The politics of contempt

Lies, concealment and contempt for the people are the hallmarks of much political behaviour in Ireland. By Vincent Browne.

Amid all the bluster about the health of our democracy, accountability to the electorate, the sanctity of the ballot box, there is at the heart of our political culture a contempt for the people, a conviction that parties can say anything to get elected and then do what they like.

There's the odd lie to the people here and there - sometimes whopping lies but, more regularly, concealment.

As for the people having any direct say in the major decisions, that, apparently, is not what our democracy is about. It is about electing representatives who, in turn, elect a Taoiseach, who then appoints a cabal (cabinet) who then take all the decisions, accountable to no one.

Just take two examples: the promises made before the last election by Fine Gael and Labour, and the carry-on of Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen (aided and abetted by their Fianna Fáil cabinet colleagues) over the use of Shannon Airport for criminal purposes by the US military.

In its election manifesto, Fine Gael said: ''The current IMF-EU bail-out plan signed has not - and will not - restore confidence in Ireland, because at its heart is a commitment to continue the failed banking policies of the present government."

Fine Gael, in government, is now meticulously implementing this plan - and claiming credit for doing so.

The manifesto stated: ''Borrowing up to €25 billion in additional funds from the EU/ IMF at 5.8 per cent to cover additional bank losses from firesales of loans and other bank assets at rock-bottom prices, as this government has agreed, will push Irish government debt towards unsustainable levels and hinder economic recovery, threatening the stability of the entire euro area."

Fine Gael, in government, is now persisting with the plan which it said was pushing us towards ''unsustainable levels'' of debt.

It sought a mandate ''to renegotiate a more credible, fairer package that is better for Ireland and Europe''. But that was given up after a few days in office.

It said it would defer further recapitalisation of the banks until it knew the outcome of the prudential capital assessment review.

The implication was that, if the review revealed that the recapitalisation was going to be far greater than anticipated, Fine Gael in government would not proceed with that.

The review found recapitalisation was indeed far greater and, without hesitation, Fine Gael did precisely what it implied it would not do.

It said it would support the introduction of water charges only when responsibility for water delivery was transferred to a single national water company. It is going ahead with water charges anyway.

It said a recurring residential property tax was unfair.

Environment minister Phil Hogan has announced we are going to have a property charge which, we will no doubt be told, is an entirely different thing from a property tax.

Labour also promised to get revisions to the EU/IMF deal.

It said bank bondholders should share in the bank losses. It promised the establishment of an independent investment bank.

A few days ago, John Perry, a Fine Gael minister for state, was being interviewed on radio by phone, and was asked what he was doing about a pledge he made during the election campaign to restore cancer services at Sligo general hospital.

He hung up the phone.

The others don't quite do that, but they get testy - as if breaking election promises is of no consequence and we should concentrate on the important issues.

Now we find out what we suspected anyway - that, while in office, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen sought to confuse the issue of the use of Shannon Airport by the US military for criminal purposes (being the abduction of people in foreign countries and their transfer to torture camps elsewhere in the world).

Courtesy of WikiLeaks, we learn that the former US ambassador to Ireland, Thomas Foley, reported back to the State Department that a senior official in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs had told him that the establishment of a cabinet sub-committee to consider the issue of the use of Shannon possibly for such criminal activities (alias rendition flights) was nothing to worry about.

The subcommittee was just a sop to the Green Party and, while there might be a bit of ''noise'' over the issue, it would die down and nothing would happen.

Cowen told the embassy shortly after he became Taoiseach: ''The US can count on continued support for its military flight activities at Shannon."

There was no way of forcing Ahern or Cowen to come clean on Shannon, no possibility of any Oireachtas committee finding out what was going on.

Over the next few weeks, we will hear a lot about political reform, but the fundamental issue will remain ignored: the unaccountability of government to the Oireachtas because the government controls the Oireachtas through the whips and there is an iron determination to keep that as it is. Incidentally, there is one way of achieving real accountability - the reform of the Seanad through direct elections and more powers.

But it won't happen.