And they still do not get it.
What is it that is beyond the comprehension of some of our political leaders that they cannot see that people are suffering at pretty well all levels of Irish society and that they have to show some modicum of example?
Can they not see the unemployed, the marginalised, those on modest incomes striving desperately to stay afloat in a society not of their making?
Who has been in power since 1997?
Yes, Fianna Fail assisted by others. That is the reality.
And so Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the beneficiary of Fianna Fail largesse, although a worthy appointment to the post of EU Commissioner, belatedly bowed to the inevitable and decided to forgo her lucrative Oireachtas pension.
In the vast scale of things, it matters little whether Geoghegan-Quinn gave up her pension. It was not going to rescue the dire state of this country.
We are now in such a terrible state economically that gestures by those in power perhaps carry a diminishing weight.
Nevertheless, there is an onus on public in public office to show example at a time when there is massive unemployment and social welfare recipients are among those who take a hit.
Had she decided to forgo the pension on the day she was made a Commissioner, it would have sent out a strong message that those who live in a world of relative privilege, as some of our politicians do, are getting the message.
Politics has been more than kind to Goeghegan-Quinn.
After more than 20 years in the Dail, she stood down with a pension which is now worth more than 100,000 euro.
That is not bad going, by any standards. Then, she was appointed to the European Court of Auditors by Bertie Ahern. Another lucrative job had fallen in the way of the former Fianna Fail Minister and TD.
That she was competent was not in doubt. But, like the European Commissioner job, her qualification, first and foremost, was that she had been a dedicated daughter of Fianna Fail.
The perks remained within the party. Fine Gael and Labour, in power, would have done exactly the same.
Today, Geoghegan-Quinn holds down a job which provides her with a handsome income and a gilt-edged pension.
There is no prospect of the Commissioner losing her pension because of the fluctuating nature of the financial markets. That is a given.
And so, in those circumstances, surely it was reasonable to expect that the Commissioner, in a gesture of solidarity with a punch-drunk Irish people, would give up her Oireachtas pension ?
The initial response of the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, to the controversy was inadequate.
Yet again, on an important issue, the Taoiseach sat on the fence for too long rather than express a clear and concise view.
He said on Sunday that Oireachtas pensions were a matter for those who received them.
When she finally relinquished the pension, he welcomed the Commissioner’s decision.
The Taoiseach should have shown leadership on the issue at the weekend in the same way as some of his Ministers did.
Geoghegan-Quinn has been the recipient of a handsome job which was in the gift of the Taoiseach.
It is more than likely that he had a quiet word in her ear on the issue.
And in normal circumstances that would be enough.
But these are not normal times. Retaining her pension, until public and political pressure forced her to give it up, has damaged the Commissioner’s image and that of politics generally.
Eventually, it was all too little too late.
Meanwhile, as Fine Gael’s Charlie Flanagan has pointed out, the Government’s approach to the banking crisis now has minority political support in the Taoiseach’s own Laois-Offaly constituency.
Sean Fleming is a politician of considerable stature, an accountant by profession, he is not given to wild statements on the disastrous state of the country’s finances.
And so when he spoke in the Dail last week about the situation prevailing in Anglo Irish Bank, his words carried some authority.
He remarked that every time the House spoke about the bank, the figures got worse and they would deteriorate further with more disclosures in a few months.
He added: “I agree with people who argue that Anglo Irish Bank should not be wound up quickly.
“I do not know who has called for it to be wound up quickly. There should be an orderly winding down of the business.
“People may argue that a quick loss would lead to a fire sale but nobody in a position of responsibility has ever argued that there should be a fire sale and a quick wind-up.
“Given that 50 per cent of Anglo Irish Bank is already on its way to Nama, 100 per cent of the bank should be transferred to the agency.’’
And, then, Fleming went on to talk about our good friend, Seanie FitzPatrick, “the former chairman who owes more than 70 million euro to the Irish taxpayer because we now own Anglo Irish Bank’’.
He added: “I find it offensive that he is even considering a legal scheme in an arrangement with his creditors which would involve the Irish taxpayer, through Anglo Irish Bank, making some reduction on the money he owes the bank.
“There is a point of principle and there should be consequences for his reckless action.’’
Sean Fleming also spoke about the former Financial Regulator, Patrick Neary, who retired on a handsome pension.
And he added, with compelling accuracy: “I have a straightforward view on Mr Neary’s term in office. I do not know much about his history, but he was probably a distinguished civil servant over many years and, as such, would have contributed to his pension and would, therefore, be entitled to it.
“In respect of the period during which he was Financial Regulator, however, he did not do his job.
“I maintain he was in fundamental breach of his contract and there should be no pension entitlements payable to Mr Neary, today, tomorrow or at any time in the future in respect of a contract he did not fulfil.’’
Fleming added he was not saying the man should be stripped of his pension for all his years of public service, but he should get no pension in respect of the years during which he did not carry out the function for which he was employed as Financial Regulator.
Workers in Waterford Glass found themselves without jobs and pensions. And why ? It was a matter of prevailing financial circumstances.
So it appears there is one rule of thumb for some and another for others.
On last Sunday, the Taoiseach presided over the annual Fianna Fail commemoration of the 1916 Rising in Arbour Hill in Dublin.
In an impressive oration, he evoked the words of Patrick Pearse on the eve of the surrender.
“I desire now, lest I may not have an opportunity later, to pay homage to the gallantry of the soldiers of Irish freedom who have during the past four days been writing with fire and steel the most glorious chapter in the later history of Ireland.
“Justice can never be done to their heroism. Let me, who have led them into this, speak in my own, and in my fellow commanders’ names, and in the name of Ireland present and to come, their praise, and ask those who come after them to remember them.’’
Noble and ideal words scripted by Pearse and repeated by the country’s Taoiseach in this truly dreadful year of our existence.
But what would Pearse have to say about today’s Ireland ?
Would he not have been utterly ashamed of what we have become?
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Weather for Tullamore
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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