Ireland needs to implement policies that promote participation in public life, writes ELAINE BYRNE.
‘IN THE darkness of despair, we saw a vision, We lit the light of hope, and it was not extinguished . . . we melted the snow of lethargy and the river of resurrection flowed from it . . . the vision became a reality, winter became summer, bondage became freedom and this we left to you as your inheritance. O generation of freedom remember us, the generation of the vision.”
Liam Mac Uistin's poetic words are inscribed beside the Children of Lirstatue at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin's Parnell Square. The St Patrick's Day parade will begin there today, this memorial of reflection, which symbolises the rebirth and resurrection of the Irish nation. Incidentally, Brian Cowen will present an illustrated edition of The Children of Lir fairytales to Barack Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, during his visit to the White House today.
This writer believes in providence rather than coincidence. When both men stand side by side, with the obligatory shamrocks, we will have the opportunity to reflect that Cowen is just 18 months older than Obama and that a generation of young Irish now identify more with an American president of Offaly ancestry than a Taoiseach of Offaly birth.
Two-thirds of Ireland’s population, some 2.8 million Irish citizens, are younger than Cowen. What vision will my generation inherit? The deep regret and betrayal of Fionnula, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn, the Children of Lir, trapped as swans and banished from their homeland for 900 years? Is this the future that awaits us, one where we pay, through unemployment and emigration, for the mistakes of our institutions, those role models of irresponsibility that lecture my generation on responsibility?
Two months ago, I stood on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue, the street joining the Capitol building and the White House to witness Obama’s historic inauguration address.
I didn’t write about it at the time because I didn’t know how to. When asked what it was like, the only way I could describe it was through my photographs. The outstretched hands in the audience were trying to touch something you could only hear.
The first three words of Obama’s presidential address have set the tone of his presidency – “My fellow citizens.” Indeed, his first speech to the joint Houses of Congress prioritised support for the Serve America Act. This bipartisan initiative by senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch seeks to provide the largest investment in civilian service since the New Deal of the Great Depression. Service Nation – www.bethechangeinc.org – is a grassroots movement supporting the Kennedy-Hatch legislation and promoting the concept of US citizenship and public service.
Citizenship has been treated with damaging undertones in Ireland in the past. The 2004 Citizenship Referendum was centred on a negative exclusionary principle. Passports were regarded as political items of convenience to be bought and sold. Cowen tried to emulate Obama in his ardfheis speech when he referred to the Irish tradition of communities working together. We have heard this before. Two years ago this month, the Taskforce on Active Citizenship reported. Reaffirming the “value of civic engagement in creating a healthy and vibrant society”, the taskforce issued 21 recommendations. How many of these have been implemented?
Where, for example, is the independent electoral commission, which would encourage political participation? What of the proposals to strengthen local government structures and readdress Ireland’s centralised system of policymaking?
What happened to the presidential citizen awards which would recognise outstanding contributions to Ireland’s life? For instance, Ronan O’Gara’s achievements at the weekend, when he became the top point scorer in Five and Six Nations history.
Two weeks ago, British prime minister Gordon Brown announced Senator Ted Kennedy would receive an honorary knighthood for his services to the Northern Ireland peace process. How will we honour this great servant of Ireland?
Why do we not have formal citizenship ceremonies to welcome new Irish citizens?
Dermot McCarthy, secretary general to the Government and the Department of the Taoiseach, has sat on the Taskforce on Active Citizenship and chairs the National Economic and Social Council. In 2003, the council launched 24 recommendations for public policy to counteract decline in civic engagement and to promote active citizenship – including the designation of a specific department to co-ordinate strategic thinking and policy on social capital.
The taskforce and the council advocated strengthening the sense of “public ethos” within the Civil Service.
Among the audience at a UCD conference last week to honour Prof Tom Garvin’s contribution to the study of politics in Ireland were retired senior civil servants who privately expressed a desire to contribute in new ways to Irish public life.
Citizenship, duty, participation and patriotism are not new concepts, Taoiseach. They just need practical, meaningful, expression.
So happy St Patrick’s Day, our annual national holiday when we commemorate a Welshman. Just as well then it doesn’t fall next Saturday.