Anger rising
Opinion: All hell will break loose, and by God I will lead it
Austin Currie's words at the genesis of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement seem oddly appropriate right now. Not any longer are we the apathetic middle class nation we had all figured we'd become in the years of, such as they were, economic prosperity. Oh no, looking at the news there are so many protests going on even the French are being put to shame. Teachers, soldiers, old people, young people, it seems the only people who aren't protesting are the eighty-odd lunatics running this particular asylum.
For over ten years the idea that Fianna Fáil (and indeed the PD's) have turned Ireland from the sick man of Europe to the little country that could has been all-pervasive. And yet now, when the economic excreta has hit the fan, apparently it's the whole world's fault. Funny that. More than willing to take the credit when we were in the upswing, passing the buck when disaster strikes. That's not leadership, that's Larry Tate from Bewitched.
So, even though FF and the PD's (The Greens are mere tea ladies in this whole scenario) have presided over the best economic times in the country's history, by their own terms, they've still had to make epic cuts in some areas and unacceptable hikes in others. Makes you wonder what a crappy government would have had to do then, I guess. Except, most people saw this coming.
Problem was, when economists, opposition politicians, pundits and what have you were suggesting that the economic success was built on poor foundations, or that it was unsustainable, the government were dismissing any dissent or concern as the work of ignorant naysayers, jealous busybodies or ingrates. More often than not, their response involved the suggestion that people talking the economy down would actually make it take a turn for the worst. I know this because I was one of those aforementioned pundits the government were so fond of mocking a few months ago.
So now the “Dude, keep cool, the economy will be fine!” defence has failed miserably, and the government realise the magic beans they've invested in these last eleven years aren't growing. So they are panicking, and not just panicking, they're making ‘a hames’ of it. Any progress they have made in power has now been eroded by classrooms getting larger, third level fees going up, medical cards being rescinded and army barracks being closed. This is happening even though benefits for any of these measures are hard to find.
At least the one thing that has stayed strong over this period of economic flux is the unrivalled arrogance of the Fianna Fáil party. Batt O'Keefe is calling for national unity like he's Churchill or something, Willie O'Dea seems either bemused or indifferent as to why everyone is so angry, while James McDaid, who is to politics what candy floss is to teeth, has indicated that anybody who questions the government's policy on bank bailouts must have a very low IQ. He also suggested that worse cuts were to come, and had the audacity to suggest that since Fine Gael and Labour wouldn't do much better, we may as well suck it up with the government we have at the moment.
While I don't particularly appreciate a TD who drove the wrong way up a dual carriageway questioning people's intelligence, he's merely emblematic of a government cornered and clueless. All hell has broken loose, and there are plenty of people ready to take up the mantle of leadership. And not a moment too soon either.
Your Comments
There are no comments for this article yet, please leave one!
Login to leave a comment on this article
Login | Sign Up