Pretty Vacant

In an Irish civil service department, the Secretary General is top dog. Numero uno. Le Grand Fromage. It’s pretty much the pinnacle for any civil servant and is remunerated accordingly. So it’s quite a surprise to learn that one such exalted position has remained unfilled for almost a year. It’s in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Writing in The Irish Times last week, Mark Hilliard reported that of the seven applicants, only three were forwarded for preliminary interview and none was appointed.
He adds that an internal document written by the Chief Executive of the Public Appointments Service speculates that the low level of interest in the job arose from the context in which the job became available (the outgoing Sec Gen had asked to be moved from the position), significant challenges existing in the sector as well as “huge media interest and scrutiny.”
It’s truly amazing that such a post would not attract suitable candidates, especially since our media are collapsing under the weight of critical views on both the public service and the justice system.
A curmudgeon might suggest that members of the commentariat and media episcopacy should consider donning the green jersey and offering themselves for this hugely important position. I mean, if a public service job is as cushy and as well-rewarded as they crack it up to be, surely they’d be interested? Like, shit or get off the pot?
No? I thought not. Much easier to hurl abuse from the sideline than to tog out...
And abuse has certainly been hurled. In spades. I am not talking here of a number of entirely justifiable and extremely important investigations into the management and delivery of public services in this country. I’m talking about the extraordinary number of attacks that have been launched against public servants in general in Ireland over the past seven years, as the media, and the print media in particular, ‘went Murdoch’.
Yes, a distinction is sometimes made between the low-paid public servants and their highly-paid senior colleagues. But that’s to show that the commentariat is down with thelow-paid workers, whereas it’s down on the high-paid (though in truth, it’s hard to believe that they really give a toss either way, many being themselves very well-paid).
Public service unions have long claimed that this unrelenting barrage has had a catastrophic impact on the morale of public servants. The fact that nobody suitable applied for one of the most senior public service jobs surely supports this contention. But it also suggests that it’s deterring top talent from filling top positions. And if that’s the case it’s a disaster-in-the- making.
The torrent of abuse doesn’t end with the senior public servants. It also targets public representatives, and members of Fine Gael and the Labour Party in particular. Indeed, for reasons that are impossible to understand, it often seems that Labour politicians are the subject of far greater scorn and vilification than members of the last Fianna Fail administration or even those members of Sinn Fein about whose activities during the Troubles there are, shall we say, serious questions to be answered.
Once again, I’m not talking of balanced debate. This is about cynicism and spite and denigration, about the kind of thing that would dissuade all but the most boneheaded from entering politics. Like, say, a column that tells you to watch how the Government is about to fill every pothole across the land with the election in mind. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t – right? That’s handy. You always have a target.
It’s basically posh trolling.
Oddly, and in complete contrast, the business and finance commentariat seem quite benign toward Government politicians, pointing out how Ireland, though badly bruised, has managed to emerge out of the Great Recession, with employment rising pretty rapidly and various indicators looking better and better.
Of course, economists learn to factor variables and contextual factors into their evaluations, unlike those who insist that parties must be judged against what they said during the last election campaign without reference to either subsequent election results or wider economic realities. So, to economic commentators, bearing in mind how bad things have been, we’ve done well to avoid the kind of turmoil seen in Greece.
But such positive commentary is usually tucked away in the (minority interest) business pages while the accusatory rants (especially by high profile columnists) are in the heart of the papers. Free speech? Sure. But balance? Nah.
This is not to say we shouldn’t debate policies and argue the choices to be made. We should. Indeed, we should be trying to fashion a discourse that draws together the many interests, sectors, disciplines, strands of thought and philosophies that are currently, as it were, talking amongst themselves. A true democracy isn’t about who is the most sour and negative any more than it’s about who has their hands on the levers of power.
That discourse should include applauding the best, every bit as much as it fingerwags at the worst. Above all, it should generate an atmosphere in which the best are encouraged to commit their talents to the service of the people. That’s not happening. Media aggression, or aggression through the media, means that a lot of people are turned off. If we want to reverse this, that is, if we want top talent in our public service and our political system (and only fools don’t) then we need a less destructive, bilious and divisive discourse than we’re currently seeing.