As Fianna Fail and Fine Gael assemble their government with the handful of ‘independent’ TDs, I find myself remembering a distinction someone once drew for me between a lunatic and an idiot.
The word ‘lunatic’ comes from the Latin word ‘lunaticus’, meaning someone moonstruck or with their thoughts affected by the moon; the word ‘idiot’ comes from the Greek ‘idiotes’, meaning a private person or individual. “Think of it this way”my friend said. “While war rages all around them, a lunatic’s attention is far away in outer space; while an idiot, with war raging around him, is engrossed in a private task like trimming his moustache. Both are unsatisfactory responses to their surroundings, but one gazes above the battle, the other is too self-absorbed to know a battle is happening”.
As Micheál Martin and Simon Harris form their cabinet and new government, I wouldn’t dream of saying that there are any lunatics among the ranks of the Independent Ireland group of TDs or of the Healy-Rae brothers. But Sean Canney and Noel Grealish will be the group’s Super Junior ministers, while Marian Harkin and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran will be junior ministers. The Healy-Raes will also get a Junior Minister position in return for supporting the government.
None of this raggle-taggle group will be focusing on the welfare of the state. Michael Healy-Rae was on RTÉ radio earlier today declaring that he and his brother would be attending to the things that matter to Kerry people, “which are the same things that matter to people throughout the country”.
Oh really? You may rest assured that the Healy-Raes will have their eyes focused on Kerry and how many goodies they can extract from the government for Kerry. Likewise Sean Canney, Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin and and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran will each be attending to the welfare, not of the state as a whole, but to the welfare of the local constituency that elected them.
In short, they will all be attending to the trimming of their own local moustache or the styling of their own local hair. Being local got them into the Dail and their loyalty as TDs will be local in response.
They may not be a bunch of lunatics but you could argue they’re a crowd of idiots.
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