It's time for the new generation to take over, writes ELOISE McINERNEY
YOUNG IRELAND; MAKING IT BETTER, PART V;WE LIVE in a democracy so we get the government we deserve, don't we? Some of us would like to think we never deserved Fianna Fáil. We were Fine Gael voters or Labour voters or Sinn Féin voters, or we voted for nobody. Though, if you don't bother to vote, you do deserve what you get.
But seriously, why do Irish people keep voting for Fianna Fáil? It’s well known that they’re the most corrupt party in the State.
Put anyone into almost unbroken power for 70-odd years and they are bound to be corrupt. Of course, Fianna Fáil is good at staying in power because their fundamental ideology is to stay in power. They’re a party of followers, not of leaders. They will give us what we ask for. And boy, did we ask for it.
But now that we don’t like them anymore, who are people turning to in their droves? Fine Gael. Magnifying glass, please.
The results of the recent Red C poll on religious practice are revealing. 72 per cent of Fianna Fáil voters, 68 per cent of Fine Gael voters and 65 per cent Labour voters all go to church. Apparently two-thirds of us go to church at least once a month now, up from 54 per cent last year.
There’s another little figure lurking in there: 31 per cent of 18-24-year-olds go to church weekly, compared to 70 per cent among the over 65s.
We also know that those most likely to vote are over 35. No wonder nothing is changing.
Catholicism is a conservative religion and its ideologues have been spouting the same old stuff for centuries. Social progress is what’s killing us. Alternative family forms. Contraception. Gays.
It’s the economy, stupid.
Thankfully, not all Catholic churchgoers believe and do everything the church says. Otherwise we wouldn’t have 84 per cent of people in favour of partnership rights for gay people and there would be a lot more children running around. I’m not suggesting people abandon faith to get out of the recession, but we’ll need to look beyond the church if we want to find constructive new ways of dealing with social and economic problems.
Ireland desperately needs radical political change – the old guard have been around forever and many of them are still wrapped up in a conservative mentality born out of a very different Ireland, one which is sharply at odds with that of an increasingly frustrated new generation.
RTÉ is a case in point. It’s like a zombie that just won’t let go, still walking and talking and resentfully killing off any new life that comes near it. We get stuck with the dull, boring old usual while those with talent either go elsewhere or become zombified themselves.
The problem doesn’t reside just with the current leadership (or lack of). The younger generation has been lacking in initiative and has wallowed in a mixture of apathy and political cynicism. But apathy is not cool, it means you’re a sheep, and cynicism is just another word for cop-out.
There is nothing more lazy and cowardly than the line “Ireland is a s*** country, time to get out.”
If it’s so s*** – then do something about it. Because if all the people with sense leave we’ll be run by the gombeens forever.
It’s not helping that the only knowledge that is publicly valued at the moment is the kind that will bring in the money. No wonder we’ve been brought down by greed and corruption.
How many 17-year-olds choose engineering over music and computer science over English literature just because they're told it will get them a job? And yet dropout rates in science and technology courses average 20 per cent ( Irish Times, August 10th, 2009).
Education shouldn’t just be focused on churning out more cogs for the creaky machine, it should be about teaching people how to engage actively and critically with their world. TCD and UCD have shown innovation by allowing undergraduate students to take a variety of arts and science modules. More of this should be encouraged and students allowed to make their career choice when they have lived a life free of parental control and Leaving Cert exam pressure.
The real challenge now, though, is to find a way to engage people who don’t read newspapers, who don’t take part in political debate and social commentary and who don’t vote.
It is do-able.
A largely apathetic gay community has become highly politicised in the past two years as it has become aware of its lack of rights. It is the younger generation, against all the odds, who are shouting loudest for full marriage equality, a generation that no one thought could or would be mobilised. (Incidentally, according to 2008 figures, 82 per cent of 18-24 year-olds support full civil marriage for gay people. This drops to 25 per cent when we get to the over-65s.)
There were a number of key steps. The first was educating people about the issues in way that had not been done before – by engaging them face-to-face in bars and clubs and by using the power of new media.
Another key was the transformation of political activism into something colourful and creative rather than angry and aggressive. Empowering people is crucial – allowing them to use their talents, skills and sense of humour in service of a clear and visible goal.
This recession may be the catalyst for mobilising the young of Ireland to start fighting for change and it is from their ranks that an alternative must come.
Established political parties, if they have the guts, could start by fielding younger candidates and by paying more attention to policies proposed by their youth groups. Those who want to harness the younger vote need to engage them on issues that affect them, in a language they understand and in places where they are to be found.
But why not go one step further – why not found a new political party altogether? Wouldn’t it be great to have a party that dispensed with the old, defunct ideologies of the 20th century? – one not based on old civil war or class rivalries, but one which will unite us in building an Ireland that is culturally, socially and economically wealthy.
One not afraid to take risks and implement a vision. One which is committed to genuine equality for all citizens.
One I would actually like to vote for.
The seeds are there, they just need to be planted.
Eloise McInerney is 29. She has degrees in history and English from Trinity College, in politics from UCD and is currently doing a PhD in Hispanic studies at TCD. She is communication officer with Noise, a gay rights lobbying organisation. She is writing here in a personal capacity