A dangerous leadership vacuum

[Utopian Hermit Monk]

Ireland desperately needs leadership right now.
That leadership should, ideally, emanate from the political sector. However, there is no indication that the present Dail and/or Seanad has the capacity to provide such leadership. I cannot think of a single TD or Senator who has the credibility, personal charisma and political talent necessary to inspire the nation in the midst of the current crisis and steer us towards greener pastures.

As a figure who is, theoretically, above and beyond the vagaries of day-to-day party politics, Uachtarán na hEireann could, potentially, play a key role in rallying the people and strengthening national resolve. Unfortunately, our present Uachtarán has become practically invisible, and has failed to display an iota of leadership in our hour of need. If anything, with her grossly inflated salary (far exceeding that of the Taoiseach, who, in turn, famously earns more than the U.S. President) and cosetted existence in the Aras, Uachtarán na hEireann is yet another symbol of our national malaise, rather than a credible contributor to any solution.

Leadership should include the capacity to harness all available talent in order to formulate practical proposals and devise realistic strategies. It is often pointed out that a leader's primary role is to articulate a vision of the possible. Leaders are not mere managers. There are times, however, when immediate solutions are either not forthcoming or completely out of the question. In that kind of scenario, leadership should provide inspiration and fortitude in the face of unavoidable hardship.

Recent history provides many examples of this latter variety of leadership. One that springs to mind is the extraordinary resilience of the British people during the Blitz. Numerous Churchillian pronouncements could be cited here, but it is worth recalling the role of then-Queen Elizabeth, also. After Buckingham Palace took the first of nine direct bomb hits, she declared: "I am glad the Palace has been bombed - it makes me feel that I can look the East End in the face again".



Could any of our current 'leaders' look the vulnerable, elderly, unemployed, etc. 'in the face'? With their salaries, pensions, perks and privileges (including doorless helicopters!!), have they become hopelessly insulated from the concerns and fears of the 'ordinary people' they are supposed to represent? Unlike them, the Blitz-time British Queen grasped the importance of being seen to 'share the pain'. The same could be said of a Gandhi, Mandela or King.

Looking beyond the world of politics, the prospects for effective leadership seem equally bleak at present. The Church could/should be a credible moral voice - one recalls Archbishop Romero of El Salvador, and numerous other ecclesiastical champions of the poor in Latin America and elsewhere. Tragically, the Irish Catholic Church (I mention it, as the majority institution), is mired in its own internal moral crisis. Apart from the obvious self-inflicted damage resulting from the sexual abuse scandals, the Church as an institution seems remote from the problems of Ireland's 'East End'. If the Archbishop of Dublin can afford to spend half a million euro on a recent redecoration of his 'palace', we can safely assume that he does not 'share the pain' of those who are hardest hit by this crisis. In general, the bishops and clergy are perceived to live a recession-proof existence, far removed from those who have to worry about job losses or house repossessions.

The worlds of academia, the arts, etc., are equally bereft of towering figures, capable of buoying up the national spirit. Such figures played a key role in the decades before independence, feeding the national imagination with elements of a vision for a new Ireland. We could do with such figures right now, but, alas, they appear to be sorely lacking.

So, we are left waiting for a 'Godot', and if a 'Godot' - political or otherwise - fails to appear in our midst, we may be in for some extremely troubled times. Of course, we must be on our guard, also, against a rush to enthrone just any old 'Godot'. Even mediocre and ineffective leaders are preferable to crowd-pleasing rabblerousers who could lead us, like lemmings, over a precepice.

We are living in interesting times!

[louball]

excellent post!

[Utopian Hermit Monk]

thanks, louball



We need the political equivalent of B. O'Driscoll's performance last Saturday

but what we have is this:

[jpc]

Excellent post.
It ties in with how one would define the "golden circle"
FF have had the ability to appoint the vast majority of people to many of the position you mention in your post .
This along with the approval of totally inappropriate salary levels v other European countries for the individuals in these positions has led to the culture of non acceptance of blame.
If you accept blame God forbid you might be obliged to relinquish your cushy state appointed post and the salary and perks.
Who approved the wage increases? People appointed by the state?Another rock to pry under.
A situation has developed where everyone in the upper echelons is tied into the status quo by large salaries, and the unissued but understood threat that if you rock the boat that you, or people close to you will not pick up nice state post's.
There is in reverse the understanding that a position will be available in the private sector if you do the right thing while in public service.
So how can you expect any real honest leadership in these circumstances?
This clique have lived in a comfort zone of their own design for far too long courtesy of the electorate.

[advertismo]

The utter reluctance of the opposition parties to spell out exactly how & why FF were culpable in what went on here (immigration/tax-concession to boost housing demand, extensive collaboration with the construction & banking industries - in short speculation - the same as gambling but you set the odds yourself, and fix the result) shows at least covert approval if not co-involvement.
And the only thing they are trying to do is get the housing/speculation industry going again, and prop it up in the meantime with mortgage-lender bailouts.
The only hope for the country, at the risk of sounding apocalyptic, is the utter annihilation of the existing political class.
There is no coming back from what they have done, and they are beyond reform.
Surely there is talent, honesty and leadership enough in other sections of our community who can fill the deficit ?
Economists are servants; not leaders.

[Utopian Hermit Monk]

A situation has developed where everyone in the upper echelons is tied into the status quo by large salaries, and the unissued but understood threat that if you rock the boat that you, or people close to you will not pick up nice state post's....
This clique have lived in a comfort zone of their own design for far too long courtesy of the electorate.

The only hope for the country, at the risk of sounding apocalyptic, is the utter annihilation of the existing political class.
There is no coming back from what they have done, and they are beyond reform.
Surely there is talent, honesty and leadership enough in other sections of our community who can fill the deficit ?

I believe the talented people are certainly present in Irish society.
Could they be persuaded to get involved in politics?
And, short of a complete clean-out of the Leinster House stables, could new people avoid becoming contaminated by the prevailing political culture?

[Dios]

Its worth pointing out that some of us on p.ie have been trying to organise (see sig) and form a coherent response to the current crisis. I've been keeping the ear to the ground in a lot of places, there are nascent political groups cropping up all over the place. I've contacted the ones that are most prominent and least nutty (the rise on the extreme right is particularly worrying), and have thus far received an overwhelmingly positive response.

There may not be any Godots amongst our numbers, and despite best efforts it may not go anywhere, but don't say that nobody is trying to do anything.

We're aiming to have a website outlining policies and whatnot in full within about six weeks, complete with threaded discussion forums on each one and a range of other facilities. You can take a look at the outline of it here.

The general idea at this time is to gather ideas and filter out the good ones, all ideas are welcome but not all will make the cut. The broad policy goal is economic recovery, based on infrastructure and public works buildout, educational reskilling and upskilling, and a major focus on setting up self sustaining domestic export based industries. Also we're looking at a reform and rejuvenation of the political system to move away from parish pump and donkey cart politics, and public sector reform. Its a solutions based group, neither right nor left - dogma is a cloak that hides too many ills.

[Utopian Hermit Monk]

Thanks for the info, Dios, and congrats on the initiative.
I've just PM'd you to sign up to the group.

[Dios]

Welcome, and thanks for joining. The more people get involved and active the better an idea we'll have of what the country needs in the short and long term.

[Right is right]

I believe the talented people are certainly present in Irish society.
Could they be persuaded to get involved in politics?
And, short of a complete clean-out of the Leinster House stables, could new people avoid becoming contaminated by the prevailing political culture?

I agree with the first part but the 2nd is an absolute no-no in this country....

Why on earth would anyone who is talented/bright etc want to go into a job to fix the country when the important thing to keep them in a job is attending funerals, getting people childrens allowances/medical cards and getting a broken kerb fixed...

The biggest problem in our political system is that the Irish people (and not meaning to cause too much offence) are stupid, incapable of thinking for themselves and have no concept of the bigger picture or even thinking of what the bigger picture is...

A prime example is Enda Kenny....Now Enda is no media person, comes accross poorly on soundbites etc but has a proven track record of rebuilding a totally devastated party, bringing through young people, giving them responsibility and managing a party properly but yet is slated cause he comes across poorly in front of the camera whereas Bertie the thieving corrupt politician gets rave reviews cause he says the right things on camera