Why I won’t vote in the sham Aras poll

I’M a changed man over the past few weeks. And it’s all down to this bleak and pointless Presidential election campaign. Throughout my entire life, at least from the moment that great giant of Irish politics Éamon de Valera shook my hand outside Quin church in 1966 as he campaigned, successfully, for a second sevenyear term in the Áras, I’ve been a willing captive in the land of politics and current affairs.

From the demonstrable decency of Jack Lynch in 1977 to the professorial Garret FitzGerald in the 1980s, and through the alluring and thinly-veiled corruption of Charlie Haughey, I’ve kept my faith in politics.

During all the madness of Celtic Tiger excess as Bertie Ahern could do no wrong, to the humiliation of Ireland, and the loss of our independence when the music stopped in 2010 – still, my belief was firm.

And through all those years of austerity when the so-called Labour Party jack-booted blameless people and sided with Fine Gael, bankers, big business and European Union top dogs carrying only threats, I still managed to hold the line.

Politics is good, I insisted. And the one best way to demonstrate support for politics is to vote. So, off I went – at every single opportunity since 1977 – to my appointed polling station. Down went my mark, in went my ballot, up went my sense of self, joined by a deep appreciation for the hard work, suffering and sacrifice of all those heroes on whose shoulders I stood.

But now, I’ve changed my view about voting. This is for two clear-cut reasons – the Presidency itself, and the candidates we’re being forced to endure. Firstly, the Presidency is a post without substance. It’s a nothing appointment, meaningless, and useless beyond measure. The only reason it exists is because my old hand-shaking buddy Éamon de Valera considered it as a way to stretch out his own political career. The President has only ONE power worth talking about – he or she can refer Bills (other than money Bills or Bills to change the Constitution itself) to the Supreme Court to ensure they comply with the Constitution.

When you really strip it all down, that’s it.

Essentially, the President is a lacky for the government; they can’t say anything without prior approval; they can’t even leave the country without permission.

History has shown how the Presidency has made zero difference to the life of this nation.

And, not one of our first six Presidents, up to Paddy Hillery in 1990, pretended otherwise. With the exception of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh’s hissy fit in 1976, all of them kept to themselves, maintained a studied silence, pocketed the huge wedge and lived lives of luxury in that gilded cage in the Phoenix Park.

And then came the two Marys, with their light in the window and their well-intentioned bridge building.

Mary Robinson’s light in the window certainly didn’t show us a better way when we were developing suicidal economic policies in the 1990s that resulted in utter disaster over ten years later. And what difference did Mary McAleese make when the Troika turned Ireland into a vassal state? Secondly, the candidates. Have you ever seen such an undeserving, unattractive bunch of political misfits in all your life?

The incumbent darling of the left Michael D says one thing and does precisely the opposite. Just one term for me, he promised. What he actually meant was: ‘Ah sure, you’re not going to hold me to my word now, are ye? Anyway, I need to sort out my aul’ expenses.’ As for the others? Peter Casey with his ugly appeal to our darker angels, Seán Gallagher and his out-of-date compensation claim for the injury done to him in 2011, Joan Freeman’s application for being a good person, Gavin Duffy’s vacant vision delivered in a cool, hand in the pocket communicator style, and Liadh Ní Ríada’s blubbering about her new (old) Ireland.

The office and the candidates, two reasons why I’ve changed my mind about always exercising the right to vote.

Good politics is, almost always, about voting. But it’s also about protest. Dissent is legitimate, a bounden duty, when left with no other alternative.

And the only way to register a protest about this sham of an election is to withdraw consent – by refusing to collaborate in the charade.

In general elections, one is asked to choose people who can make a difference. The requirement to make a positive choice is an urgent one.

This doesn’t apply when it comes to the Presidency. Votes makes no difference whatsoever. They just nourish a rotten system in need of radical surgery.

So, I’m not voting. And, frankly, I’d love if nobody else did either. Empty ballot boxes for an empty, futile job.