Elaine Byrne and the Bebo revolution

I really do despair when I read the complete and utter rubbish sometimes written by opinion makers like Irish Times columnist Elaine Byrne.

In last Tuesday’s edition Byrne tells us that the youth of Ireland are on the march to create a better Ireland; that they are:

challenging the traditional orthodoxies that left the State with such a dearth of values.

What? Where are these young people? Where is this revolution? What challenges have they faced up to and overcome? Where are the visible and definitive signs that the youth of Ireland have made any impact whatsoever?

Byrne gives some examples of this ‘revolution’. Her sister took a photograph of a rock band member draped in the Irish flag and proudly posted it on her Bebo page.

Another young person speaks of the recession bringing forward a national self-awareness – where is this self awareness, I certainly have seen no evidence of it.

A law student from Galway says:

We may be children of the 1980s but we are not prisoners of the 1980s. We have the ability to lead and change this country.

Lead and change the country? Are we to expect a massive countrywide student demonstration that will bring the old (1980s) system crashing down to be replaced by an enlightened, progressive, fair and accountable regime?

Self-serving protests against the reintroduction of college fees are the only activity I’ve witnessed from students in recent times.

If the youth of Ireland are planning such a revolutionary change they must be planning it in a bunker deep within the Irish Times with immediate execution for anyone who lets the secret out because, to date, there’s absolutely no sign of action, passion or revolution from the youth of Ireland.

The same corrupt political system is still in place, the same corrupt financial sector is still in place, the same corrupt regulatory system is still in place, the same corrupt civil service is still in place and as we know only too well the same corrupt and still powerful church system is still in place.

Byrne continues with her praise of this mythical Irish youth with:

It has always been, throughout our history, the positivity and passion of young Ireland that has challenged the traditional orthodoxies of older generations.

Significantly, to support this ridiculous claim, she can only provide examples of revolutionary passion from people who were dead before the creation of our failed modern state.

People like Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Parnell, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. Sean Lemass gets a mention and he did indeed make a positive contribution to modern Ireland but all his good work was negated when the criminal Haughey took power and laid the foundations for the overtly corrupt banana republic the youth of today are, according to Byrne, on the brink of revolutionising.

Byrne sees another strand of change in the transformation of the age profile in political parties. The suggestion being that the youth are coming to the fore in politics; that this transformation will result in major change in how things are done in Ireland.

Again, there is no evidence to support this claim; no evidence of a political youth revolution; we don’t even hear raised voices from this sector.

When is the last time we witnessed protests or street marches from the youth wing of Fianna Fail or indeed Fine Gael or Labour? The youth of all the main political parties parrot their masters, they do what they’re told and that, invariably, is to follow the party line.

Have a look at the performance of Fianna Fail TD Dara Calleary on a recent Frontline programme. He looks and performs like a robotic clone just off the assembly line faithfully regurgitating dishonest Fianna Fail speak that has become the dominant symbol of that corrupt party.

If Elaine Byrne and her ‘revolutionary’ youth were in any way connected to the reality of what Ireland has become they would be organizing the wrecking balls to demolish Leinster House to serve as a symbol of our failed state.

They would be banning all sitting politicians from public office for at least ten years for their betrayal of the Irish people and they would be implementing a programme of education that would see the Irish people finally understand that political power belongs to them and not to the rabble of crooks and shysters who have created and ruled over our pathetic little banana republic for far too many years.

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Elaine Byrne