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TRIBUNAL FATIGUE AND economic collapse has left the Irish electorate feeling cheated and jaded with the political system.
Stories of bankers’ wives being forced to sell their jewellery and TDs evading correct expenses procedures filter through as the most resilient representations of the decisions made by politicians. Anecdotes become caricatures of the decision-making process subject to disdainful ridicule over pints with friends. Politics seems like an abstract practice, distant and irrelevant from most peoples’ daily reality.
According to the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, 90 per cent of Irish people feel that the government is not listening to citizens’ needs and feedback. This figure indicates a massive breakdown in communication between the average citizen and their elected representatives, with the recent demise of KildareStreet.com suggesting that the disconnection is widening.
Constituency hours, participation on social media platforms and an Oireachtas telephone number are ineffective in facilitating the kind of substantial and accessible engagement that is lacking. Politicians who want to communicate their accomplishments and intentions have no neutral platform that allows them to reach their constituents directly. Feedback comes from an active minority who can be unrepresentative of the community at large.
The Occupy Movement set out to ignite a global revolt against inequality. One year on, it is apparent that the movement was more an expression of frustration and anger, than a campaign with clear and substantive goals. In Ireland in particular, the disintegration of the movement reinforced how ineffectual protest is as a way of generating sustainable, long-term reform.
We are a notoriously deferential, non-confrontational nation, reluctant to react against the status quo. While politicians battle to decipher the loudest voice among the clamouring interest groups, the majority of the electorate remains silent. However, apathy is not the only alternative to protest.
Meaningful political change can only be achieved through co-operation. Consistent citizen participation in the political process, beyond election time, is essential if we are going to rebuild ourselves as a nation. Challenge and scrutiny are essential to the political process and we should all feel responsible for the constant revision of State matters.
In March, as part of Change Nation, Ashoka invited the German organisation ParliamentWatch to Ireland to cultivate demand for a version of their platform, which enables citizens to communicate with their representatives directly. The forum attracts between 5,000-10,000 visitors per day in Germany and has made a substantial contribution to citizen engagement in political life.
Overseen by a board of trustees from across Ireland, dailwatch.ie will launch here on Thursday, October 11, allowing anyone to ask any TD a direct question and receive a direct response. All questions and answers are public, and once posted to the site they remain there forever, forming ‘the voter’s virtual memory’, encouraging accountability and transparency.
Beyond Q&A, the website will provide additional information on TDs’ attendance and voting records, how the Dáil works, and the committees appointed by the Houses of the Oireachtas. It will be available in both English and Irish.
The widespread dissent over measures such as the Household Charge has demonstrated the dangers of top-down decision-making and the importance of buy-in from the citizen population. The electorate will only tolerate a sacrifice if they recognise it as contributing to the overall good of society. Policy decisions enacted unilaterally are perceived as attempting to use the public as a scapegoat to save a privileged few. If the electorate feel that they have been excluded from the process, new legislation is impossible to enforce.
According to Edelman, 7 in 10 Irish people don’t trust Government leaders to tell them the truth. The eye-watering cuts that will be pushed through in the upcoming budget will require faith in our leaders and a consensus over the common good for our society. There must be a platform for open and honest discussion between the electorate and the elite around the direction of our country, to generate the level of trust and unity that is required to achieve the necessary sacrifices.
Social media is direct but unsubstantial, while constituency hours are significant but inconvenient (and private). Dailwatch.ie will provide TDs with a tool to efficiently communicate with people in a meaningful way, lowering the barriers to participation and making politics more accessible and relevant.
By streamlining the interaction and making it public, constituents can search through previous questions by issue area and busy TDs do not need to answer the same question multiple times. The platform recognises the magnitude of responsibility that each representative undertakes and is designed for mutual benefit.
Politics should not be a distant, inscrutable affair, far removed from citizen influence. Our government must be shaped by our people. By increasing engagement from both sides, we can create a more open and unified society.
Engage with your representative from October 11 and contribute to how decisions are made on your behalf.
Sarah O’Neill is the CEO of DáilWatch, which will launch this Thursday. You can follow @dailwatch on Twitter or use the hashtag #askaTD.
The DáilWatch project is part of the ChangeNation initiative, begun by Ashoka in March 2012 when 50 of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs gathered with Irish leaders to begin implementing solutions to some of Ireland’s biggest challenges.
For more information, visit ChangeNation.org or Ashoka.ie.
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Good piece Sarah…politicians are so far detached from us they hardly know we’re here. That is of course until they’re looking for our vote. I for one will not vote for the next few elections as there is simply no choice in politics at the moment. One party morphs into the other…the public perception is that politics is a handy gig with ridiculous pay, expenses and obscene pensions payable after the bare miniumum of service. We have a very badly broken political system and it won’t be fixed from inside out and seems to be run more by the faceless civil servants than the politicians…truely makes me despair for the future.
Because Hugh the political system in this country works on the party model…we’ve seen how the independents are powerless up against the main politicals parties… A new political party woud take years to find purchase in the system and to build up a following. The future for us the people in a political sense is quiet bleek.
The fact that you believe that, more than any practical barrier, is what they’re depending on.
Do we get to inject them with truth serum as well? if so then 1.who are the bondholders? 2.what was discussed at the trilateral commission & bilderberg meetings? 3. why do privately owned banks have the power to create money & loan it to us at interest? thats my first 3 ill be back with more after i stick the kettle on :-)
Graham
I already told you that I was an AIB Bondholder. What more do you want?
Question 4 Did Peter Sutherland (of bilderberg and trilateral commission fame) have an input on the night of the bank bailout as speculated in the media.
Q5 what advice did bilderberg/trilateral commission members Christine Legarde and Jean claud Trichetgive Lenihan when he called them that night.
Q6 On who s side was AG and bilderberg member Paul Gallagher that night?
Question 4 Did Peter Sutherland (of bilderberg and trilateral commission fame) have an input on the night of the bank bailout as speculated in the media.
Q5 what advice did bilderberg/trilateral commission members Christine Legarde and Jean claud Trichet giveLenihan when he called them that night.
Q6 On who s side was AG and bilderberg member Paul Gallagher that night?
The point would be to ask the politicians the questions, so why post them here? Send then to where they need to go…
Curious to know how many TD’s will actually sign up to this?
Yes indeed. Please tell us how you intend to force a TD to respond directly to any question, on a public forum Sarah?
Also, you may want to grammar check that holding page.
pointless. No one will ever answer truthfully it’ll be full of lies and spin.
In theory this is a great idea,I’ve always said we need something like this.In reality,we can’t even get a straight answer from any of the government ministers now.Sadly I can’t see this being any different!!!
@Tony S. If there’s no choice out there then why don’t you run in the election next time? Offer people choice.
Probably because the amount of money needed to finance a campaign by an independant is prohibative. The parochial parish pump political activists nearly always ensure that there are funds for the main parties, and most of the Independants who have run and won in the last few elections have been backed by either personal funding or have had a record of political involvement through council work for numerous years prior to election. It is very hard for anyone in this country to come from nowhere and gain enough votes to get eleced, no matter what their policies are. And after the stellar job are current bunch of indeps have done this time round, I personally feel they have set back the case of the lone wolf by a considerable number of years.
Actually, it’s not.
I dont know about you Tony, but the average cost of an electoral campaign being at the very least €15,000 to run is probably going to be out of the price range of most independant wanna-bes in these times. And for most of the successful candidates in the last 2 elections there was a minimum spend closer to €25,000. Yes, you can possibly run one on bare minimum costs, reduced number of posters, flyers, less number of days lost in work, but 99% of those level costed campaigns were eliminated on all the early counts.
Apologies, of course I meant to say Hugh, sorry.
I challenged a Labour TD or Senator to live my life for a week and Senator John Gilroy has taken me up on my offer. We always hear the politicians saying ‘We’re all in this together, we’re all feeling the pain’. Well this is a chance for a Senator to actually see how austerity is affecting people in Ireland. Here’s the link to the post. https://www.facebook.com/thelabourparty/posts/10151426567074688
Excellent idea Andrea, hopefully the production company will want to do more of this, like maybe a month.
Andrea – live their life for a week and ‘feel their pain’ !
Hi Andrea. Your challenge seems a good idea. Nevertheless, unless a TD or Senator or highly-paid Gov employee (or any other high-earning person) “lives your life” for an extended period of time, say, six months, then the exercise is futile, as well as being a great PR opportunity for the person taking up your challenge. Still, I re-state that, overall, your challenge is a good idea. Even a thin person could go without food for a day without suffering ill-effects. Your Senator may well “see how austerity is affecting people in Ireland,” as you write, but it certainly won’t allow or force or induce that same Sentator/TD to understand or to REALLY KNOW the devastating effects.
Nice idea the only problem is those who will be providing the answers….
We might get direct responses but we will never get direct answers.
But at least we can have a big of fun. See who get a TD to answer the most ridiculous question without them knowing its a pisstake.
Joy! Let the trolling of politicians begin! Let’s see how long they tolerate the type of comments people write about them here. Just as long as the message senders have the courage to say to their faces the things they’re more then happy to say behind their backs…
Great piece and I really hope this happens. I just want to disagree with the suggestion that we are a deferential nation. At other times of strife we have been very confrontational and assertive. I think the key difference now, compared with other modern confrontations is that the unions have completely sold out on their supposed mandate to represent the vast working class. They have sold that mandate out to support the now anaemic and self-serving aspirations of the Labour Party. The key dimension of any popular influence for change is organisation and the unions who are supposed to possess this capacity have gone deadly and guiltily silent.
Dear Politician, will you please sign this legal contract promising to pay me €1,000 for each promise you break on election leaflets that you put through my door? If you won’t sign it… why not?
Thank you, my solicitor will be in touch with you in four years time.
yes thats right ,,lets just knock it, find the faults straight away, lets not give it a try ..at the worst the tds will show their true colors.. even if they dont reply. we are on a win win with this.but know we will make a big joke of it ,reinforcing the td`s opinion that we are just a butch of plebs , and they were right ,and we dont matter a fig as we cant behave like adults. and although we keep whinging about policies, we whinge at everything so it does dilute it to meaningless
how about she launch the site before telling us all how great it is, then we can see for ourselves
Any TD’s signed up yet?
Loosing houses…loosing jobs…..loosing family to other countries…….loosing hope……loosing lives….. oh and yeah…sure ask a question and get an answer….. Sorry but more than this is damn well needed now ! There is so much pain, stress and suffering out there. There are so many families wondering how they are going to heat the house.
Amazing Piece, cant wait to get onto the website and start asking my TD’s!! This is a great way to encourage participation in our political system and encourage transparency and accountability.
This is great.
I have never had a problem contacting a politician. TD, MEP, doesn’t matter. they always got back to me personally, or an aide did with a righteous reply.
Good luck to the project all the same! Hope people use it for good, not whining
oh and ….. what makes anyone think that a ‘politician’ will answer a straight question with a straight answer on a social media or website? I am sorry but I think the whole idea is exceptionally naive.
faith in our leaders….. a consensus over the common good for our society….open and honest discussion between the ‘electorate and the elite’ generate a level of trust…………. what…..whose the JOKER !!!
Sorry I don’t understand the question!
rock the boat a little but not too hard this is what dail watch ashoka/bill drayton who made his money at McKinsey & Company advising companies how to screw us for every penny, they don’t want to challenge politicians too much, not enough to get beaten and pepper sprayed off the street, you pontificate from your comfortable position with tens of thousand of pounds to back you.
Careful now. Keep grinding that axe and you’ll have ground it away to nothing but the handle.
sarah so its tribunal fatigue, as in fed up with tribunals not with the corrupt politics the tribunals were investigating?
sarah what was the budget of coccupy dame street, and what is your budget, how much and who is behind this? how do you know the occupy movement here and elsewhere will not have any effect long term?
have your say