CHANGING THE electoral system was the only hope of overcoming excessive localism in Irish politics, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has told the MacGill Summer School, which is devoted this year to the theme, “Reforming the Republic”.
He said that, in the current system the only thing TDs really had to do was look after their individual constituents: “It’s even better in Opposition.”
“You can be Mr Angry if you want, jump on the latest bandwagon and get extra votes in rural Ireland by sacrificing the poor old stag,” he said.
He said he wasn’t being party-political: “If the boot was on the other foot, we’d be at the same thing.”
This political culture could not be fixed without changing the electoral system. The system was supposed to serve the national, not the local interest. When all the new states emerged from communist rule in eastern Europe, they did not come to Ireland to study our electoral system, “and they were right”.
“The next election starts the day of the count, once you’re elected,” he said.
It was important to serve one’s constituents but “the more important part” of the job was serving the national good rather than “constant clientelism”.
“Many TDs get withdrawal symptoms if they have to be away from their mobile phones for more than 10 minutes,” he said.
The Government was committed to setting up an electoral commission which should be asked to review the electoral system and how it could be improved, Mr Dempsey said.
Irish Timescolumnist Noel Whelan said there was a lot of pressure for political reform.
It was “simplistic” to suggest that having a Cabinet laden with science or commerce PhDs was the answer to our problems. Some of the more successful recent politicians “didn’t have much beyond primary or secondary school education”. He instanced Ray MacSharry and Albert Reynolds.
