Political System Has Failed People Of Ireland

Political System Has Failed People Of Ireland

People have been left alienated by the political system, which has totally disengaged itself from their concerns and well being. There has been a breakdown in the social fabric of communities across County Clare as a result of the failings of the current administration and an over emphasis on the “requirement to protect the financial well-being of the well-to-do”.


Families and entire communities across Clare have been ripped apart by the scourge of emigration which has been forced upon them by a failing political system and a complete void of policies that encourage social as well as economic recovery. In my own community of Shannon I have witnessed scores of young people reluctantly emigrating as they see no hope of securing employment in this country. Politics and politicians have failed these people.

The very institutions set up to protect the citizens of Ireland have failed these people by disengaging themselves from the needs of and issues affecting citizens. Politics and those operating within the system need to take a step back and adopt more of a social conscience in their policy making decisions. We need a change of mindset to not only reinvigorate the political system but restore confidence among the electorate, particularly our young people.

The ESRI’s prediction that some 50,000 people will emigrate this year, and 25,000 jobs will be lost in 2011 is a damning indictment of the approach adopted by the current administration to addressing the economic situation now facing the country. Up to a few years ago you would have been forgiven for thinking that the mass emigration we are now experiencing was an aspect of Irish life long confined to the history books. For a country whose people were often driven from their native land by a repressive foreign power, it is deeply regrettable that our own elected Government are now responsible for giving our people no alternative but to leave Ireland in search of a better life for themselves and their families in places like Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. There is however an alternative, and the people of County Clare will be able to vote for this alternative on February 25 next.

The creative energies of Ireland’s young people that we have fostered and are now losing to emigration will be placed at the forefront of every policy adopted by Fine Gael in Government. Fine Gael and I, as a candidate for the party in the forthcoming election, are committed to putting the interests of communities across Ireland back to the top of the agenda, replacing the ‘protecting the minority’ type approach of the present Fianna Fail led Government. In its strategy for Reinviting Government and getting Ireland back on track Fine Gael has clearly outlined how it intends to do this by re-imagining our country and reinventing how we run our Government.

Policies should be formulated and implemented from the bottom up as opposed to the top down. Under a Fine Gael led Government the interests, concerns and needs of the people of Ireland will take precedence over the commercial interests of the very few who have brought this county to its knees, both economically and socially. February 25 represents the beginning of this policy shift, one that will have positive consequences for a people who are in desperate need of having a restored sense of confidence in the political system as well as in their country’s capacity to return to economic growth and self sufficiency.