Breda O'Brien
Former Taoiseach John Bruton reading his local paper. 
‘More Independents and smaller parties than ever before’ leads voters to ‘feel disenfranchised’, writes Breda O’Brien
Journalists love elections. They are an endless source of stories, and even in particularly dull elections, opinion polls can be used to drum up interest.
The next election promises to be anything but dull. In a recent article Geraldine Kennedy, who has covered 12 elections, gave 10 reasons why this election is different to any other.
Her 10 reasons start with the fact that there is no easily-identifiable alternative Taoiseach to be seen. She goes on to say that it is no longer about a two-and-a-half-party election, in other words, Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael in coalition with a smaller party.
Other major changes are that Fianna Fáil is no longer the dominant party. The economy is better now than it was at the last election. There are more woman candidates. Sinn Féin looks set for a real electoral advance.
She believes that there is a real ideological difference between parties and manifestos. There are more Independents and smaller parties than ever before. All parties are claiming ownership of 1916. The slogan of the campaign will be ‘stability or chaos’.
Some of Ms Kennedy’s observations are indisputable, but there is an aspect that she does not mention – lots of people who want to go out and vote feel that they have no one to vote for.
Among them are many committed Catholics, who traditionally would have voted for either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, but now wonder what on earth they would be endorsing if they did vote for them.
For example, Enda Kenny’s enthusiasm for referring the matter of abortion to a Constitutional Convention will fill many with dread. In a recent piece in the International Journal of Constitutional Law, Dr Eoin Carolan of UCD suggested that the Constitutional Convention had been oversold.
He says that “the process in fact suffered from a number of serious limitations that undermine its claims to either representative or deliberative legitimacy. The approach taken to its composition, agenda, expert advice and evidence was problematic in several respects: opaque, apparently ad hoc and with inadequate attention to the risks of bias and manipulation by elite actors. The Irish experience provides a warning about how the symbolic value of the ordinary citizen can be exploited for political purposes”.
Dr Carolan points out two of the convention members were married to each other, and that the second spouse was recruited when the first said that her husband would be interested in taking part. It was reported that other convention members were not aware that they were married, and both sought election to the internal organising committee. Another two participants were next door neighbours.
Even more serious, “no guidance was issued, for example, about the principles or procedures applied to agenda-setting, to the recruitment of experts or to the identification of persons to advocate for and against the proposal being considered by the convention at any given time.”
Dr Carolan suggests that the inclusion of socio-economic rights was evidence of how the process was influenced by interest groups. He also says that “the potential for citizen-led or citizen-oriented participatory processes to be used for political buck-passing should not be underestimated”. This is the process to which Enda Kenny wishes to entrust decisions about the most fundamental human right – the right to life.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said on a couple of occasions that his party will not initiate moves to repeal the Eighth Amendment. What exactly does that mean? It would not initiate but might follow?
Many of Fianna Fáil’s current TDs and senators are opposed to abortion, and a free vote is promised, but that is not enough to reassure.
Abortion is not the only issue of concern to Catholics. Michael Noonan recently said that his budgets had more or less put the country on the road to recovery, and he would like the chance to continue that recovery.
But at what price was this recovery gained? One thousand homeless children under eight in Dublin alone? Rising house prices as a sign of recovery? Mean-spirited cuts to lone parents? None of the parties currently represented in the Dáil appear to have a real commitment to tackling climate change, either.
Difference
Geraldine Kennedy may believe that there is a real ideological difference between parties, but there is no party that embodies Catholic social teaching on justice, which prioritises the needs of human beings over the needs of capitalism or indeed, radical socialism.
In fact, some of the so-called socialist alliances are closer to anarchists than socialists.
Despite the proliferation of so many small parties and groupings, no clear alternative to the stale politics-as-usual has emerged.
My advice? Don’t hide when candidates come to call. Clearly and politely explain why you feel disenfranchised. And where good candidates exist, canvass and vote for them.
