We have had enough of elections for a while
Taoiseach Simon Harris pictured in his office in Government Buildings with members of the Irish athletics team who participated in the European Championships in Rome. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
Now that the dust has settled it is no harm to take a sober look at what the elections threw up. Listening to the national and indeed local news one would have thought that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had swept the country, the reality being of course that both parties nationally lost seats in the local elections. And, of course, taking a cue from those same sources, one would be forgiven for concluding that Sinn Féin had imploded when, in fact, the party had made gains... minimal gains but still gains.
The big beneficiaries of the volatile but still sensibly sane Irish voters were the Independents. This had the expert analysts rushing for their dictionaries seeking ever more outlandish descriptions to seek to explain this lurch to the left, to the right, to the middle, to wherever.
It is hardly surprising that Independents would have gained seats because, apart from a few anti-migrant opportunists, the successful Independents were malcontents who had fallen out with and departed one or other of the main parties. Voters very often tie their allegiance to the person as much as the party and when a man/woman changes horses the voter tends to stay with them. It’s what is known as loyalty. Misguided loyalty some might argue, but there’s no point trying to tell the voter he/she is misguided.
While the outcome of the Mayo County Council elections won’t cause any great stir - it’s a case of very much same old, same old - the addition of Alma Gallagher in the Claremorris Local Electoral Area will be welcomed. It brings to three, alongside Donna Sheridan and Annie May Reape, the number of female councillors or ten per cent of the total, and it presents a challenge to Fianna Fáil to improve the numbers on their side. Annie May Reape is a long-time county councillor and would welcome some female companionship in the party rooms.
Sinn Féin will be disappointed. Realistically, they would have hoped for two or three councillors with Rosaleen Dixon-Lally and John Sheehan in with a good chance to join long-time councillor Gerry Murray. Dixon-Lally was pitted against long-serving Gerry Coyle and the popular Seán Carey in Belmullet. It was a tough ask for any first-time candidate and she fell short. Sheehan fought the good fight and cruelly fell short by a single vote to Fine Gael’s Neil Cruise. Foundations have been set for the next outing.
Despite the disappointment, Sinn Féin will take some comfort from their performance in East Mayo and looking towards the general election they are in a good position to battle for two seats in the constituency. Interesting times ahead.
At the time of writing, the count in the Midlands North West constituency is concluding. Luke Ming Flanagan, Nina Carberry, Maria Walsh, Brian Cowen and a transfer-friendly very recognisable former RTÉ reporter, Ciarán Mullooly have taken the five seats. If nothing else, the long count served to highlight the nonsense of a 15-county unwieldy constituency with little or nothing to recommend it as a cohesive unit. The electoral commission that defined the constituency would need to go back to the drawing board. I could do a better job myself than the commission. The Shannon is a natural boundary and anything east of the river should be accommodated in Leinster/Dublin.
Not surprisingly, the media were to the fore in calling a general election. Just as well they don’t have the say. We have had enough of elections for a while. I’m not so sure that I could stomach another bout of futile speculation about the demise of Sinn Féin, the rise of the right, the amalgamation of the left and the sight and sound (not to mention the fury) of PBP’s Boyd-Barrett and Paul Murphy telling us all what we should do. Sometimes it occurs to me that Mattie McGrath makes more sense than the PBPs. It would be an ease to the Irish people if there was no more mention of an election at least until after the Dáil goes on holiday.
And so to change the topic to something more cheerful and celebratory. Irish athletics has been pretty quiet since the heady days of Eamon Coghlan, Sonia O’Sullivan, John Tracey and Cathriona McKiernan. There have been individual successes over the years but nothing to compare with the current crop of mostly young and seriously talented athletes. The medal haul taken home from the European championships is unprecedented.
Ciara Mageean won gold and won the hearts of a nation when she declared that her camogie experience proved vital in breaking out of a cluster of runners to edge to the front in the prestigious 1,500m race. Further gold was added by the 400m mixed relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley whose win unleashed scenes of unbridled joy for the athletes on the finishing line.
And there was more to come with Rhasidat Adeleke taking silver after being pipped for gold on the line of the 400m individual race. Adeleke then teamed up with Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Mawdsley to claim silver in the women’s 400m. This was Irish athletics' most successful ever European championships and provided the nation with a reason to celebrate.
Unfortunately for the Irish soccer team, there was nothing to celebrate following their dismal defeat in a friendly game against Portugal the other night. About the only thing to celebrate in this game was the enduring talent of 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo who was head and shoulders above any of the Irish players. His two goals were exquisite and while the Irish defence may have felt somewhat embarrassed, Ronaldo showed that he is still capable of performing at the highest level and can beat the most experienced defenders.
The game brought to an end John O’Shea’s second term as interim manager of the Irish team and may well have signalled the end of his chances to be appointed manager on a permanent basis. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have a lot to answer for. They may have a strategy for the appointment of a new Irish team manager and they may well have a plan to put soccer in Ireland on a firm footing but they have a poor way of showing it. Confidence in the FAI is at its lowest level ever. John O’Shea would be well advised to cut his stick and run. He has been atrociously treated by the association.
The joy, pride and celebration of our athletics success did not last long. It was brought to a shuddering halt by the programme into what happens to racehorses when they have outlived their usefulness and come to the end of their lives as potential earners for their owners.
The programme exposed the fiddling and fraud that goes on when Irish people set about breaking the rules in pursuit of profit. The footage appeared to show men inserting new microchips into the animals, some of whom were being killed for human consumption and others with their doctored passports being sold on to unsuspecting new owners who were in many cases buying a pig in a poke.
There is a clear danger to Ireland’s reputation as a food exporting country and that has to be a cause of concern for the Government. There will be an investigation. Perhaps more than one. But it is important that, in this investigation, sight will not be lost of the barbaric cruelty that these animals suffered at the hands of the abattoir staff. The country’s reputation has been tarnished beyond belief.
With apologies to Sir Walter Scott: Oh what a tangled bed we weave when first we practice to conceive.
