Flying in from Chicago

Comment

PJ Francis, a native of Ballyvaughan living in the US, offers a stateside view on modern Irish politics.

I recently boarded an airplane in Chicago and travelled to Dublin. After a short wait I boarded another airplane that brought me to Shannon. I have never been able to take the sheer wonder of being able to do this for granted.

As I waited in Dublin enjoying the sunshine, I thought of all the people who were responsible for my journey. It had been several weeks earlier when I sat in the comfort of my own home and booked the flight on my computer. I was even able to choose which seat I wished to sit in for the flight. I was provided with information concerning the exact time I would arrive at my destination. Awesome.
Pilots, flight attendants, airport workers, computer experts, in-flight catering operators, cleaning staff, maintenance people and many, many more were involved.
Then, when I settle in back in Ireland, I see that the breed of individuals known as Irish politicians are continuing with their struggle to treat the Irish aeronautical industry as an oilcan to lubricate their own wheel at the cost of everyone else. Can those people not see the whole machine must be oiled to keep it in good working order?
It would seem obvious to any observer that politicians should not be arguing about Dublin Airport being better than Shannon Airport. Instead of trying to advance one at the cost of the other, they should be working together to protect and promote both.
Of course, Ireland is a country where politics is an industry in its own right. The needs of constituents and country often come way down their list of priorities.
Ireland was once a country young men felt was worth dying for. They chose to sacrifice their lives rather than live in a country ruled by foreigners. What did they believe their demise would help bring about? What sort of a country would they have wished Ireland to be? Even the most extensive trawl through the annals of history fails to explain that to us. What was the vision of those idealists? Freedom, independence and self-determination?
How would they view the goings-on in modern Irish politics if they were to return? Imagine Pearse, Collins, Tone and other martyrs sitting in the public gallery while present day politicians lambast each other. How would they feel on witnessing each elected representative putting forward the interests of his/her piece of turf with scant disregard for the big picture?
If the Shannon/Dublin monster raised its ugly head once again surely one of those people would jump up and say, “Why are you people arguing for the airport in your own neighborhood when you should be working together for the betterment of both?”
The Ceann Comhairle would bang his gavel and have them removed. If there were still lunatic asylums in the country, they would be incarcerated there.
Later on, press releases would be issued and politicians would appear on talking-head TV programmes. Individual politicians would argue with a programme host who asked impertinent questions. Answers would be provided for questions that were never asked.
“Going back to the question of…” they would repeat loudly and stubbornly until the presenter caved in. That, folks, is a politician at work.
Any viewer with a modicum of brainpower would realise that many politicians were merely performing a practiced ritual of justifying their existence.
It would be a brave and foolhardy programme host who would say, “Oh, and by the way, how much money do you actually receive?” If a host with a predilection for self-destruction ever took that road we can only hope he/she would not make the mistake of asking, “How much do you earn?”
They do not earn a penny of the enormous wages bestowed upon them. People who decide they are never, ever going to work for a living, pursue a career as an Irish politician. They have observed farmers, binmen, couriers, dock-workers and mechanics and decided that sort of thing is not for them.
Admittedly, some have scrimped and saved to become qualified in legal, business or similar institutions when they realise their qualifications would be better utilised in politics. An educated politician has a head-start on his academically challenged companions.
I am reminded that Irish voters put the politicians in the positions of power, however. Our wonderful democratic system places them where they are. But the voters are not to blame.
When one is fishing in a pond full of minnows one can only catch minnows. Only a certain type of person runs for elected positions in Ireland. That is the way it has been since the formation of the state and, by all accounts, that is the way it will be.
Have you noticed recently how members of so-called “alternative” political parties are conforming? (You’ll get nowhere wearing a baggy gansy, lads.)
You have to talk the talk and walk the walk. Well, talk the talk, anyway. You won’t be walking much if your election bid unsuccessful.
I will soon board an airplane at Shannon bound for Dublin and get another one there back to Chicago. As Ireland faces a new economic challenge, I would like to see politicians putting personal and partisan differences and bailing furiously to keep Ireland afloat. Remember, it does not make a lick of difference who steered the country onto the rocks. It is your job to refloat it.