In some ways, politics only ever seeks to answer one question: Who holds power?
Ireland is a good example of that. Yet it might be argued that we take it to ridiculous extremes. Here is the Irish Independent’s report yesterday from Philip Ryan, who appears to have been well-briefed on the ongoing Government formation talks:
The group led by controversial TD Michael Lowry has been locked in negotiations with the two main political parties over the weekend as they seek to reach agreement on forming a coalition.
However, a serious sticking point appears to be the seven Independent TDs seeking to oversee a government department as part of the deal.
Sources in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael said they are not open to giving the Independents a full Cabinet ministry……….
…… The so-called Grand Coalition parties have agreed most policies but there are still issues around the Vat rate for the tourism sector.
Fine Gael has sought to reduce the Vat rate from 13.5pc to 11pc for the tourism sector but Fianna Fáil has resisted this move.
There are also issues to be resolved around the Department of Justice and whether a separate Department of Domestic Affairs is to be introduced.
Fine Gael’s plan for a Department of Infrastructure does not look likely to be proceeding but a new agency may be created to ensure capital projects are advanced quicker and with less bureaucracy.
Now, dear reader, there are two categories of issue here: Policy, and personnel.
On policy, I would guess that most of us could sort out the differences between FF and FG in a matter of minutes. They can’t agree on whether tourism sector VAT should be 13.5% or 11%? Here’s an idea: Split the difference and go with 12%. They can’t decide on a new department? Create a super junior Ministry for Domestic Affairs under the auspices of the Departments of Justice and the Taoiseach. These are not insurmountable problems.
Much more prominent in the piece, and – as we can all guess – the negotiations, is the more thorny issue of bums in seats.
Now, on a human level this is somewhat understandable. Politics is a career, and everybody wants career advancement. One would hope politics is also full of ambitious people who fundamentally believe that they would be a better Minister than the alternatives (and would seek to prove this in office).
But here’s the thing: the two people most responsible for forming a Government, Mssrs Martin and Harris, are already guaranteed to have their bums in particular seats. So much do they covet the biggest seat of all that they have already decided that they will, once again, share it. The office of An Taoiseach is to be passed around like a parcel, even though formally the occupant of it makes no difference once a programme for government is agreed: Both of them will agree to do the exact same things in the job. The requirement to share the job is purely, entirely, and totally about their respective egos and the egos of their supporters who want to know that their man got his turn in charge.
Per Philip Ryan (who should always be trusted on such matters) the main bone of contention in the Government negotiations is whether the Independents will get to sit in a big chair (which will apparently go to Noel Grealish, pictured above), or in a small chair. This, it must be stressed, is a matter of importance for precisely nobody outside Leinster House. The difference between a rural Independent and a back bench Fianna Fáiler in a particular Ministry is likely to be so insubstantial as to make exactly no difference at all to the running of the country on a day to day basis.
On the merits, it is also fairly obvious that the Independents should be given such a chair. They are being asked to become part of the Government, which entails taking responsibility for the unpopular decisions that the Government makes. It is hardly too much for them to ask for one seat at the cabinet, which is the very body that makes those decisions.
However, what ultimately happens there is of much less concern than the fact that the Irish public are, by and large, entirely content with a political class that treats Ministries as ends and rewards in and of themselves rather than what they are – important offices of state that should ideally go to the best person rather than being counted as an achievement for a particular party or group.
This being a democracy, we get what we vote for. In this case, it appears that the public voted for a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael scramble for Ministries and Mercs. Which is strange, because in the exit poll, we were told that most voters wanted either moderate or radical change.
We do love doublethink, don’t we?