Enda Kenny arrives at a press conference in his dark state car, flanked by gardai on motorbikes who zip through the traffic and wave at us plebeians to pull in and allow An Taoiseach to pass.
Not to mention the advisors - he’s just spent the day being trained in what to say and how to say it, how he should move his hands, his facial expressions. Seemingly minute details are laboured over, like the colour of his tie and how it, by some magic of colour psychology, will encourage voters to support Fine Gael. All is considered; nothing is left to chance.
In recent weeks across the pond, Donald Trump has slam-dunked Super Tuesday and continues to garner republican support. He seems to have a simple plan: grab attention. Scandalous, crude sound bites and a half-formed policy on building a wall rule supreme, leaving the other potentially presidential candidates to bite the dust.
In the meantime, “Let’s Keep the Recovery Going,” said Enda. It was emblazoned on the posters we passed every day on our way to work (or not to work for many of us), it rang through our houses by the power of television and radio. A misinformed and out of touch slogan, we can all agree, after the ‘whingers’ in Castlebar insisted on the hurt people outside Dublin are still faced with. Fine Gael, with Enda at its helm, ran a limp campaign and the party suffered for it – but Endless Enda still managed to top the polls in his home constituency of Mayo, although he’s been demoted to the mere position of TD. Fine Gael, too, have just about lived to see another day.
Despite the party’s slip-ups, there’s something to be said for a sexy, expensive campaign. We’re used to slick graphics and snazzy websites, and we sneer at a handwritten or badly designed sign, as though it holds less validity. Unfortunately for some independent and smaller party candidates, the cash just isn’t there to flash, making competing with the big guys in Irish politics near-impossible. Spending thousands on a campaign is the reserve of the rich, powerful, or both.
How different will the outcome of the inevitable second election be, when the reserves of the smaller parties have run dry? We could see solid independents who scraped a victory receiving their p45s before the year is out – solely because they don’t have a party to foot the bill, not because their ideas are any less relevant. Democracy is people power, but it takes money to grab people’s attention, and not everybody with a good idea has a full wallet.
It stands to reason, then, that the poorest in our society aren’t proportionately represented in Government. It’s not surprising that the elitist class structure of politics has disillusioned so much of the population.
Several weeks on, the dust has well and truly settled on the some two million ballot papers that were counted, and in some constituencies, counted again and again for good measure. The seats in the 32nd Dáil have already been warmed, and still our minds are left boggling; who will the next Taoiseach be? And more importantly, how will the public get the change so many hope for, when powerful types always seem to find a way to hold on to their flock?
