Well, I really have been neglecting this place lately. So much so that I didn’t even realise the domain had expired. Which is unforgiveable. Suffice to say that I started the new job, got bogged down in the election, got bogged down in post-election stuff, had my laptop stolen at Glastonbury, and by then I was anxious about not blogging which made me more and more reluctant to get back into it. Anyway, I’ve given myself a slap now and told myself to cop on….
Anyway, as mentioned previously, I have a new job, which I’m now settling into. I am the Youth & Development Officer for the Labour Party. The Youth side of that is probably fairly self-explanatory – I support the activities of Labour Youth, as well as helping encourage young people within the party. The Development side is a little less tangible, but it leads to a terrific variety in my daily activities, so it’s terrific fun!
Ireland needs Labour!
As a result of my new job, I was asked by Newstalk to go on the Saturday Edition show this morning, alongside Michael Gowing of Macra na Feirme, and Cllr. Claire Byrne of FG, with Dara Calleary (Minister of State for Labour Affairs) on the phone from Mayo. It was supposed to be a bit of a reflection on the stories of the week, with a focus on how young people would change politics.
Except it sucked a bit. I though Michael did well, while the Minister waffled without really saying anything, Claire Byrne expressed some interesting opinions while saying she had no interest in national politics, while I made a bit of a hames of things really.
And so I figured I’d use the revival of the blog to say some of the things I didn’t manage to get in on the radio this morning.
Firstly, I passionately believe that young people are already changing politics in Ireland drastically. Be it through community involvement, or actual participation in party politics, I think the political establishment has been drastically altered by young people in recent years. Within the campaigns for the second Lisbon referendum, several young people are really starting to come to the fore. Looking at the gay community, young people have founded groups such as Equals and LGBT Noise that have dramatically shifted the discourse within the community. And Macra’s ‘Know Your Neighbour‘ campaign is a great example of young people campaigning against social isolation.
But mostly, young people have dramatically altered the face of Irish electoral politics in recent years. In 2007, it was Fine Gael who elected a whole raft of young candidates to Dáil Éireann, who brought their own ideology to the fore of the party (though it’s an ideology I fundamentally disagree with). And in 2009, Labour managed to elect a whole raft of young councillors around the country, who are beginning to have a similar impact. In Fingal County Council, where two bright young councillors were elected, Labour have control of the council, with only other left-wing votes required to give them the mayoralty and deputy-mayoralty for all five years. Similarly on Dublin City Council, the election of several great young councillors put Labour in a position of strength we have never experienced before. And that’s without mentioning the councillors under 30 who were elected in Cork, Waterford, Galway, Tipperary, etc, etc. Just wait until these people get elected to Dáil Éireann, and then you’ll see the impact electing young people can have on national politics!
The second area I didn’t get to talk about today is Labour Youth. Labour Youth are an incredible organisation – they provided my training ground over the years, and that is also true for most of the young councillors recently elected. But they also act as an autonomous campaigning organisation in their own right. Whether opposing the twinning of Dublin and Beijing, calling for youth unemployment to be tackled by the Government, or running one of the most interesting summer schools of the year, they are a fantastic organisation who really attract huge numbers of people to the Labour movement.
The other area I had hoped we’d get to talk about today was the decision of the President not to refer the Criminal Justice Bill to the Supreme Court. Indeed, Anastasia Crickley (a member of the Council of State), was supposed to participate in the debate by phone, but mysteriously never joined the conversation. In many ways I’m glad the President signed the bill, because now it can be properly challenged in parts. But I think the Bill is appallingly reactionary, and one of the worst pieces of legislation I’ve seen since the last Criminal Justice Bill (the one that introduced ASBOs!).
Anyway, they’re some of the things I should have spoken about. Instead, I had a few digs at Calleary about the lack of a stimulus package, the proposed cuts in the minimum wage, and the failure of Government to get any semblance of control over the banks. Oh, and I proposed abolishing the Seanad, which didn’t particularly amuse Ivana!
For the record, the Saturday Edition is a really good show, and they’re also on twitter….
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Interesting stuff, Neil. I didn’t hear you on the radio so I won’t judge you on what you didn’t talk about there.
Funny how while I knew you had a new job I didn’t actuallt know what it was!
Putting my own little foray (a word which only too well describes what it was) into politics, or rather the result thereof, the non-party/non-ideology political part of me has always been very interested in youth politics. Or the apparent lack of its impact on the wider political stage other than a breeding ground for future “politicians”.
But, we’re not seeing the result of the appalling political culture we’ve developed here in Ireland and I believe if it is to change, and it must chgange, that youth politics is where it naturallys should start.
I’m only, unfortunately, knowledgeable about FF and FG youth politics (read that whatever way you wish) and not Labour – which I must blame you for
– but by simply reading the above I’m a just a little more positive about the future of Irish politics than I was.
The media stuff ain’t easy, so don’t cut yourself up too much about it.
Instead of abolishing the Seanad, why not do something more radical with it: turn it into a citizens’ jury chamber. Sixty citizens, selected at random from the electoral register, excluding anybody who holds or has held a seat in the Oireachtas, a local authority, the European Parliament, or the bench (I presume some would add etc. We could argue the details.)
No opting out allowed (although that should not be taken to require membership by those who are ill).
Such a change would require parliamentary business to be re-organised, but that’s not impossible. (I guess one change might to arrange fixed and limited sittings of the Seanad per year so that it does not completely ruin ordinary life for the members. But it would do no harm to force Ministers to bring their bills before a house that they could not whip into rushing through the stages before a recess.)