I blame the media. I know that’s an old tune played screechily,, but I really think it needs repeated loud and audible. Politicians may do good things or politicians may do bad things, but if the media don’t grab them by the lapels and demand “What kind of sense does that make?”, then they’re failing in their duty.
In today’s Irish Times, we have a report on how the negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have produced a document which they’ll use to approach possible partners in government. As the title of the IT report declares ‘FF and FG will not present “fait accompli” to parties they want in government’. That is to say, they’re making it clear that they’re open to amendment of the document, so potential participants from other parties can slide in their key goals. Micheál Martin stresses the point:
“[The] important point is for the philosophy, the orientation of the document, and of the policy positions adopted in terms of housing, health, climate change, all in the context of economic recovery.”
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have emphasised, on the odd occasion when the media have asked them, that they couldn’t contemplate government with Sinn Féin or even talking to them, because there is such a grand canyon dividing their economic policies.
At this point you may be reaching for the smelling salts. Housing, health, climate change – weren’t those issues slap-bang in the middle of the Sinn Féin manifesto in the recent general election? And doesn’t that suggest that FG, FF and Sinn Féin have the same concerns? And just in case you nodded off, the Fianna Fáil leader repeats the point:
“I think it is a strong document. It does point very much in the direction of greater State-led intervention in areas like childcare, moving towards a single-tier health system, but also transforms the experience in terms of access to housing.”
It is clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have now moved onto the territory Sinn Féin staked out during the election. So is there not a single journalist in the southern state who is prepared to open his/her gob and put this point to FF or FG? And follow up with the obvious question “Why aren’t you passing this document to Sinn Féin for consideration, if you want a stable government that’ll last four or five years?”
But that won’t happen. The party with the highest percentage of votes from the election, with their Dáil seats number matching those of Fianna Fáil, will be ignored along with the tens of thousands who voted for them. And to make sure they stay outside the government tent, FF and FG have constructed a document for government that replicates the very matters that Sinn Féin ran on in the election.
Don’t be surprised if any day now you see a shot of Mary Lou McDonald standing outside Leinster House in her underwear. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have stolen Sinn Féin’a clothes, and there isn’t a journalist or commentator south (or north) of the border with the guts to shout “The Sinn Féin president has been robbed of every stitch by the two Civil War parties – call the gardaí!”
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