"Sometimes it be's not so good"
The temptation to ascribe all things
good to one's country is strong, accompanied
by a desire to cloak any shortcomings
which may mar its image throughout the
world.
For a number of years this and its
predecessor web site have presented
a view of much that is good in Ireland.
Balance demands that attention be paid
to the darker, cloudier aspects lest
they be shrouded from public consciousness
and remain festering sores that only
the lance wielded by an informed citizenry
can heal.
No. This isn't a call for another 1798
Revolution, tumbrels, guillotines and
all. Neither is it an echo of les Patriotes
du Quebec, nor of the destined to fail
1837 rebellion against the Family Compact
in Upper Canada.
We had our own partially successful
1916 Rising, and promptly fell into
Civil War that, in the 1920s, pitted
Irish family against Irish family, the
outcome of which lingers in the political
animosities of our own time.
One manifestation of those animosities
is the presence of not one but two Family
Compacts in the twenty-six county Republic
of Ireland, from which six counties
still under British rule are partitioned.
As illustrated by a letter writer to
the "Irish Independent" newspaper
last month:
"There appears to be no qualification
necessary to become a TD, other than
to have had a brother, sister, father
or mother in Dail Eireann, a phenomenon
that could be called "Inherited
Peerages Irish style".
Not wishing to belabour the point,
the above is true in the case of both
major parties in the Dail. The same
family names that appeared in its membership
in the 1920s and 1930s are still there.
And internecine party squabbles are
still the stuff of Irish politics.
The carping stories that follow are
the unfortunate issue of the two Family
Compacts.
The Bad Side
A report issued in April by the Joseph
Rowntree Charitable Trust was a stinging
indictment of public standards in present-day
Ireland.
Corruption, it found, was a central
theme of Irish life and politics.
The Trust commissioned the study on
which the report was based.
The study also found that human rights
standards in Ireland are below internationally
acceptable levels. Ireland, it stated,
had become one of the richest countries
in the European Union, but had also
as one of the most unequal.
In its bluntest assessment the report
stated:
"Ireland is now regarded as one
of the more corrupt European states."
It was the second report commissioned
by the trust written by Mr.Brian Harvey,
an independent social policy consultant.
For those interested, an extensive
summary of the report may be found at
http://www.jrct.org.uk/
The Ugly Side
The next story concerns the unhappy
state of affairs faced by teachers and
students in the partitioned Six Counties
of Ireland. It was graphically told
by two teachers attending a recent meeting
of the Irish National Teachers Organisation.
Among the incidents they described
was the wearing of hard hats by children
in their school playground to protect
them from metal nuts and bolts being
thrown at them from outside the school
grounds.
Some pupils were actually stoned, and
others had balloons filled with urine
thrown at them.
One teacher's classroom was invaded
by two gunmen who threatened to kill
him.
The agonisingly long ordeal undergone
by children as young as four years of
age seeking to attend Holy Cross school
in Belfast has been featured on this
web page previously, and may be accessed
at Hate-Lifelong
Hate--Worldwide and The
Unholy Walls of Belfast.
One of the teachers described the events
as "the explosion of a volcanic
hatred that had been bubbling away for
the last 30 years."
The Low Side
Results of a poll commissioned by the
European Commission which were recently
released reflect the failure of the
two Irish Family Compacts to merit the
trust of the people whom they have purported
to represent for the last seventy odd
years.
In round figures just over 6% of the
Irish have faith in their politicians.
In this matter of trust they differ
little from other people in other member
states of the European Union. In Europe
generally only 6.6% said they had confidence
in politicians.
Unless there is a sea change in their
performance, or in public consciousness,
members of the Family Compacts will
continue to be held in low esteem following
the General Election scheduled to be
held in the Twenty-Six Counties of the
Republic on May
..
The Cynical Side
The following end of term paper was
recently recovered from a wastepaper
basket.
Ethics 101 for the ethically challenged
politician.
Please answer all questions truthfully
and honestly.
Q. Two constituents seek my support
in securing a job. The first absent-mindedly
leaves a brown envelope containing €500
on my desk The second is my brother-in-law
by my first wife. Which one should I
support?
A. The first.
Q. Two other constituents seek my support
in securing a job. The first absent-mindedly
leaves a brown envelope containing €500
on my desk. The second is the brother
of my current mistress. Which one should
I support?
A. The second.
Q. Two other constituents seek my support
in securing a job. The first absent-mindedly
leaves a brown envelope containing €1,000
on my desk. The second is a nephew by
my first wife. . Which one should I
support?
A. The first.
Q. Two other constituents seek my support
in securing a job. Both absent-mindedly
leave envelopes containing €500
on my desk. Neither is related to me.
Which one should I support?
A. Defer decision. Another brown envelope
may suddenly turn up.
Q. Two other constituents seek my support
in securing a job. One is exceptionally
qualified. The other is a well known
supporter of my party. Which should
I support?
A. The second.
Q. What should I do with all the brown
envelopes?
A. What brown envelopes?
The Good Side
All is not black. There are many, many
credits that all too often are lost
sight of during the onrushing press
of events that catch the latest headlines
or the short-lived attention of newscasts.
One came to mind with the sad news
that in April "friendly fire"
from an American Air Force pilot killed
four Canadians in Afghanistan, members
of the Canadian military force serving
with the U.S. led coalition seeking
to rout terrorist elements within that
sorely war-battered country.
That death has been the fate of Canadian
and Irish military forces serving as
peacekeepers under the auspices of the
United Nations should never be forgotten.
In this latest tragedy the sympathy
of all Ireland goes out to the grieving
Canadian families of those who lost
their lives in this latest disaster.
An article in our October issue, Irish
and Canadian Peacekeepers may serve
to keep in memory the fallen of both
countries.
Footnote: Readers curious about
the main heading may consult The
Irish Dáil and Seanad-A Reporter's
Reminiscences.
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