During the general election, The Irish Times assembled a panel of readers drawn from across the State and from all age groups, to discuss the progress of the election campaign. This week, a sample of them gathered again to discuss the first 100 days of this Coalition.
“A s**t-show,” says Catherine, a mother of one living in Dundalk. “I think it’s just been fairly inept. I think Micheál Martin has really let himself down. I would never give Fianna Fáil a number one, but I said, well, Micheál Martin, he’s, you know, he is a decent person, but the whole farrago over, [Michael] Lowry ...”
The involvement of the controversial Tipperary TD cut through with members of the group, some of whom mention the Opposition’s description of the agreement with Lowry and the Independents as a “grubby little deal”.
“The Lowry debacle has totally characterised it for me,” says Rebecca, a teacher based in Dublin.
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“I think it’s so unbecoming of Micheál Martin to have done that. Like when you think how despicable to have our Government held to ransom by, no, don’t make me say the ‘grubby little deal’ phrase because I’m really tiring of that. But it really stuck, yeah ... I suppose the reason it stuck is because it’s true. I mean, how appalling!
“I can think of very little that’s been done,” she adds. “The committees haven’t really got running and all of that is as a result of that [the Lowry deal].
“That mess and that, you know, debacle. So I think, in hindsight, it was regrettable. And I think he [Martin] may have done [it] differently if he could have seen the kind of headache that he was in for.”
Seán, from Limerick, agrees that disapproval for Lowry’s involvement has “really cut through and I’m hearing it from everyone”.
But he acknowledges that while the “ideal scenario would have been the Labour Party going in ... they didn’t go in and don’t seem to have had any interest in going in.”
Rebecca agreed that from her point of view, “a couple of Labour ministers or a couple of Soc Dems would definitely [have] been more liked by the general populace” rather than the Independents.
Catherine said it is “quite nauseating to see the likes of Marian Harkin and Boxer Moran go out on the plinth and just wave their bits of paper like Neville Chamberlain and say, ‘look at us, we got the running track for Athlone or we got the bridge for Ballygobackwards or whatever’. Okay, grand. But don’t rub it in people’s faces.”
Few of the group see any progress on housing, though Seán acknowledges that it is not a problem unique to the Republic.
“I would say that like the housing situation is awful, but reading about the Canadian elections today, it’s one of the factors over there as well. It’s all over the western world. Housing is a problem everywhere. And I’m not making excuses now, but I’m just saying that I think there’s bigger issues at play.
“I don’t know what the solution is, but it is a problem everywhere and I’m not so sure about beating up the Government continually over it. I think that’s why people didn’t vote for Sinn Féin because they knew it wouldn’t really make a difference.”
Tommy, from Tralee, thinks there is too much focus on building houses and not enough on apartments.
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There is little enthusiasm for the Government‘s idea of a “housing tsar”.
“Like, what is he going to do?” asks Rebecca sceptically.
“For heaven’s sake,” says Catherine.
She says the move smacks of “just panic, you know. They’re thinking, ‘oh God, get the guys on €400,000 from NTMA, he’ll sort us out’.”
Most think the Taoiseach fared well in his trip to the Oval Office to meet US president Donald Trump. But there are concerns about the impact of US tariffs on the State’s economy.
Memories of the 2008 financial crash are still fresh. While there is deep impatience with the pace of progress and no sense that the Government is pushing ahead – “grinding to a halt ... this kind of slow down,” says Rebecca – there is also an appreciation for the Taoiseach’s experience in a time of international uncertainty.
While there is criticism of Martin, who by consensus has “let himself down” over the Lowry deal, and there is regret that Labour and the Social Democrats did not try harder to be in Government, few have any desire to see someone other than Martin in the Taoiseach’s office.
“I think I’d prefer if you said [he would be Taoiseach] for the whole five years, frankly,” says Catherine.
