Isn’t it time for us to have a president with a disability?
Let’s use the symbolism of the office of president to usher in the last great civil rights revolution, says Brendan O’Connor
FINIAN McGrath floated a brilliant idea last week. He was out talking about the presidency on a few occasions. Obviously he said the usual guff that everyone has to say about how amazing Michael D is and what a fantastic job he has done. You are contractually obliged to say that if you are going to go on to suggest that Michael D shouldn’t be the president for 14 years. McGrath went on, in various places, to say that actually even seven years is a long time to be president, that five years would be enough, and furthermore that it would be “boring and stale” to put Michael D back in without an election. He said we should consider someone young to be president, and then he mentioned that he has, in the course of his work as Minister for Disabilities, met many fantastic people with disabilities who would make excellent candidates for president.
And it made you realise that we shouldn’t discriminate against good ideas just because they come from Finian McGrath. He can be a bit flaky, but he seems to be a fundamentally decent person. And with this one, he might just have stumbled into a genius idea.
It is taken for granted right now that, in the presidential election scheduled for October, it seems increasingly likely that Michael D will romp home. All the significant political parties bar Sinn Fein are backing him, with Fine Gael apparently even committing to spend money on a campaign for him, maybe even posters and leaflets. Fianna Fail will be backing him in a more passive way, and of course, given that he is originally a Labour candidate, Labour are behind him, even if Leo is slightly stealing their clothes on him this time. Fine Gael like to back a winner, anything that helps brand Leo and Brand FG. So they are essentially lifting the proven brand that is Michael D from Labour and making him their own.
But you have to wonder if the more this starts to look like an establishment stitch-up, the more people will start to get a bit sour on the idea of Michael D’s second term. There is already a sense in some quarters that it’s a tiny bit greedy and entitled to want 14 years in the Aras. And there is a sense too that any other hopefuls are being squeezed out by official Ireland. Also, while the support of the two main parties might be helpful in getting votes, we should also remember that there are many people who will not, on principle, vote for any candidate backed by the Government, and specifically by Fine Gael.
And you know what as well? While no one would dare to say anything other than that Michael D is the greatest president in the history of the universe, privately, a lot of people don’t like him, and a lot of people don’t approve of him, and a lot of people don’t feel he represents their Ireland. This is not to insult our president. That’s just how it is with any president, with anyone in politics.
So Michael D is probably a shoo-in, but you just never know with these things, as Michael D and the other candidates learnt the last time.
So then let’s get back to Finian’s genius idea. Firstly, he is probably right that we should at least consider a young person. This is not be ageist — though if Michael D wasn’t a liberal leftie, you can be sure all the twitterati would be calling him pale, male and stale. The time feels right in Ireland 2018 to have a young, probably female president.
But it’s the disability idea that feels totally on the button in Ireland 2018. You’d go so far as to say that we would be missing a huge opportunity if we didn’t elect a president with a disability right now. Equality for people with disabilities is the real last great civil rights movement. The inequality faced by people with disabilities would be unthinkable for any other sector of society. It simply would not be tolerated in the enlightened world we live in.
And you suspect there is a revolution brewing out there. In the last few years in this country we’ve seen how quickly things can change when the right forces mobilise. And it feels like similar forces are massing in the area of disability. And when the revolution does happen, no one is going to argue against it. Practically everyone believes that people with disabilities should have true equality. Practically everyone believes that many people with disabilities are effectively segregated in society — from jobs, from opportunities, often from public debate, and even, sadly, from social life. The world can often seem to be their true disability, in that it conspires to make everything harder for them.
This is probably another one of these areas where people are miles ahead of politicians. While there are incremental changes happening all the time around the rights of people with disabilities, it feels like we could be on the verge of major, sudden change in this area, of the mobilising of a woke generation of people with disabilities and their able allies — friends, families and supporters.
The presidency is largely a symbolic role in this country. It is about making a statement, setting a tone, which is what Michael D has done so well. Most people probably wouldn’t agree with his politics, but many people like the mood he creates, the symbolism of him. Equally, it was hugely important in a symbolic sense both when Mary Robinson and then Mary McAleese were elected president. It made a statement about us as a society, and it signalled the beginning of huge change, rather than being the culmination of change that had happened already. It was, in a sense, top down change. The change that was ignited by Mary Robinson becoming president is still percolating down into the lives of women in Ireland.
While the role of Taoiseach is not just symbolic, the election of Leo Varadkar, a 30-something gay son of an immigrant, has been a source of huge pride for many people, and has seemed to set a different tone in the country, both at home and internationally.
So why not make another statement now and have a president with a disability? No one is suggesting tokenism here. But maybe a little bit of positive discrimination. Maybe Finian McGrath should lead this, and in tandem with various activists out there in the disability community, he should make it a priority now to find some good potential candidates, people who would be well able for the job, and indeed for the campaign. If such candidates are identified, the political establishment should agree to do what is necessary to get the best of them a nomination. I have no doubt a campaign would fall into place around the person. And then let the people decide.
Can you imagine waking up on that new morning? Can you imagine having a disability and waking up on that new morning, when your own country finally tells you: ‘‘You are as good as anyone else, we embrace you.’’
I am fully aware that there are a million practical reasons why this can’t happen. I am fully aware too that there will be a lot of politics around it, that some people will find the idea simplistic and perhaps even offensive. There will be accusations of stereotyping, and people with disabilities will no doubt point out, correctly, that disability does not define them, that just because a candidate has a disability does not mean that person represents them. And that’s all true. But maybe sometimes we should just try and see a bigger picture.
I know it’s naive, but it’s certainly worth putting out there. Will we give it a go?
‘This may be an area where people are miles ahead of politicians’