Irish presidential election campaign marches to a dull morbid tramp

I have been watching the progress of the Irish presidential election campaign from Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Buenos Aires is a city full of vitality and verve while the major Brazilian cities are focused on preparations for the Olympic Games and the World Cup. The population of Sao Paulo, at 20 million, is almost greater than that of Australia.

President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner holds a commanding lead of 60% as she faces a presidential election in Argentina this month.

Her former Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Ignácio Lula de Silva, left office last December but raised 30 million of his citizens from dire poverty in the seven years that he was President of Brazil.

The fact that none of the Irish candidates for President has successfully captured the public imagination to the extent that materially overshadows rivals is an indication of how utterly boring, weak and unconvincing each of the campaigns is. It is an ample demonstration of an inability to connect.

Frankly, if these candidates are as insipid at promoting their own credentials to become a global statesman of some consequence to the general public, how on earth could they possibly have any impact across the world as President and be fit-for-purpose to a public that hardly know where Ireland is?

From a candidate’s perspective, this phase of a campaign is not about being validated by those who are already convinced. It is about moving out of their comfort zone and converting the agnostics – be they ‘West-Brits, D-4 snobs, those who warmly welcomed Queen Elizabeth as well as those who did not’ etc. etc. The contest is for head of state, not head of enclave and that means reaching out to all components of society, even those who will never love or admire you.

None of them have yet demonstrated a credible understanding of the role they are seeking to occupy.

The campaign to date is based on reacting to adversarial shadows – some factually grounded, others less so. Why have none of them published sufficiently comprehensive curriculum vitae to inform strangers who they are? How many languages, for example, are each of them proficient in? What is the educational attainment of each candidate? How literate are each of them in economics? What are there hobbies and personal interests?

How can they honestly expect the electorate to become stimulated and passionate about vacuous slogans and meaningless shibboleths? The public will also quickly weary of any President whose tenure requires endless explanation of the mitigating reasons why he, or she, is the office holder.

The moral is to start showing some flair, energy, relevance and focus – even if most of them are north of 60 years of age seeking to establish stature with a nation, half of whose population is under the age of 35.

This is a presidential election campaign in a sophisticated sovereign State, not a mid-winter Grand National for paraplegic snails at Leopardstown Race Course intended to stimulate insomniacs.

Irish presidential election a magnet for the maudlin’ and the mediocre

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The Irish presidential election campaign has attracted a motley compendium of the irretrievably mediocre, the almost-sedated and the infinitely deluded and more kindred spirits are emerging. All share the common characteristic of not demonstrating a basic understanding of  what the role and function of an Irish Head of State is and that the President is the first of all citizens, including those in ‘Dublin 4’ and the fat, rich and smug.

This weekend it seemed as though a posse of salesmen specialising in providing a tarmacadam surface on the driveways of suburban houses had begun to compete against each other when one of the aspirants, 72-year old Laurence Murphy (aka Labhrás Ó’Murchú) proclaimed, in what was possibly the first widely broadcast comment in his 14-year career in Seanad Éireann, that he would take on the role of President at no salary whatsoever – so desperate is he for recognition. Not to be outdone in the bidding war Martin McGuinness offered to take on the role at a salary of no more than €35,000 per annum.

The McGuinness bid equates to the average industrial wage but comes with the promise of a mawkish, welfare-saturated ‘New Republic’ – whatever that is. 

But having had a genuinely superb President in Mary McAleese for the past 14 years the Irish electorate are unlikely to grovel around seeking merely a candidate with the potential to develop into an average President to replace her. They are seeking someone with the potential to be a world-class statesman – as she is, not a cardboard cut-out whose limited capacity will merely offer a cheap and cheerful presidency - heavy on rhetoric but light on impact.

When Martin McGuinness tells us that if he were elected President that he would accept remuneration no greater than €35,000 per annum and advises that his legacy as an IRA commander should be conveniently disregarded and even excised from our imagination. He also neglects to mention that he draws the full salary and expense as a member of parliament for Mid Ulster – but never goes to work in Westminster. This, no doubt, resonates with the thousands of malingers in other walks of life who also fail to turn up for work.

But perhaps McGuinness is confusing the concepts of cost and values. If the average industrial wage was to become the critical benchmark when choosing a Head of State the electorate would ask candidates’ for quotations and consider the merits of the lowest bidder. But the qualities required to safeguard Bunreacht na hÉireann and the heritage of a proud nation are priceless.

A presidential election is fundamentally about values and, specifically, which candidates’ are best qualified to safeguard the Constitution and reflect the values, spirit, prestige and dignity of our nation – in a manner that typically find expression in the sophisticated, prosperous democracies of Northern Europe but not in fragile, obsessive-compulsive tin-pot statelets elsewhere across the globe.

Irish people, as a whole, have been outraged at the brutal campaign of terrorism in which McGuinness played such a prominent and protracted role; a campaign that retarded the development of society for decades leaving Northern Ireland economically paralysed with a much lower level of prosperity, self-sufficiency and economic vitality.

They abhorred the menacing threats to the security, stability and integrity of the institutions of our State. They were incandescent and outraged each time a member of the Gardaí was callously slaughtered and they were appalled at the contemptuous disregard for the exclusive authority of our military forces to defend us.

Therefore, the first and major priority for candidate McGuinness is to demonstrate the credibility of his credentials to become President and commander-and-chief of the military. He needs to persuade the electorate that our sense of nationhood would be diminished were he not to prevail. The salary-cost of the Presidency is secondary to the stature, calibre and overall suitability of the successful incumbent.

Furthermore, if McGuinness did win the hearts and votes of the electorate he could propose that the Irish presidential mansion be relocated to Londonderry or Fermanagh so as to give the public a flavour of what life would be like in a ‘united Ireland’.  Aras an Uachtarain could sold in a package with the National Lottery.  If the buyer turned out to be a gambling consortium the Aras might be converted to a casino and this might obviate the desire to build a replica pastiche version of The White House in Two Mile Borris, Co Tipperary.

How critical is Irish-American support to a President of Ireland?

I flew from Istanbul to Dublin early this morning and browsed an opinion piece on the four-hour flight in The Irish Times by former US Congressman Bruce Morrison about his friend Niall O’Dowd.  Morrison was responding to a previous opinion piece written by Walter Ellis, s former journalist at this paper, who argued that O’Dowd is ‘too much of an Irish-American for the Áras.

Ellis contended that O’Dowd sees Ireland as a brand, not a nation and that Irish-Americans are ‘too misty eyed’.  Morrison countered this argument by pointing out that O’Dowd successfully engaged a range of the diaspora in many ways to support the interests of the mother nation.

When I read Morrison’s article one would think that Mr O’Dowd is seeking to become primus inter pares of an enclave rather than Head of State in a sophisticated nation, notwithstanding that the 42-million strong Irish-American diaspora is as multifaceted and distinguished as the largest diamond in the world.

None of those seeking consideration to be candidates in the forthcoming presidential election have either demonstrated that they understand the role of the President or how they are qualified to conduct that Office - without controversy. All suffer from the hazard of very limited name and reputation recognition in what will be the first such election in fourteen years. Nobody under the age of 31 years has ever voted in a presidential election and half the total population is under the age of 35 years. More than 10% of the total population were born elsewhere and many of these are now Irish citizens and will be first-time voters in a presidential election.

The role of the President includes (1) defending the Constitution (2) defending the dignity of the nation and (3) enhancing the prestige of the nation globally.

This is why the Office requires an incumbent with a sophisticated, far-reaching perspective of our legacy, our circumstances and our ambitions; someone whose presence inspires awe and admiration rather than explanations and scepticism.

But the essence of Mr Morrison’s argument, that Mr O’Dowd can leverage ‘valuable support’ for Ireland in America does not take into account that many doors currently open to Mr O’Dowd will also be open to any person who is President of Ireland and are most likely already open through other avenues, such as the Global Irish Network that is due to convene for the second time in Dublin Castle on October 7^th. Therefore, had Mr Morrison provided some rich and colourful insights into the competency, skills and sophistication of Mr O’Dowd to enable him become a statesman, rather than influence peddler in one large jurisdiction, the readers might be more enlightened. But he has left them with nothing interesting to cling to.

Apart the political parties the nation’s county councillors’ are also a gateway to a nomination. This is the same myopic cohort that has facilitated the littering of this insolvent nation with vacant and unusable ghost housing estates. The fear now is that they will litter than nation with ill-qualified ghost presidential candidates. We cannot indulge delusional fantasists who are mere man, or women, of straw. The voters need to be convinced beyond doubt of the suitability of candidates. But since so little of real relevance is known about any of them it is up to each of them and their advocates to make defensible case to the electorate based on their understanding of the role and the qualities (as opposed to purported contacts) that they claim for themselves. The Office requires the incumbent to be the President of the entire nation not segment(s) of it, whether at home or abroad.  It requires a statesman, not a salesman

Who is fit to be President of Ireland?

Ireland is now less than six months from the first election since 1997 to elect a new President.  No candidates have been confirmed to date. But this will be an election which will test the stature and mettle of the political parties which they will only pass if they deliver worthy candidates with the exceptional qualities necessary to become an admired articulate role model for Irish citizens across the world but survive intense scrutiny and far-reaching expectations.

The term of the next President will coincide with the centenary of many milestones of our nation. Having been deeply humiliated by the surrender of economic sovereignty due to incompetence and delinquency many Irish citizens speculate, with uncertainty and concern, about what may ahead.

Blogging in The Irish Times on 6 June, under a headline The Áras: Nice Job If You Can Get It – Deaglán de Bréadún refers to the Office being a ‘very prestigious job, well-paid, nice accommodation, lots of foreign travel and optional workload, i.e., you can work really, really hard or you can do the standard amount and then go and play golf’.

The reference to ‘an optional workload’ must be either tongue-in-cheek or betray a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Office of President. Our Head of State is the Custodian of the Dignity of the Nation. 

The presidency is not ‘a job’. The gardener, the cook, the chambermaid,the drivers,  the Secretary-General to the President and the clerical support staff at the Áras have jobs - but the President does not.  The President has an incumbency with an onerous burden, not least of which is to respond to the zeitgeist and soul of the nation.

The complex role of President of Ireland requires extraordinary discipline, dedication, vision, energy and understanding. The nation may have been beaten into economic turmoil by unworthy bankers and cunning political insiders and too many constitutional office holders have failed dismally to live up to their mandate. But President McAleese is concluding her 14-year term with a consistent high approval rating that many leaders would crave for but never achieve. In her case this is a consequence of her exceptional capability, leadership and judgement and because she is authentic and has had the exceptional support of an outstanding spouse.

The presidency is not a role for the feint-hearted or the ambivalent because of high public expectations and the intense scrutiny that surround it. The range of skills required are quite daunting – diplomatic, representational, nation-building, nation-parenting etc. – characteristics that are not merely a function of overweening personal ambition. It requires candidates who, needless to say, can demonstrate unimpeachable integrity.  President McAleese has a particular aptitude to reach out effectively to all parts of society without being a captive to any one of them.

The next President of Ireland will be expected to redeem that nation’s reputation and stature.

None of those aspiring to become candidates have indicated what they personally believe makes them sufficiently distinguished to become our Head of State of what President Kennedy referred to with deep pride as one of the ‘five feet high nations’; an ‘isle of destiny, a destiny that will be glorious’.

When aspiring candidates start to share their convictions about themselves with all of us and describe how the character of their presidency might evolve society will begin to have something to cling to. Some say they want a conversation with the nation. But does the nation want a President or a therapist with a set of tarot cards?

Society is looking for distinguished candidates that ‘look like a President; sound like a President and act like a President’. This means that those who ‘look like a janitor, think like a janitor, sound like a janitor and behave like a janitor’ need to find work as a janitor and not be pursuing delusional and dysfunctional aspirations.

Furthermore this Office has become something of a family enterprise with those close to the President making an enormous contribution to the success of the Office. Aspiring candidates might bear in mind that society are also curious about your supporting cast and how he, or she, might enhance the Office. What’s the package?