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Anti-Empire
Human Rights in IrelandIndymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Lockdown Skeptics
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international edition
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Watching the Drunks and Insomniacs national |
arts and media |
opinion/analysis
 Friday July 09, 2004 15:07 by seedot - Indymedia TV Review: Watching...
 Despite the lack of a category, Indymedia should have a TV page. Why do when you can watch. Oireachtas Report often lives up to Pat Rabbittes memorable description - he may have been talking about the audience but who can tell? Saw it last night and heard some people bemoaning the lack of accountability for the Government during the next 3 months as the Dail was in recess. It is handy the day the decentralisation website stats are released all right, but have they ever watched the programme? I mean, given the level of editing (i hear they often shoot scenes and even endings that never make it into the final cut) you'd think it would be more exciting then 'Who's in the Doughnut'. You see the idea is that this is where the affairs of the Nation get debated and decisions taken. So when they're not there all hell might break loose - anarchy even. To avoid this the Oireachtas has to be the place where the government tells the truth, where great men (usually men) make great speeches. Even with the general lack of greatness, yesterday they were all very upset that this would'nt be happening for the next few months - although we were reassured that the committees would still be sitting. Now I am not the fiercest critic of electoralism. If they want to have their party, let them; as long as I don't have to go. But the whole thing seems a bit useless if the government can just say whatever they want in the Dail chamber and everybody just lets them. As we learn from the Indymedia feature today, Oireachtas Report is just FICTION afterall, which even Bertie, weight of the continent on his shoulders, prince of the church, partakes in. Do they not realise what this will do? How can anyone defend electoralism and let the Taoiseach lie to them in the Dail Chamber? Maybe SKYs new Ashtown Gate Wet T Shirt Competition is what we should be watching. Oireachtas Report is not back until the Autumn: lets get rid of the liars and just let the Drunks and Insomniacs do their party piece. For the sake of television. To save us from committees. |
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Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 2 1The use of the Party Whip by all parties to force their TDs on critical issues is essentially dictatorship by the Party Whip.
The Party Whip has been used quite often to get various bills and other stuff through the Dail even when there has been considerable opposition and resistance by back bench TDs in the government of the day.
The way it works is quite coercive and simple. If you vote against the whip, particularly on something that the government really wants to push through is that your chances of promotion to being a Minister in the next reshuffle or government will suffer. Not only that for back-benchers who might not be that material, there is always the threat of loosing the ear of important colleagues and of other TDs being favoured in terms of resources from your area in the next election. So for example, you might find your chance of being nominated to go up for your own seat next time is sabotaged.
They are many other subtle ways that the political parties impose their will. In some cases you can even be thrown out of the political party and it has happened.
The same thing happens in UK politics in the House of Commons.
For example the Bill a few years ago, which centralized all power regarding waste matters from the councils to central government was got through with the Party Whip.
It can be hard to know when it is actually being used, because there doesn't have to be any announcement, just the quiet word in the ear is enough, but often you will hear in a press-release or statement that the government had to use the party whip for a given bill.
There are many other flaws in the way voting works in the Dail, but this must be one of the worst, is probably the most coercive and as I said earlier is essentially dictatorial -at least when it matters.
The dail seems weak for a number of reasons.
1.The opposition are terrible and until recently didn't coordinate any of their questions or the time they get collectively.A weak opposition,which at the moment seems confined to sinn fein shouting and labour weak jokes,means the government can control debate.
2.The system in the dail,including a reduction of the days the taoiseach attends,is balanced against the opposition.Pat Rabbitte was right to point out the the chairman of the dail,a FF TD, constantly rejects opposition questions.The taoiseach isn't often required to sit in the dail and whenever the opposition have a one-sided issue to hit the government on they wheel out michael smith(minister of defence ranks somewhere between arts and culture and the ministry of funny walks in importance).Time to ask questions and to whom is limited.
3.the electoral and party system itself.In other countries members of different parties often vote against the official party stance,eg.America or labour in Britain.Ireland has a political history of extreme party loyalty,thus nearly every vote has the same result all FF and PDs against everyone else.A notable exception to this was the FG justice spokesman voting with the government on a criminal justice bill and this he got eaten alive for.This is a repeated thrend,backbenchers always end up supporting the government on fees,privitisation and the smoking ban despite their opposition.Thus if there is no chance of actually persuading other tds to change their loyalty for a single vote the dail changes audience to the public.All is PR dominated,the opposition seeking a tv3 news report and the government(also known as michael smith)trying to avoid an embarrassing quote.