Fianna Fail senator Averil Power was clear and passionate about her reasons for entering politics.
The reason I got involved in politics is because I want to be involved in the present and I want to be involved in trying to change things and I’m genuine about that and I see there are other young members, people like Martin, (Conway FG senator).
There are new people across all parties that want to change and I think what we need to learn is how do we change the system, how do we put in place a proper system of transparency and scrutiny.
Sadly for the people of Ireland senator Power is nothing more than your average gormless gombeen politician whose loyalty is strictly confined to her own career, her constituents who are the fodder for her election campaigns and her corrupt party.
We know Power is a gormless gombeen because she speaks the exact same language as that spoken by every other gombeen politician down through the decades.
She speaks the language that destroys democracy; that brings untold misery on ordinary citizens while enriching those in the golden circle.
In a discussion on the Fine Gael McNulty political stroke Vincent Browne put it to senator Power (13.40 min.) that Fianna Fail had brought such cronyism to a fine art over the years and that it was a joke to pretend that it was all in the past.
Power responded exactly as countless other Fianna Fail gombeen politicians have responded in the past.
I think there were a lot of mistakes made in the past.
Mistakes, mistakes, thundered Browne who went on to tear strips out of the hapless politician.
Are you seriously suggesting that Fianna Fail’s policy of cronyism and stroke politics over decades and decades in office was nothing more than a mistake?
Power then compounded her gombeenism with political stupidity by challenging Browne, not once, but twice, to give her even one example of Fianna Fail ever appointing anyone to a board in such a manner.
The very fact that Power made the challenge in the first place suggested that she was familiar with the history of Fianna Fail, that she could stand over anything Browne could throw at her regarding her party’s past behaviour.
Yet, when Browne met her challenge by recounting a similar example of stroke politics by Fianna Fail, Power claimed she had never read about that incident and that in any case she was just four years of age when it occurred.
There are three aspects of senator Power’s typically gombeen performance I will comment on.
One: Fianna Fail is the party that invented and infected the political system with cronyism and stroke politics. The corruption introduced by Fianna Fail into the political system was the direct cause of the 2008 economic catastrophe that has impoverished so many Irish citizens.
That cronyism/corruption is still alive and well today in Fianna Fail and the wider body politic. That culture of corruption is still inflicting untold damage on Ireland and its people; we only have to listen to the news to confirm the truth of this.
Two: Senator Power’s abdication of responsibility for the disgraceful history of her party is, at best, dishonest.
When she joined Fianna Fail she was signing up to that party’s history in addition to its current policies and conduct.
As a member of that organisation and as a public representative she has an obligation to know the history of her party and to state clearly where she stands on its disgraceful betrayal of the Irish people.
Three: Her claim that young politicians in the mainstream parties are the future hope for political reform is grotesquely laughable.
There is not a single young politician within the mainstream parties with the courage to step out and challenge the culture of cronyism and corruption that does so much damage to Ireland and its people.
They are all, like senator Power, pathetic clones of their older gombeen peers.
I’ll end by speaking a language that senator Power will not understand, a language she has never heard of or studied.
Vincent Browne: Senator, would you agree that your party took this type of cronyism to a fine art over many years in office?
Senator: Yes, I fully agree with that statement and I would like to go even further.
As a new and young member of the party I want to condemn and totally reject the corrupt behaviour of previous party members and leaders over the years. I recognise and apologise to the people of Ireland for the massive damage done to their interests as a result of that corruption.
I pledge here and now, live on air, that I will work to rid Irish politics, and my party in particular, of the disease of corruption, cronyism and stroke politics.
I realise this is a politically dangerous stand for me to take but I believe it’s worth the risk, not just to protect my personal integrity, but in the hope that I can make some recompense to the Irish people for the damage done by my party.
Copy to:
Senator Power
This is award winning political commentary in my humble view. I expected to see at least 20 comments confirming such. Any chance of running as an Independent in 2016 Gavin? You’re the nearest thing to a ‘free-press’ in Ireland.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind comments Disillusioned, As for election, I would never become involved in the rotten system. I think the whole system needs to be completely scrapped and a new republic established.