Herd mentality has led us to this crossroads moment for our nation
THE current impasse in the formation of the 33rd Dáil has gotten me thinking about where we are as a country. The vote – which saw Sinn Fein ride a tide of anger into a position of unprecedented power – shows a country divided. Around one third of 18-24 year olds voted for Sinn Fein, the party faring almost as well in the 25-34 year old age bracket.
The Fine Gael Government got the two core issues facing the country – housing and health – completely wrong. While Dublin and Galway boom, most of the rest of Ireland is a mixed bag, with huge variations in economic vitality as you go from town to town, from village to village.
People voted for change because they didn’t believe in what Fine Gael, backed up by Fianna Fáil for three budgets, were trying to achieve. Many voted Sinn Fein for the first time, seeing the party as a viable alternative to the duopoly of Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael. They wanted a new voice at the table, screamed out for a new vision for a country which is outperforming all of its European counterparts economically.
A chat with a local shop owner on Saturday about the National Childcare Scheme revealed how disillusioned people are with the Government. As I outlined its benefits for parents like me, the shopkeeper pointed out that crèche owners are having to close their doors because of the ridiculously low income they are coming out with at the end of long weeks caring from children aged six months up to tweens. ‘For one section of society to benefit another must lose,’ she argued, and she was right.
The incredible efforts of some politicians, Labour leader Brendan Howlin included, in helping to salvage the economy from the reckless Fianna Fáil policies of the mid-2000s, should be acknowledged but was lost in the Brexit talk Fine Gael TDs peddled in the run up to the election. In short their politics weren’t sexy: it was pale, stale, yawn-fest stuff which bored voters silly. Whatever you say about Sinn Fein’s policies, they had a clear, concise message for people: we are a party that will help you in a meaningful way. This extended to returning the pension age to 65 and helping hundreds of thousands of people who want to own their own home in their lifetime, a prospect shut out for many.
But back to the creche owner, the teacher who got a job after 2011, to the couple with children earning a good wage in Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford or Cork but can’t afford a home because they earn too much to avail of supports like the National Childcare Scheme, and too little to get a €2,300 a month mortgage.
We are at a crossroads as a country. Capitalism has served Dublin and some parts of the country like Shannon, Galway and Cork well. We get foreign direct investment. We get jobs. The economy is firing, but when it comes to leadership, there is nothing radical, just reactionary policies and auction politics. I, for one, am sick of it. I’ll trot out my go-to socio-economic trope of Scandinavian countries and how they are exemplars in great quality of life and effective models of Government until the cows come home, but will it do any good, probably not.
There is an appetite for change but many people are still only waking up to what exactly the change they want is.