Economic Crisis and a Failed Democracy

This is the most dangerous Government in the history of this State which has preceded over the destruction of our economy and left my generation bankrupt, unemployed and without effective leadership

Our system of governance is a sham, power is supposed to belong with the people. In the view of this Irish man who actually gives a damn, the democratic system we have in this country has utterly failed its citizens. Its not just Fianna Fail fault, the strength of a government can only be judged by the strength of its opposition and it is fair to say that the opposition has failed abysmally.

The majority of issues started from 1987 when Fianna Fáil got into power, they preceded over deregulation of the financial system, lack of corporate governance, massive overspend in public infrastructure projects, inept planning policy and total lack of enforcement regulation, HSE mismanagement, public sector benchmarking, the property bubble, FAS, decentralisation, the universal bank guarantee, Anglo Irish Bank and NAMA. We were told unequivocally by this Government that the bank guarantee would be cost neutral for the exchequer and may even bring a profit, at this moment it appears our country is insolvent as a result of the bank guarantee.

The Irish banking system is looking as credible these days as the Afghanistan Kabul Bank assuring the world that it absolutely, positively had enough capitol to available meet all its obligations (ie. About five days before it went bust last week). Unlike Anglo Irish Bank it was not guaranteed by the State, what we have witnessed in Ireland is the transformation of private debt into public debt on an unprecedented scale. We are now in unchartered territory, with no compass, no leadership, no map and a rapidly sinking boat.

National debt now stands at 67% GDP up from a surplus of 3% in 2006. On top of this the bill for paying our public sector is soaring, unemployment is approaching near half a million and we need to borrow €30 billion a year just to pay our public sector.

We were in no uncertain terms betrayed by Government, by the unions, by ourselves. We appear unanimously to be furious about this Government, it has the lowest approval rating of any government in the history of the state, yet nothing has changed.

We continue to hear about innumerable indications (and no conviction) of perjury, bribery, corruption, embezzlement, favouritism, self service, abuse of power, etc, and we all know that this is not even the tip of the iceberg.

I am sick to death of this dysfunctional Government (and its opposition) and their perverse attempts to make the ordinary citizen of this county carry the can for the incompetence of a tiny number of wealthy elite.

In a true democracy the state does not command us, we command the state, democracy means government by the people. Right now more than ever we need to change the political system; out with the old failed civil war politics and in with a new form of government for this century and future generations. Democracy in this county has been Government for the highest bidder and in the past twelve years Fianna Fáil and the PD’s greased the system, the unions and public service to ensure three electoral successes and we let them.

Irish citizens have and always should have the right to choose who represents them. Irish citizens should also be given their right to choose who represents them in the middle of an Economic crisis. I believed last year when I spoke against the banking guarantee and Anglo Irish Bank at the Green Party convention on NAMA that an Election was the only answer to this problem. Ireland belongs to its citizens and not political parties who choose power over democracy. When the Green Party voted for NAMA, I along with many other members resigned. We were told that the bank guarantee would be cost neutral for this country and may even make a profit, I did not believe it then and the results are clearly in; it has bankrupt our state.

The failure of this Government to hold the three outstanding by- elections further illustrates their contempt of democracy. Yet the Government remains in power while the opposition dithers and bickers.

Irelands gross external debt increased by 262% under Fianna Fáil and the PD’s from around €521 billion in 2002, to over €1.36 trillion as of 30 June 2007. In March 2010 the Central Statistic Office (CSO) stated that the gross external debt of all residents sectors in Ireland amounted to €1.67 trillion. The bulk of this debt lies with failed banking institutions and we the taxpayer are being left to carry the can. In a population of 4.5 million that’s €370,000 per citizen on top of their negative equity mortgages and reduced income.

In the words of the soldiers of density, a lot done more to do!

So how much more is left to be done?

It is easy to identify who is responsible; they remain sitting in government and on the opposition benches, failed politicians for a failed generation. Our entire political system is corrupt. Something is rotten in the state of Ireland and we need to realise that only we can change it. The longer we dither, the more we lose.