Noses, Faces, Spite and Blades

Since the outcome of the February general election became clear on February 10th there has been a PhD thesis of column inches written about the journey to government, I'm not going to go over the early writings, which I won't describe as analysis for fear people might believe analysis was commonplace.

In the era of new politics, all of Ireland's political parties have, to some extent or another, given their membership a say in government formation.

Twitter is a mish-mash of these party members, and while the elected representatives work hard on forming a government, the members of the respective parties are so divided on government formation with some for, others waiting for details and others against.

It is the for and against that I'm currently finding difficult to comprehend. Since the framework document was published this week I've come closer to the for position, yet so many of my party colleagues are against on the basis that it's vague and aspirational, while other parties say it is vague.

The thing is, the aspirations, while needing some meat on their bones, are quite good. The vagaries of the framework are because it is a framework, you don't get specific in a framework, a programme for government is the place for that.

Speaking for myself,  my main concerns are specifically;

• Housing - the dancing around in the phraseology that omits a dedication to public housing. I believe, and many other of my party colleagues likewise, that this is due to public housing being anathema to the Fine Gael base
• Tax cuts - while there has been a commitment to no tax increases, I would likewise like to see a commitment to no tax cuts. Fine Gael went into the election heavy on tax cuts, aimed at people like me. While I could find ways to spend an extra couple to grand a year, just give me proper healthcare if I need it instead, or fund third level, or childcare.
• Young Ireland - this section is just bizarre. If public resources are allocated in a socially coherent and re-distributive way, young Ireland needs no singling out.
• Funding - the key commitment that will determine how I vote on any programme for government which emerges from this framework. A commitment that borrowing will be extended to fund public investment in capital expenditure, a commitment that is not in-spite of, but because of economic shocks. This is where my party colleagues consider me naïve, they do not believe this commitment will emerge, and if it does that it cannot be believed

The reality here is that if a government does not emerge from this phase, the last remaining option is a tripartite of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein. Just ask their colleagues in the Northern Ireland executive how collegiate they are!

Those making grandiose and irrelevant statements about their voting intention before being presented with the detail are, quite simply, cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Those saying they're being denied a vote, likewise have no basis for saying anything of the sort, with national newspapers getting another PhD thesis in non-stories from this phase of formation.

Ireland in the new world

6 months ago you would have gotten pretty decent odds on a UK departure from the EU or Donald Trump winning the White House - if you put an accumulator on that - well done - could you spare me a few quid?

Back home in Ireland much of the political talk surrounding the UK referendum result centres on how we can get the best deal to enable us to maintain the over-reliant trading relation the country has had with the UK for centuries. This is a lazy approach, easily sold to the public; human nature resists change, however change is a constant in our lives. The wheel was once revolutionary, the combustion engine, the microchip, fast food.

It is a source of much frustration to look at a man who's been a politician for 41 years and achieved so little, look into an empty box in the hope that Santa Claus is going to put a few goodies in it so that we can continue our cosy, lazy trading status quo.

The box is empty Enda; however if you would dare to have a bit of vision, come out of the fog; there is a market of 400 million people with no trade barriers, who won't have trade barriers any time soon, and more further afield who are struggling to manage demand for nutrition among their exploding populations.

The economic constructs of the 1970s are no longer valid - the world is now the marketplace; and as well as that meaning we can sell to anywhere; it means buyers can go anywhere too. With Brother Trump in the White House changing his tune like a candle flickering in the wind, we can offer stability of supply to trading partners, wherever they may be.

Competition is fierce; ask any business where complaining about the competition while going backwards got them; they're more than likely not a business any more - it's compete or give up - and giving up is not an option.

In the modern world, we must strive to survive, we must adapt to grow and we must forget what we knew to be true in the past.

EU Democracy and the UK Departure.

Let me start by saying how deeply saddened I am for those whose futures have been plunged into uncertainty by the outcome of last Thursday's referendum in Britain and Northern Ireland. Though London, Scotland and Northern Ireland did not vote to leave, only Scotland has any chance of having its people's will observed.

I don't really care about the domestic promises and threats that were made, but just want to point out that the threats are playing out before us now and the promises have disappeared like a pint into Nigel Farage's gob.

Let's debunk the myths of the anti-democratic EU

The Commission President is Unelected - FALSE

European Commission President Juncker's mandate is as valid as any leader elected by a parliament, as he not only has to be proposed by a majority of member states (26-2), but also ratified in the EP where 751 MEPs are elected directly by the citizens or crown subjects of member states (422-250)

A cursory search will give these records totally debunking this unelected bureaucrats shit that has been peddled and swallowed hook line and sinker.

No Taoiseach in the history of Ireland has been chosen by the people, the Dáil has sole competence in this area.

We Have No Say - FALSE

Every 5 years the electorate of each member state elects the 751 seat parliament, some on a full national vote (like the Irish President) and others by constituency. The UK elected 73 Members of the European Parliament from 12 constituencies ranging from 3 seats to 10 based on population (i.e  proportional democracy)

Much like in any member state - you would be right, the electorate has no say between elections, this is why things like protests and £12bn raids on social welfare occur.

Irish Government's Ignored the Will of the People By Making Them Vote Twice - FALSE

Irish government's did exactly the opposite - analysed the results - removed the 75% of reasons peddled in the campaign that had nothing to do with text on the ballot paper, and negotiated amendments to the treaties before putting amended treaties to the electorate for approval. Ireland has never voted twice on the exact same treaty text. Any claim to the contrary is a lie, an out and out lie.

I'm sure more questions will be raised in the course of the coming weeks, but what makes me even more sad than the loss of opportunity for those who have been plunged into uncertainty, is that last Thursday, lies prevailed and the truth lost.

There's a lot to be said for benevolent dictatorships!

Say YES Engagement

This post will not win any awards for its flow or grammar (English was my poorest school subject bar maths), but I hope by sticking with it you get something from it, if not, skip to the last paragraph for the call to action.

Not since the civil war have the young been so active in the shaping of the future of our nation. Back then Ireland was a bastion of social progress; women had the vote, though it would be many years before they were equal. Be that as it was they fought that war as equals against families and neighbours for what they believed in. This left a gaping social scar on our national psyche for decades.Those young people held the courage of their convictions to build an Ireland that would become the Republic in 1949 and a republic that cherishes all of its children equally by 2015 (constitutionally at least).

Campaigners in the Marriage Equality referendum held the same courage of their convictions to go and fight another war. This time it was not a bloody war, it was a war for the hearts and minds of the nation. The no campaign didn't engage in the ground war as vociferously as the yes campaign, one can only assume because they didn't have the same support. They were afraid of the response they would get, but what they failed to realise is the yes campaign had much hurt to fear from a negative response, a negative response for the yes campaign would be personal, devastating; for the no campaign they had nothing to fear and I believe in the end that's where the innate decency of the Irish people won out.

I had many issues with my co-conspirators on the yes campaign. We had the truth on our side and should have left the bitterness and lies to the no campaign. There was a higher turnout and a higher margin to be had, but what's done is done and I certainly won't be crying over spilt milk.

To the point of this post:

Ireland has witnessed a revolution in the activism of its youth. Our youth has discovered that knocking on a door isn't scary as they may have thought. I've been enjoying canvassing for almost 10 years now and this campaign gave me an opportunity to put that experience in action, leading a canvass sweeping through housing estates in 45 minutes that could tie up an inexperienced campaigner for 2 hours plus, vital hours for the campaign. Those who didn't feel confident to knock found a place on the campaign, something they may not have known was possible before the superb YES Equality campaign led by GLEN and the ICCL. Hat tip to Tiernan Brady.

I heard many people say that they have voted now and they feel they probably won't again, the activism of this campaign shows that our youth do care when it affects themselves, their friends, their family, their neighbours, and even strangers who needed the help.

I believe in our democracy, more importantly, I feel many who got involved in this campaign have other issues which they care about, they may not be causes, but as was discovered during the Marriage Equality campaign you do not need to knock on doors to get active. I first came to politics 13 years ago. I was much more active than your average 15 year old in pestering local TDs on proper legislative issues (they don't exist to fix potholes and footpaths - phone your council offices).

My passion as a teen was cars and I found a way to make a proposal to my TDs that involved something that gave me an opportunity to fangirl on cars. I sent my proposal to all 5 TDs in my constituency one replied. Though I couldn't vote for him, he invited me to his office to talk about my idea and once inside I suddenly understood that politicians are normal people too. Over the next 7 years I supported that TD until he was decimated in the Fianna Fáil revolution of 2011, yes, the only one to respond was a Fianna Fáil TD, and that's likely the only reason I joined Fianna Fáil. I stayed for various other reasons, but this is not a party political broadcast.

My call to action:

If you campaigned in 2015, on doors, online, packed envelopes, dropped leaflets, you are part of the political system now: stick with it. If your life is sport, campaign on sport and health; if your life is fashion, campaign on business and innovation; if your life is unemployment, take your campaign to the politicians who speak on social protection and jobs. Whatever you do; please stay engaged or Ireland returns to politics as normal. I will not push anyone towards any political party, but I will say pick one. Independents (with notable exceptions - Norris, Zappone, Murphy) lack the national focus that the Dáil and Seanad exist to serve. I believe (feel free to decide otherwise) that if you want a local politician, put them on your county council, not in the Dáil. Our country has suffered enough from local politics on a national stage.

Say YES Engagement, stay involved

All up in the air

I wrote this back in November 2011. I just looked now and realised I hadn't posted it.

At the time I was going through a very difficult period in my career, trying to get others to share my vision for an organisation on the brink of failure, both financially and systemically. Looking back I'm pretty sure there was more written which I removed before getting off the plane, mainly related to the frustrations of people's narrow focus on the immediate situation without a view forward, as I saw it, I think I cried a lot that month thinking about that stuff, but hey; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!!

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 As I write this I'm 39,000 ft above the Mid-Atlantic travelling at almost 900km/h and is -50 degrees outside. I was kind of dreading this flight, mainly because I thought passing the time was going to be an issue. I've watched an episode (quite a hilarious one) of The Big Bang Theory, spent about 25 minutes selecting 2 hours of classical (yes classical, not classic) tunes to keep me occupied but more importantly I've read the first two chapters of a book that I bought almost a year ago, meant to read, but haven't had time, misplaced and found yesterday.

I was so excited about the book that half way through the second chapter I wanted to put it down and start blogging, and that's some feat for a book considering it's probably been 2 years since I set out to read a book. This book centres around the theories of leadership (so far anyway) and its réson d'être. This is something that in recent weeks has occupied my mind. From planning a proposal to fund 35 students through an intensive leadership programme, to listening to a woman who despite being our head of state for the past 14 years through boom and bust left office last week with many wishing the rules allowed her to seek another 7 years speak on the the topic, I have a new found obsession.

 I'll ramble a bit more after another few chapters, but the excitement of the realisation that the leader is in all of us really is a boost to me where I am in my life right now. Some people would call that bullshit, but there's idealogical examples abound of things I'd view as bullshit too.

 Your not so anchored Irishman

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P.S.  As it turned out I ended up sticking doggedly and determinedly to pushing through those reforms at the very limits of the rules, but I hope (and think they have) they left a stronger organisation behind. I learned a lot in that year that have shaped my character and given me an outside the box view on certain things.

The book is called The Leader who had no Title by Robin Sharma (@_robin_sharma) and later during that year I gave a copy to someone else coming under pressure to do things for optical reasons. I only hope it helped and that he in turn gave it to someone else.

Can we find our way again?

WARNING: THE BLOG IS CALLED THOUGHTS AND RAMBLINGS - THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF THIS POST IS QUITE DISJOINTED

The Background to my Ramble
IF we consider the issues facing Ireland in 2013 in the context of Ireland in 1993, there's no doubting that we're wealthier as an economy, poorer as a society, and just plodding along as a nation.

With all the talk of Croke Park II being a complete monster, ministers being snubbed by public sector unions (some rightfully so), and people losing jobs, there is a narrative the the government is out to get your pay packet, they have no concept of reality and that there are no jobs out there.

If we look at it from another point of view. The expenditure of the Dept. of Health/HSE was €6 billion in 2002, €9.1 billion in 2005 and estimates for 2013 (as reporting has changed) project an expenditure of €13.6 billion, more than twice what it was in 2002.

Total Exchequer expenditure in 2002 was €33 billion and €49 billion in 2012.

Core Consumer Prices are up from 82 to 102 (or 24%) during the period 2002 to 2012, yet government expenditure is up twice that amount.


Source: tradingeconomics.com

I don't begrudge a decent wage to anyone, but the definition of a decent wage is generally seen as "my salary + a bit more".

There is a wider divide at play here. Public sector pay has increased greatly due to benchmarking, but benchmarking against private sector rather than other OECD public sectors, as hindsight would now show to have been wiser.

The narrative both within Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin is the public sector worker is being hammered, and from government is that they wish they didn't have to cut it, whereas the reality is Ireland was paying its public servants more than it could sustainably afford for much of the last decade. These pay increases would not have been awarded to the extent that they were by any government taking a long-term view.

Where we lost our way
I recently watched a clip of  UK Labour MP Glenda Jackson launch a tirade against Thatcherism, it's destructive effect on the UK and the legacy of it's leader. Although my favourite part of the clip was watching the Speaker of the Commons put some Tory toff back in his box, the most striking  thing from Jackson's articulate, considered, top class oration was the line:

"Greed, selfishness, sharp elbows, sharp knees... an aspirational society, it aspired for things...people knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing"

She raises a valid point. Whilst it is often said Fianna Fáil blew the boom, people fail to realise that Fianna Fáil gave the boom to the people, which turns out had a worse effect. We got roads, hospitals, schools social amenities, but to imagine the steps forward we could have taken if the conditions weren't created whereby a young couple who were, taking a common example, an accountant and teacher could walk into a bank, and not only get a mortgage for a home, but also leave with a loan for an investment property, then we wouldn't have had a property bubble, we wouldn't have had a banking collapse.

The narrative has to change. The government isn't out to get anyone, it's attempting to rectify a gross mistake, a mistake made in good faith and with the best of intentions, to give people money, rather than provide them with state services, to inflate wages, therefore prices.

Paying our public servants well is by no means a mistake, but paying them too well, and creating conditions whereby planned pay rises (for that is what increments are to anyone living in the real world)  could be used to leverage loans, was a fatal mistake made by every government since the mid 1990s, which has left Ireland morally bankrupt.

We will get over the money. It took the Germans a century to pay back Versailles. They've lost everything, twice. Maybe when German legistlators become outraged at our cost base we should listen up. We will get over the money we have foolishly enabled ourselves to lose through the ballot box, what is yet to be seen is whether our society can recover, can we again become a nation where we know the value of everything, and the price is a secondary factor.

One of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave me was the freedom to learn the value of money. From a young age I earned my own money, and I had to figure out how best to spend it or not. Many people of my generation, and those born in the 90s have surpassed the conundrum posed by Glenda Jackson, they know neither the price nor the value of anything, because they never had to buy anything for themselves, let alone earn the money to get it.

Until we have a society supported by an economy Ireland isn't recovering anytime soon.

Croke Park Must be Revisited

Some time ago I was facilitated by a TD in asking a parliamentary question on savings that could be achieved on a tiered pay reduction basis at the Department of Education and Skills.

The response was quite shocking to me. Protecting those who pay the standard rate of tax from any reductions with a 0% reduction and taking €3.05 per week from a €60,000 gross salary (representing a 0.26% reduction)  or €255.45 per week from a €200,000 gross salary (representing a 6.64% reduction) on an 8 point sliding scale from 0% to 15% a saving of just under €21 million (€21,000,000) can be achieved, that is before freezing increments until 2015 is taken into account, just in ONE department.

So with this in mind I did some sums. Taking into account that these costs are budgeted, they should not be taken solely as a saving to the exchequer. €20.9 million would employ just over 1,000 graduate special needs assistants, almost 600 graduate teachers or provide almost 1 million tutorial hours at third level, yet all of these things are being cut to protect pay and conditions for existing staff.

Does that sound like public service? Just to be clear, I don't begrudge anyone their salary, but the stark reality is we need more frontline public servants than we need to protect the pay of those already employed.

If replicated across the entire public sector, the service levels provided would likely be in for a vast improvement. It's not that we can't afford these things, it's that our government chooses not to take difficult decisions. A pay reduction to just under €187,000 still leaves a substantial salary, more than government ministers, and the new salary of the Taoiseach under such a regime of pay reductions.

I intend on asking a favour again to see what the levels of saving would be in other government departments, state agencies and QUANGOs. I'll blog again when I hear back