Frontlines: Crashing the party

We know at this point that Francis Fukuyama was talking a load of old cobblers in The End Of History. Really, we were going to agree that the post-Cold War definition of triumphal liberal democracy was the pinnacle of civilisation and everything would be smooth sailing from there?

Putting recent global calamities aside, the relative microcosm of Ireland is a fine example of how broken Western democracy is.

A country on its knees, Fianna Fáil in the gutter and our current glorious leaders, Fine Gael, on their shaky pedestal more from a shrug of indifference than a vote of confidence. If Goldman Sachs were too big to fail, maybe Fine Gael are too insipid to lose power.

A new organisation “for the entire electorate”, An Chomhdháil Phobail – The People’s Convention (CPPC), wants to change the conversation. Built up from a constituency basis, it aims to safeguard the collective right to decide policy, through the use of local conventions to select electoral candidates and an annual National Convention overseeing it all. Disregarding party affiliations, it hopes to tighten the leash voters have on their representatives. It pushes no policy but an adherence to pure democracy and hopes to provide administrative aid, structure and support to independents so inclined. The ultimate aim is to enshrine in law the right to recall an elected candidate at any time. Right now, it’s a Cork concern.

Official CPPC spokesperson Diarmaid Ó Cadhla became politically active as a student in the late ‘70s, when he helped tackle a problem in the Union Of Students In Ireland. “It was being manipulated, in fact, by the very same people who are in government today leading the Labour Party,” Ó Cadhla notes.

The recession drew him back in. “People have to change how they act and stop handing the mandate to parties and private clubs,” Ó Cadhla stresses, deeming what goes on in the Dáil today as “an actual shambles”. For Ó Cadhla, the solution lies in Bunreacht na hEireann, not vested interests who frustrate referenda. As he points out, no mention is made of political parties in the constitution. “Bunreacht says it’s the right of the people to decide the policy, in black and white. It says the Dáil should be composed of members to represent constituencies. Not represent parties.”

Surely, however, it’s human nature for like-minded types to band together to make their views heard?

“Parties need to redefine themselves. The whole system is based on the giving and receiving of favours. The best individual at that bargaining becomes the local comhairle, gets the nomination and moves up. The way the party operates, the most scurrilous individuals get to the top. And they’re the ones who decide how our country is run.”

Ó Cadhla understands how tough it will be to take on well-established political machines when the Local Elections swing around on May 23. The lack of media attention and “mainstream money” for the CPPC is a problem, though he argues, “If people grasp a good idea, then they’ll talk about it. That’s the best PR you can get.”

Perhaps that is why he is setting his sights so high. “There’s 31 seats in city council in Cork. We want the people to win them all. We put up posters saying there should be no representation for parties. So we want a clean sweep. We want to get them all out. People have been telling us we’re mad and maybe we are.”

As it stands, there are 12 People’s Candidates in the running. Battling it out in the Kanturk-Mallow area will be Grzegorz Zalewski. A plumber by trade, his ambition led him to emigrate from Poland 10 years ago. He soon built a life here, becoming a property owner. For him, the proliferation of new taxes in recent years is unacceptable.

“It all goes into the pockets of the bankers and supports the bail-out,” Zalewski says. “So that is my chance. At least try to do something. To say ‘stop, it’s enough’.”

To strengthen that voice in his local area, he hopes to bring the Irish and Polish communities together. “The Polish community is failing to stand beside the Irish. They don’t realise that they have the same rights as the Irish regarding voting. They don’t believe that they are part of this society. The same taxes, the same rights. The same problems. There is 25,000 Polish in Cork. A major group.”

Not one to sugar-coat things, Zalewski admits: “For now, Polish people don’t believe in this. We need more time to work with them. We need to do something outside on the streets, not on Facebook.”

East Cork candidate Aisling Murray became engaged with politics when she completed her architectural technology studies in the Cork Institute of Technology and realised there were no opportunities in sight. “I just feel like I could do a lot more if I was given the options. There’s a lot of courses on word processing, for example. A lot of people have gone past that. We could do with having a lot more in-depth courses.”

She’d witnessed her father, “a small-time builder”, have a life’s work “slapped back in his face with this property tax”. Won over by the CPPC at their national convention in March 2012 , she was initially hesitant about putting herself forward.

“I’m fairly shy, I’m not used to talking to people. But I just felt there was nobody coming forward. Something needs to be done about the situation in Ireland. We’re at a standstill.”

Make no mistake, Murray, Zalewski and the CPPC have an uphill battle. The “common sense” policy ideas and aspirational beliefs will need solid grounding, support and strategising to make an impact. Whether real change can be made if they find themselves in office remains the big question.

Starting at a local level, dealing with community-based problems is certainly the way to go, however.

There is undeniably something stirring in Cork. The rest of the country could only benefit from that rebel spirit spreading.

Go to cppc.ie for more information.