Ireland stands today, at such a watershed moment. Our economy is on the brink of collapse; civil unrest could become a real possibility if things don’t improve. Every passing day seems to bring worse and worse news. We seem to be stumbling from one crisis to the next; our leaders openly acknowledge they don’t really know the extent of our problems.
We’re a small country, 4 million people or thereabouts. By the end of the year up to half a million of us could be without work. That’s unprecedented in modern times. The Government is borrowing billions of Euros; not to invest in rebuilding the country, but simply to balance the books. That we are living way above our means is indisputable.
A ‘budget’ is due next week. It is expected to include savage cuts in Government spending and a significant increase in taxation.
What happens if the ‘budget’ doesn’t work? What if things don’t improve? Supposing things get worse? What then?
We have to be realistic; things are going to be tough. We’re in for a rough time; maybe a very rough time. There will be setbacks, changes in direction, moments of crisis that will really test the mettle of the Government and the nation.
At times like this, we need leadership. A leader is someone who can inspire us, who can pull us through the hard times; someone who knows where they are going, who has a goal, an objective. A leader is also someone we can believe in, someone we trust and support; someone we will follow, no matter what.
Therein lies our problem; we don’t have that leader. We have a Government and a Taoiseach that are hopelessly unpopular. Public confidence in our leaders is at an all time low. Whether the two Brians and the rest of the cabinet have the capability to solve our problems, or not, is irrelevant. What matters is they don’t have our confidence.
Whether it is a general leading his troops into battle, a captain leading his team on the pitch, or a Prime Minister leading his country at a time of crisis; to succeed in any campaign, the leader must command both authority and respect. The troops, the players, the country must have faith and confidence in their leader. If they don’t then he has to go. It’s as simple as that.
We have a Taoiseach who got there by default. He has no mandate to lead the country in the way he would have if he led his party to victory in a general election. We have a Government we have no faith in.
At moments of crisis thoughout history, populations have demonstrated a willingness to accept significant sacrifice for the common cause. What we need now is a ‘crisis government’, one that can lead us out of the storm. To succeed, such a government must have public opinion on its side. If it is unable to inspire public confidence, the crisis will become a disaster.
It is ironic to hear the clamour for the boards of the banks to resign. They created the banking crisis, so the argument goes, how can they be trusted to solve it. So too the Government. Fianna Fail has been in government for 12 years. Brian Cowan has been a minister for most of that time. He was Finance Minister before he became Taoiseach.
President Obama was elected on a mandate of change. It is time now for change in Ireland. We urgently need a leader we can believe in. We need a Churchill; we need a new De Valera.
Step aside Mr Cowan; it’s time for a new man and a new Government to lead Ireland now.
Copyright © David Jones 2009
I suppose the question is, where do we think leadership is going to come from? Do leaders make history or is more correct to say that people create history and in doing so create the leaders who are thrust center stage? Fianna Fail, the two Brians have (quite correctly) taken a lot of flak but where was the opposition when all of this was going on? Some appear to have risen to the occasion but has it all been a case of 'too little, too late'. The failure of leadership on this occasion came about because politics long ago ceased to be about serving the national interest and became more about individuals and their self-serving careers. But having said that politicians alone aren't to blame. We all follow our noses to some extent. These are questions I wouldn't mind returning to but for now I'd just like to present the issue this way. Even if the next general election returns 166 Joe Higgins's to Dáil Éireann, would that in itself solve the problem? Would it even represent the first step? Personally I think that a lot of what is presented as politics isn't really politics at all.
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