Political Representation: A luxury for the good times and a way to save money in the bad?

This week Minister Hogan annouced plans to reduce the number of TDs in Dail Eireann:

“Minister Hogan said: “The new Government intends to lead by example and start change at the top. Irish politics needs to start delivering for the Irish people and this Government is determined to make real, tangible reforms which will make the political system leaner and more efficient for its citizens. As part of that agenda, the terms of reference for the Constituency Commission will be changed to provide for a reduced number of TDs.  A Constituency Commission is due to be established upon the publication of the 2011 Census preliminary results, which are due in June.  That Commission will report within three months of the publication of final census results in 2012.”[i]

Article 16.2 lays down the constitutionally acceptable represenation ratio as follows[ii]:

2. 1° Dáil Éireann shall be composed of members who represent constituencies determined by law.

2° The number of members shall from time to time be fixed by law, but the total number of members of Dáil Éireann shall not be fixed at less than one member for each thirty thousand of the population, or at more than one member for each twenty thousand of the population.

Basically one TD cannot represent more than 30,000 people and there cannot be less than three TDs returned per constituency. The ratio of TDs to member of the population will be reviewed after each census (16.2.3), a review will take place every twelve years (16.2.4) and the changes will take effect in the preceding Dail (16.2.4). It is also worth noting that the Constitution does not permit less than three TDs being returned from a constituency.

The current ratio is based on the results of the 2002 census where by the figure for the total population (at the time 3,917,203 people) was divided amongst the 166 available seats and this resulted in 1 TD to every 23,598 of the total population including children. This fact was submitted in evidence by Ms. Riona Ni Fhlanghaile Principal Officer of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the recent High Court case of Doherty v. Government of Ireland[iii]

The issue of casual vacanies, as in the Doherty case above and Dudley v. An Taoiseach[iv], has been the most litigated issue under the provisions of Article 16.2. However the rationale for this representation ratio was not addressed.

Constitutional Law theory accepts that the main reason behind its creation is that it will codeify and set out the rules and limitiation in a succinct and understandable form. One of the main limitiations on the power of Government is ensuring that there is a pluality of voices returned to the parliament in order to better represent the nation as whole.

This is not the first time that reform bodies have cast their eye over the issue of representation. In the Report of the Constitutional Review Group of 1996[v] it was recommended that there would be no change to the representation ratio. This position was echoed in the report of the Seventh Progress Report of the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution[vi].

However the 1996 Report did state that the issue of the representation ratio would have to be revisited if there was a decision taken to abolish the Seanad. The current Government has loudly signaled their intentions to hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad. It is possible that this may turn into proposals to radically reform the Seanad but it would not be foolish to suggest that the days of the Seanad, as we know it, are numbered. The 1996 report states the “abolition of the Seanad could require an increase in Dáil membership”.

The Seventh Progress Report of 2002 acknowledges that it received submissions calling for a reduction in representation. It reasoned that the exisiting provisions under Article 16.2 allowed for considerable scope in reducing the numbers, they even went so far as to state that under the 1996 census it would have been possible to reduce the membership of Dail Eireann to 120 members.

However a word of caution on the reduction of members was sounded in the Final Report of the Joint Committee on the Constitution regarding Article 16 and the Electoral System for the Election of Members to Dáil Éireann[vii]. The question of minority represenation and gender quotas was a very topical issue in the last General Election. Recommendation 27 of the Report states that there should be no less than 4 TDs representing a constituency unless a three seater constituency is necessary due to the geographic size. The report accepted that three seat constituencies make it harder for female and minority candidates to be elected to represent their communities. If the present Government proceeds with reducing the number of TDs then they may end up undermining their own attempts to increase such representation.

Political reform of the insitutions of governance is a worthy objective if it allows for the views of the citizens to be better represented and achieve more efficient control of the running of the state. However if the changes are only a token gesture to those seeking reform but more relevant to cutting the state payroll for purely money saving measures then these proposals must be critically examined.

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[i] Government to Reduce the number of TDs, Presidential Election Spending and Introduce New 6 Month Rule for Dáil Bye-Elections – Hogan,  Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/Voting/News/MainBody,26092,en.htm 07/05/2011

[ii] The entire constitution can be accessed here – http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/upload/publications/297.pdf

[iii] [2010] IEHC 369.

[iv] [1994] 2 ILRM 321

[v] The entire report can be accessed here -http://www.constitution.ie/reports/crg.pdf

[vi] The Progress Report can be accessed here – http://www.constitution.ie/reports/7th-Report-Parliament.pdf

[vii]p.175

“That” English Essay

I managed to write this as a 17 year old. Sorry to say that not much has changed with Ireland since 2000…

When you think of Romantic Ireland, what comes into you mind? Leprechauns, fairy forts and mystical castles in the fog of folklore? Sorry Bord Failte to burst your bubble. But the nearest that you’ll get to that is Westlife doing a jig on the BBC, Boyzone singing she moved through the fair (and so badly, you would feel like legging it out of the building!) and Riverdance talking over the Radio City Music Hall by storm. Romantic Ireland has become the stuff of legends and probably was the whole time!

Ireland was never a romantic place. We have Hollywood and Maureen O’Hara to thank for that. Does anybody even want to remember a little film called “Darby O ‘Gill and the Little People”? Here we had the works, little Leprechauns doing their jig around the place with the banshee wailing on lead vocals and the headless horseman on the drum kit! Unless you were so mental scarred by that film that all trace of it had been erased from your memory, you will have noticed that the Ireland of mists and mystery was back, and with a vengeance. Moreover, according to Frank mc Court, Ireland at the time was about to be twinned with Venice for all the rain it got, thanks to Angela’s Ashes.

We must remember that while Mr. O’Gill was doing his merry little jig, unmarried mothers in Ireland were sent to live out the rest of their days in the Magdalene laundries. Their babies snatched from them the moment that they were born, they didn’t even get to hold them before they were snatched from them for life. The adoption papers forged by the so-called “saintly” nuns of the day so they would find it even harder to find their child in future years. Rampant child abuse in the church run orphanages. Women legally raped by their husbands in the home while a crooked arm smuggling government looked on. Hush – Hush murders, which to this day haven’t been solved. A Taoiseach who blatantly stated in the constitution of a “civilised” country that a woman’s place was in the home and that there they should stay. Students were beaten senseless by over bearing teachers who enforced the rule of Home Economics on female students and kept the high maths and technical subjects the preserve of the males of this country.

Politicians in this country were and still are as crooked as they come, Brown paper envelopes going here, there and everywhere. We are only finding the true extent of the corruption, greed and lies that kept the pockets of most of our civil servants well lined. Thanks to Mr. Charlie Bird, major banking institutions in this country have been brought to book over their conduct in the D.I.R.T. scandal and the Cayman Islands Affair.

One can only laugh at the blatant smugness of one Charles J. Haughey who was distinctly heard telling the people of Ireland to tighten their belts in the face of high taxation. While he himself was stashing away all of his money in the Cayman Islands, he had the cheek to go of and ask other people for extra money. But, to rub the salt in the wounds and insult to injury, he didn’t bother paying any tax on it at all. Just for the sheer laugh of it all. For a man who got away, and by the skin of his teeth may I add, from an IRA guns smuggling wrap with buddy Blaney. He’s gotten away with a lot. By the way were not talking about some big Hollywood story just something that happened when Ireland was supposed all innocent and romantic!

The year 2000. “Opency” and “transparency” the buzzwords of the new generation. Especially when bureaucratic supergrass, Mr. Frank Dunlop, former government lobbyist, revealed in shocking evidence that he was recently threatened by a number of Messirs. Big Anonymous Politicians & Co. That was just some of the mind- blowing evidence to come out of the flood Tribunal in recent weeks. It’s only now that we, the public in general, are learning of the deeds of the bloodless, moneygrubbing freaks that were in charge for so long.

Now the image of Ireland that’s being flogged wordwide is the image of the happy fun loving criminal. According to the latest films The Irish party image has been so well advertised that soon the world people will thing that the Irish people are mad party animals. We’ve already had Puff Daddy and Chris Evans fighting it out over who gets the Penthouse Suite in the Clarence Hotel during the St. Patrick’s Weekend

The picture isn’t so bright if you happened to hear about the poor misfortunate who, because of them being dependent on a defunct blood board were left unshielded from aids, hepatitis C and HIV. Fathers, mothers sisters and brothers dead, all because of blatant bureaucracy and naivety. The Lindsey tribunal has been the stage for tales of the most heart rendering.

As far as I can see, and my vision is being blurred by history book bias, and the biggest lie of the millennium, that Celtic Tiger, Ireland is just the same as it always was. The west, an economic desert always in want of money and proper attention. The politicians, as happy as Larry Goodman in a tribunal sitting, always up to trickery and defrauding the public consciousness. We the people, sitting there, wondering were did it all go so wrong.

Ode to a Bad Teacher

I may as well confess this. I had a terrible English teacher for my Junior Cert. Now, we have all had bad teachers; unfortunately all education systems have their bad teachers along with highly gifted teachers. I have had some wonderful educators that have influenced my life profoundly for the right reasons. I have had some teachers who were just bad at their job. But one teacher takes the award for the worst teacher I have ever endured.
This particular bad apple left me with a terrible wound in my self confidence; a wound that has yet to heal fully. See the thing is due to her, I have absolutely no confidence in being able to write. Even though I managed to get 95% for my English Leaving Certificate Essay, a first class degree in Law and I am currently writing a Ph.D. in Law.
You would think that these facts alone would be cause for comfort in my ability to write as Law revolves around the ability to write and communicate clearly and effectively. But alas no, I still have one particular voice in my head that constantly replays doubts that were created by her.
Also at this point, I must state that I am borderline dyslexic. This fact was not diagnosed until my Masters in Trinity College. This fact should have been easily spotted by this teacher in first year of secondary school as one of the exercises involved re-arranging misspelt words to their right spelling. This was something that I just could not do for the life of me and still can’t do at this stage.
However the day that scarred me involved some trivial written work. I’m not even sure what we were doing exactly but it ended with the teacher shouting at me in front of the whole class that I was so bad at English that I would not be able to pass pass grade English.
I was slow at writing stories. I found it hard to string a pointless narrative about some biddy going to the shop together. I was weak at this and I will admit it. But I always tried my best. My parents were aware that something was wrong and even asked the teacher for names of extra books so they could work on these problems at home with me in addition to the school work. She told them at a parent teacher meeting that there was no point as I wasn’t any good at English to begin with.
Anyway, between the jigs and the reels of it, from that outburst when I was 15 I have always had her outburst about “not even being able to pass pass English” as a repetitive voice in my head whenever I write anything. Maybe I’m oversensitive; maybe I just need to get over it but it’s still there like a spectre haunting my path.
Therefore to anyone in the teaching profession dealing with young minds please be cautious of the way to criticise students. You never know what damage you may cause…

Removing a TD from Office – Harder than you think…

Today the final Moriarty report was revealed. The allegations therein have caused many to speculate whether charges will be made against any of the persons involved for corruption. One of the people named in the report happens to be that of Michael Lowry who is a sitting TD for the constituency of North Tipperary. If it were to be the case that the House sought to expel a TD then it would make for both interesting political debate and throw up some interesting questions for constitutional law.
The constitution itself is silent on this point only to allow for membership to be in compliance with the law on the area.
The relevant law on this issue is to be found in Section 42 of the Electoral Act 1992 which deals with cesser of membership in the Dáil in certain circumstances. Under the section a TD may lose their seat for the following two reasons:
1. Where the member is adjudged to be a Bankrupt
This is how James Larkin lost his seat in 1928. Larkin refused to pay a court ordered settlement from a libel case and was adjudged to be a bankrupt by the court.
2. Where the member has been sent to prison for a term exceeding 6 months
Liam Lawlor did spend time in prison for contempt of court but as the term did not exceed 6 months he was not disqualified. In fact many will remember his appearance in the Dail Chamber after being conveyed to Leinster House in a Prison Van.
It has been rumoured that there is provision to remove a member by vote of house. If there is I have yet to come across the legal provision for such as move. But if there was to be such provision it would be based on very precarious grounds. It would be possible for the House to suspend the member from the chamber but the pending appeal from the Ivor Calley decision may halt a similar attempt. The Callely decision was a based on the constitutional right to fair procedures and the fact that members of the house would be casting judgement on the fate of a fellow member. If the House were to expel a member then the realm of constitutional legal theory would interact with reality thereby creating an uncertain legal situation with a high probability of a constitutional case being taken against the whole house.

Mad Guess at the Possible New Cabinet – Yes it is mad…

Considering the time that is in it and the fact that I do enjoy making political predictions (which in the main tend to be slightly off kilter with reality) I have decided to put together my best guess at the probable new cabinet.

Bear in mind that a programme for government must first be agreed between Fine Gael and Labour. Then in turn that this will pass muster with the Labour grassroots. I am also working on the basis that sheer statistics and mathematics will lead to five ministries for Labour with the balance of ten going to Fine Gael.

I have used the original list of ministers and minsters of state that is available on www.taoiseach.gov.ie as a basis for the upcoming ministries with minor tweeks.

With regard to Junior Ministries four may be abolished so to start with the bureaucratic cull in this regard. I would imagine that the Junior Minister positions of Livelong Learning and School Transport will be split between the portfolios of Education and Transport respectively. The Junior Ministry of European Affairs could be brought into a more logical department of Foreign and European Affairs. The Junior Ministry of Public Service reform would become a full ministry in line with the New Politics Policy Document that was part of the Fine Gael Election Platform. And finally, the Junior Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry would be subsumed into the Department of Communications and Natural Resources and they seem keen on flogging the forests.  Also, if the pledge on creating a ministry for public service reform would mean that two existing ministries would need to be merged or one of these ministries being demoted to junior ministry level.

Anyway here goes… make of it what you will and feel free to have a rant on the comments section

15 Member Cabinet

Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Foreign & European Affairs	Ruairi Quinn
Education	Eamon Gilmore
Health & Children	James Reilly
Finance	Michael Noonan
Social Protection	Kathleen Lynch
Defence	Andrew Doyle
Environment	Phil Hogan
Tourism, Culture & Sport	Jimmy Deenihian
Enterprise & Trade	Joan Burton
Public Sector Reform	Richard Bruton
Agriculture	Charlie Flanagan
Justice	Alan Shatter
Community Affairs	Pat Rabbitte
Transport & Communications	Simon Coveney

 

Slimmed Down Junior Ministries

Chief Whip	Paul Kehoe
Natural Resources	Leo Varadkar
Children & Youth Affairs	Dominic Halligan
Science	Sean Barrett
Trade & Commerce	Alan Kelly
Disability and Mental Health	Lucinda Creigton
Housing	Aodhan Ó’Riordáin
Overseas Development	Joanna Tuffy
OPW	Frances Fitzgerald
Older Person	Paudie Coffey

 

However with that said I would keep an eye on the following –

Martin Heydon

Terence Flanagan

David Stanton

Noel Coonan

Paschal Donohue

Brian Hayes

Peter Matthews

Willie Penrose

Jack Wall

They may crop up….

 

Seat Prediction #GE11

Okay here it goes…
Don’t ask how I came up with the numbers its all based on gut instinct which has served me well over the past year of crazy Irish politics. Feel free to add your comments…

Total 166 seats -

79 FG
35 LAB
31 FF
8 SF
1 Green
12 Independents and Others (Incl. ULA here)

Twitter creates new low in Irish Politics… Or so they would like you to think

“As politicians have parliamentary privilege for what they say in the course of their duties, there must be a corollary public privilege to criticise, to assert meaningful control over the political process, and the means to effect that control is through the media”

(Anthony Lewis, John Foster Memorial Lecture 1987)

IT was all twitters fault. Or so the current incumbents in Fianna Fail would have us think.

From Willie to Biffo, it seems the greatest threat to the health of the nation is by twitters sounding off and causing trouble.

Well sorry to burst your bubble lads but we would not be tweeting about you if it were not for your actions.

It would seem helpful if one of the aids, far from keeping an eye on their charges, would also bring Article 40.6.1 (i) of the Constitution to their attention

The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.
The education of public opinion being, however, a matter of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavour to ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State.
The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.

Organs of public opinion have been judicially interpreted in line with prevailing technology. Hence television is brought under this definition even though it is not stated. Therefore one could reasonably included “the twitter” as an organ of public opinion. Also it fair comment to criticise members of the government including our Taoiseach as they are responsible for Government Policy. In fact, commenting on the personal life of a public representative may even be as valid if their personal life starts to affect the level of professionalism of a public representive.

The attempts to paint today’s saga as a new low in Irish politics is actually a dangerous move. The very fact that some commentators have sought to frame the events in this light is even more dangerous. It’s as if we are not entitled to question what our representatives are doing, because if we do, we will damage democracy.

Also, it’s not as if these comments were never thought or spoken before. People have always been commenting on their politicians. The only thing that is different is that these comments are now shared on a global level through media such as twitter and facebook.

Well the democracy that I support is a one where we are entitled to comment on our politicians, whether this comment be good or bad.

Therefore… LONG LIVE TWITTER!

Guessing the Frontbench Reshuffle…

Unless you have been living in the big brother house, there have been quite a few things going on. Firstly the Fine Gael heave and secondly the world cup. Combining the two I have decided, for the hell of it, to guess the new front bench. Please bear in mind that I have not included the deputy spokesperson position as I would be plotting all night long!

In alpha order of portfolio:

Deenihan – Agri, Fisheries and Food
Bannon – Arts, Sport and Tourism
Hayes – Children
English – Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Clune – Community and Rural Affairs
Carey – Defence
Enright – Education and Science
Bruton – Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Ring – Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Noonan – Finance
Hogan – Foreign Affairs
Reilly – Health and Deputy Leader
Varadkar – Immigration and Integration
Shatter – Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Allen – Social and Family Affairs
Coveney – Transport and Marine
Kehoe – Chief Whip
Not giving reasons for my decisions as I have based them on hunches and if nothing else it will be food for thought.
Regarding comments feel free to post away but I may not be able to moderate them as fast as you would like as I’m actually on holidays

The silenced and the silencing…

This week has proved to be an interesting week of account closures on twitter. Firstly there was the silencing of @Madam _ Editor and then we had the closure of the @leovaradkar account. Both could be seen as in interesting counterpoint in the world of twitter. However, I must first point out that that I have nothing against the individuals involved.
@Madam_Editor was a great bit of fun. No one who followed this account truly believed that it was the account of the great editor herself. In fact, anyone who believed that this was a true account should question their grip on reality. If it is a case that the closure of the @Madam_Editor account was due to lobbying by the Irish Times then this would be a worrying development for freedom of expression.
Satire and Parody are important parts of speech and should be protected as much as possible. Okay some people who are at the butt of such parody may not exactly seek to encourage it. Now by no means am I insinuating that Ms. Kennedy herself is behind the closure. However, in the end, a journalist by trade, of all people should seek to protect freedom of speech.
Twitter is littered with joke accounts of Irish politicians and notable Irish figures. The best ones would have to be that of @Sweary_Mary but notable mentions must be made for @CyprianBrady, @CardinalBrady and @BiffoCowan. I don’t see the individuals involved rushing to lobby the people behind twitter to close these accounts. In fact there is a process that can be undertaken for well know individuals to verify their accounts.
However, the closure of the @leovaradkar account is a different kettle of fish. The closure, due to the time line of events, was obviously a knee jerk reaction to the fallout from the heave and no doubt someway related to the column of @davekenny in the Sunday Tribune last week. If this is the case, in my opinion, any public figure closing their account brings that person down to the level of a sulking child.
In essence, public figures that enter the foray of social media need to be able to take the rough with the smooth. You cannot just engage because at the time you are popular and disengage because life throws you a wobble. Also public figures need to be able to handle the cut and thrust of notoriety. This is a point that has been well accepted by the American Courts when it comes to freedom of expression. Plus an opinion is just that, an opinion.
For both accounts, I hope the individuals involved come to their senses and come back to twitter.