Political corruption is the single most important issue for the people of Ireland in this election.
Political corruption is the reason the people of Ireland destroyed Fianna Fail in the last election.
The hope that political corruption would be acknowledged and dealt with is the reason Fine Gael and Labour were elected in 2011.
And yet, political corruption is the rampaging elephant in the room that is studiously ignored, not just by the main political parties, but also by the great bulk of establishment journalists.
These journalists confine themselves strictly to analysing the current fluid political landscape created by political corruption but never, ever actually mention the elephant in the room.
They write about Fianna Fail as if corruption within that party was not principally responsible for the economic and social catastrophe of 2008.
They write about Fine Gael and Labour as if these parties were not willing participants in infecting the body politic and wider society with the disease of corruption.
It’s akin to analysing and opinionating on the fallout following the sinking of the Titanic but at the same time, pretending that the ship was still afloat.
Take journalist Alison O’Connor for example. In an article in last Friday’s Irish Examiner she tells us that Fine Gael won the 2011 election because Fianna Fail mishandled the economy.
Wrong.
Fine Gael won the election on the back of a promise to change the way politics was done in Ireland. In other words, to root out the political corruption that has blighted Ireland for decades.
Ms. O’Connor, in common with all other establishment journalists, seems to be totally unaware that Ireland is going through a dramatic and historic transition whereby the people are rejecting the old corrupt regime in favour of those who want to create a genuinely democratic republic.
All such political transitions throughout history involve a degree of instability as the old regime fights to retain its corrupt power in the face of rejection by ordinary people.
As an establishment journalist Ms. O’Connor does not see the driving force that is dramatically changing the Irish political landscape. She still operates in the old regime mindset, refusing to believe that the ship is sinking.
Her concern for an election outcome that would see a hung Dail confirms her old regime mindset.
We need to reflect long and hard on that (a hung Dail) and what it would mean for a country that still has its economic stabilisers on.
She fails to see that the people of Ireland do not see the economy as the most important issue, that they do not fear political instability if it means an end to political corruption, that they are no longer afraid of the state, of government, of change.
It is fascinating to observe journalists like Ms. O’Connor analyse the election and politics in general as if the dramatic and historic transition taking place in Irish politics since 2008 was not happening.
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Ms. O’Connor
