Government managed only to peek out the door for three days, and then chose to continue to sit in the dressing-room as one of the weakest administrations in the history of the State wondered what it should do next: grab a golden egg but slay the golden goose — or play hardball?

It’s a no-brainer — protect the golden goose. As for hardball — we’re dealing with fallow politicians here, like Katherine Zappone and Finian McGrath, and others whose names escape me; and Shane Ross for that matter, which of old would have been first out of the blocks to put the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager back in her Borgen box.

No doubt they’re shaking in their boots in Brussels and Washington this weekend at the angst into which the Independent Alliance, and by extension the Government, has thrown itself, as Europe and the US prepare to divvy up the so-called €13b golden egg between them, and, in the process, slay the goose; that is, slice and dice the country’s entire economic policy for the past 30 years, a policy which — make no mistake — has lifted this country to levels unimagined when the country first began to emerge from the darkness of the 1980s, an era still vivid in the minds of the middle-aged.

As for the Fine Gael wing of one of the weakest administrations in the history of the State: well, things do not seem much better there, for a party still reeling from the election result, which it failed and continues to fail to understand let alone see coming; whose young Turks seem more intent to circle their lame duck leader and afford their pale shadow Finance Minister a lap of honour for, at times, crudely implementing the austerity policies of those same EU institutions which so ill-conceived a common currency that pre-cursed the massive economic and banking collapse.

Fianna Fail, meanwhile, look on, opportunistically: the party under whose watch the apparatus of State initially devised the economic policy which lifted most, if not all boats, and who delivered to an art form those tax breaks and loopholes which have made a mockery of what was a once-in-a-generation great idea; and which stood passively by as that massive economic and banking collapse loomed on the horizon, and is now presented as the alternative in the formation of a new government which will at least leave the dressing-room and run on to the field of play, the game well on if not half over.

That is the choice the electorate faces. So, what will voters do? Return to power some form or other

‘The rabble’s great idea, its alternative to current policy is nationalise the likes of Apple. Jesus wept’ ‘It’s a no-brainer. Protect the golden goose. As for hardball? Well, we’re dealing with fallow politicians’

of the above, most likely. Hopefully one not paralysed by fear of the electorate.

Either that or some other form of social media-led rabble that has fuelled, or been fuelled by, in the first place the sort of voter volatility which has delivered the country into this political paralysis at precisely the wrong moment and presented us with one of the weakest administrations in the history of the State.

And the rabble’s great idea, its alternative to the policy that has at least delivered the country from the dark ages? Nationalise Apple. Jesus wept. Bring on the election. It is time the country comes to its senses before the country is brought to its knees.