2016, as many
have pointed out on social media, has been another year, which could only be described
as an “Annus Horribilis!” The year started off with so
much promise. A very early general election was announced and there was much
talk about “New Politics” for 2016. But alas, there was absolutely no movement
away from the traditional parish pump political delivery of old. Something
unfortunately, we in Waterford seem to be particularly bad at.
One of our nearest neighbours
has this down to a fine art and perhaps we should take a lesson or two from
him. People vote in their thousands, for the Teflon Mr Lowry, because he is
like a tin of Ronseal and does exactly what it says on the label. Apparently,
he does a good job for all his constituents, runs a very efficient constituency
office, unequalled in the whole of Ireland, gets involved with public bodies,
service providers and tackles the inefficiencies of officialdom, all for the
good of his beloved County.
In fact, whilst our newly elected
TD’s were enjoying themselves in Dublin, arguing amongst themselves or waving
various pieces of paper, a certain Mr Lowry was working the corridors of power.
He was achieving as much as he could, for the people who allowed him to return
to Dublin. The fragile Government, that he found himself a part of, could be
manipulated to his sole benefit and that is exactly what he did. In under a
year he has delivered in spades for his constituency. All it seems even more
impressive, having managed somehow, to do this with no significant negative media
coverage. He also appears to have been able to get blood from a stone and all
without having to “Be bought and sold for foreign gold”.
This is one politician, who
has quite clearly has put his people first. First above all other matters and
that is why he has been so successful at the ballot box.
In addition to a world with
yet more blatant “Parish pump shenanigans”, that other sin of Irish politics,
namely cronyism now seems to be de rigueur. There have been people appointed,
on a seemingly “willy-nilly” basis, to boards, committees, quangos, high
profile roles, senior civil servants posts and so on. Now, in theory, there
should be no real issue with this, but when friends, family members and people
with little or no experience are shoe-horned into roles, we have to ask “WHY?”
It is against this backdrop, we
need to look more closely, at just what 2017 might or might not bring to
Waterford and the wider south east region. Clearly, we have some very serious, continuing
issues. There are NO political heavyweights, punching for us, in Dublin. In truth,
we have no one fighting on the undercard.
Regionally we are suckered. There
are just too many Mr Lowrys surrounding Waterford, all looking after and
protecting their own patch to worry, or be concerned with Ireland’s oldest City.
We appear to have found ourselves in one of Mr Boyle’s vacuums and getting out
of it will unquestionably take more than a few New Year resolutions. I fear we’ll
need a whole political revolution, to get this City back to its rightful place
as the fourth City of the Republic.
But just how do we go about
making that revolution happen?
The non-stick Mr Lowry knows,
from the many thousands that interact with him, whether he is or isn’t delivering
for Tipp. The people of his constituency are, quite rightly, involved with
their very local political affairs. They want to know what is being delivered,
locally and nationally, for their taxes. Making sure that Tipp gets not only a look
at, but is allowed to choose from the A La Carte menu.
My hope for the year ahead,
is that we the people of Waterford, simply get involved to make sure that those
elected on our behalf, deliver for us and not for themselves.
