It's difficult to watch what is happening at home when you are in another country. I have found that for the most part, I have felt that it has been important for me to keep up to date with the political goings on these last few months. Previously I was uninterested in any form of political discussions. They bored me and I really had no time for what I percieved as "grown up" business. I had no idea what NAMA was, nor did I care. Politicians names meant nothing to me and I just carried on with my own interests. I've never voted for anyone and I'm not even registered. That all changed for two reasons. Firstly, I moved here, to Italy and was faced with the prospect of being outside my own country for the longest time I have yet experienced (my longest stay abroad before this was seven days.) The second reason was Ireland pretty much collapsed. I found myself reading news articles online and watching current affairs programs that were previously the reason I left the sitting room when my Dad turned them on. I started to put names to faces, what their agendas were and found out that politics was infinity more boring and fascinating then I had otherwise thought.
I envy anyone who is going to vote in Friday's general election. I worked myself up into a fervor and went about seeing if I could register online and vote from here. Americans can do it, I thought, surely I can? But no, I cant. Irony of ironies, now that I want to vote, I'm not allowed because I dont currently reside in Ireland.
I have watched two of the three leader's debates (I didnt bother with the TG4 one due to that hilarious affliction of not being able to speak Irish because i'm Irish.) and I was quite surprised with how I felt after they were finished. Each party made some valid points that i could understand and get behind. FF has obviously wrecked my country and given the chance I wouldnt vote for them If I was paid, but Micheal Martin does seem to be a decent enough chap. Now, that may be because he's the captain of a sinking ship and so has nothing to lose so he can just say what he feels. This is a commodity that a lot of politicians dont have. Gerry Adams and Pearse Doherty made excellent points that unfortunately were hindered by the tarnished reputation of both Sinn Féin and Mr Adams himself. In an election dominated by the economy, SF just doesnt know how to cope. If it wernt for that, they may very well have had a fighting chance. Labour has benifited from FF public disgrace and for that, most likely have a place in the next government. But its FG and Enda Kenny who are finnaly going to have their day.
If this election had've been called for and run before xmas, a vastly different scenario would be looming. Had the Greens and the FF back-benchers had had the stones to actually bring down the government back then, who knows where we would be by now. Maybe thats a good thing that we arnt though. Who can tell. Personally, I think the Dáil should've been disolved before xmas, the budget put on hold until after a new government was elected, but sure, that why i'm not a politician. I have no career to think of. Nothing to worry about if I say things out of turn or things that rub people up the wrong way. Just as well, cus I do that a lot.
I like the Idea of Independents running for office, just so long as they dont turn out to be anything like that Micheal Lowry of Jakie cunt rag Rae. Even the look of that wanker annoys me. Hopefully, after all the promises and speeches and talk of reform, we get rid of people like that from not just the Irish political scene, but Ireland in general. It's people like that who contributed to the rape and plunder of Ireland and they should be punished for it. The only realistic way of punishment I can see if by going out on Friday and not voting Fianna Fail. Let the party be decimated. The reason they stayed in power so long was not just because people voted for them, but because they had always voted for them and so felt a kind of mis-placed loyalty. Its like a bad relationship. You know you should end it, but you've been together for so long that you just dont. They've had their time, now let others have a go. Hopefully they dont get back in straight away either. A rose tinted fondness will no doubt start to shine on FF in years to come. People will either forget or simply forgive what they did. Just like when that bad relationship eventually ends, you cant suddenly say Ah sure, we had some good times. Yeah, we did, but we also had shitty times brought about by fundamental differences, deceit and down right corruption.
Governments work for us. We should tell them what to do, not the other way around. Its my hope that in 4 years time, if whoever is elected on Friday fails to live up to what we want from them, a new party is elected. If something doesnt work, you try something new. You dont keep going back and forth between the same two broken systems. So, I say let FF crumble. Let them go the way of the PD's and dissolve. If in time, they re-group and proove that they have changed for the better, only then should we reward them with another chance.
This bizzare, rambling, self serving rant has ended. Go in peace.
(I was gonna translate this into Italian but fuck that shit! lol)
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