A national crisis is the time for more scrutiny... not less
ETERNAL vigilance is the price of liberty and even if there’s some doubt about who exactly was the first to utter this wonderful call to arms, there’s no question that it’s absolutely true. It was true when American abolitionist Wendall Phillips spoke against slavery in Boston in 1852. It’s true now when people are warning of the dangers presented by the rise of Sinn Féin, at a time when the party remains wedded to supporting a terror campaign that lasted decades, cost so many lives and, by any humane standard, should be condemned as a total disgrace and outrage.
It was true, too, earlier in the week, when Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban received his parliament’s approval to rule by decree, essentially a cut and paste from the German Reichstag in March 1933.
And it’s also true, here in Ireland, when our own caretaker Government thinks and acts in a manner that denies proper scrutiny of the way it is managing the coronavirus crisis.
There is a natural reluctance to hold meetings of the Dáil at a time when the nation – with appropriate exceptions – is effectively in lockdown.
But this reluctance is simply unacceptable in a democracy where the decisions and actions of the Government must be subjected to thorough scrutiny.
Even the slightest concession to autocratic creep under the cover of conducting a war with Covid-19 is wrong-headed and dangerous.
THOSE who argue for Dáil meetings to be put on hold as this crisis intensifies are undermining our parliamentary democracy, the basis on which this country functions. Such suggestions are a cheap example of low-brow, negative populism. The Central Bank now reckons the virus catastrophe will cost us all about €22bn as the economy contracts by over 8% and unemployment shoots up to around 25% in the short term. Even if the economy stages a recovery from July, the Central Bank says that unemployment will be at about 12.6% next December. That’s a significant change from full employment before the virus hit.
Further, the Central Bank suggests that if we have to engage in a running battle with the virus into the back end of this year, the damage to the economy will double to around a 15% reduction.
The Central Bank, in fairness, acknowledges the frailty of its forecasts. It says: ‘The outlook must be treated with a high degree of caution.’ In effect, it’s suck-it-and-see time.
In a situation where this current caretaker Government will be making incredibily important decisions that will influence the wellbeing of this country for at least a generation, there is extra urgency for a detailed interrogation of their every action.
It cannot be beyond the wit of our political elites to organise Dáil meetings while observing all the necessary protocols for avoiding the spread of coronavirus.
Even if Article 15 of the
Constitution is strictly interpreted and the Dáil must ‘sit’ or gather together in a manner that rules out teleconferencing, so what?
There is a discrete number of TDs. They can be monitored and managed to comply with social-distancing requirements – and if that means moving to a large, temporary conference centre accommodation, then they should get on with it.
TDs like Richard Boyd Barrett are right to insist that nothing should be done to undermine the constitutional requirement for Dáil oversight of
Government actions that involve so much money, so much trust and so much risk to the lives and futures of so many people.
POLITICIANS, like the rest of us, are flawed and it’s at times like this – when backs are to the wall – that they earn their stripes. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and even Simon Harris, have distinguished themselves so far by their calm and honest delivery as this crisis worsens.
But the utter ridiculousness of journalists being forced to submit written questions at a press conference with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe this week is a function of panic based on the absurd.
EVERY suggested or actual undermining of the Dáil’s duty to the people of this country must be resisted.
Eternal vigilance is a mandatory requirement to preserve our freedom and it’s exactly what it says on the tin. ETERNAL.