Totally bizarre and a little sad is how I would describe Lucinda Creighton’s launch of Ireland’s latest political party.
There she was with an unknown local politician on her right and a very well known person on her left who may, or then again, may not stand for election.
The nation was told that up to 100 people have been working since last April on planning the new party yet all they could manage in terms of policy was four bullet points of principle which any party could attach to their manifesto.
Yes, there may be more to come before the party is launched – again – in eight months time but by then the moment will have been lost, it will be old news.
It will just be another political party trying to find a niche in an ever crowding space and certainly not the revolutionary movement that’s required to bring real change.
Here’s why I think Creighton’s attempt to fill the political vacuum being created by the disintegration of the old corrupt regime will, ultimately, fail.
She was politically born and reared in the culture of that corrupt regime. All her contacts, friends and colleagues are members of the ruling elite that created and fully support that corrupt regime.
In common with a growing number of her fellow elites she has become aware that there’s something dangerous stirring in the undergrowth where ordinary citizens live out their lives voting for and paying taxes to the ruling class in return for a few crumbs from the table.
The fatal flaw in her efforts is that she’s an insider trying to reconfigure the rotten system by making a few cosmetic changes so that it can continue to enjoy the benefits of power.
In common with all her fellow elites she’s completely unaware that it’s far, far too late for tinkering with the system.
It’s time to get rid of it altogether and I see no member of the insider elite with the vision and courage to do that job.
The power that will destroy our corrupt political/administrative system will come from outside and, hopefully, that will happen sooner rather than later.