Seanad Eireann is a political eunuch — it is now time for the final snip

JUST as the hapless Neville Chamberlain discovered over 70 years ago, there is no appeasing fascism. By the same token, there is no reforming our dysfunctional and utterly redundant Seanad. And to give a certain symmetry to this introduction, itâ€â„¢s time for our fascist-inspired Seanad to be flushed down the toilet of history where it belongs alongside Chamberlainâ€â„¢s appeasement of Hitler. Iâ€â„¢ll get to the fascist aspect in a minute, but first a clap on the back for Enda Kenny for standing firm against the â€Å“reformistsâ€Â last week. They wanted to add a third option to the straight Yes or No referendum vote: a â€Å“maybeâ€Â option incorporating the notion of reform. This, they figured, would divide the vote, muddy the waters and confuse the public enough to save this establishment bolthole. The irony of ironies has to be ex-PD generalissimo Michael McDowell and the likes of Fergal Quinn dubbing their campaign to save the Seanad as Democracy Matters. If democracy mattered, this glorified consolation prize for failed politicians and retirement home for rejects wouldnâ€â„¢t exist in the first place. In the same way that so many miscreants dragged before our courts seem actively bent on mending their ways and reforming their lives just as they must appear before a judge, the Seanad life support team have discovered reform as theyâ€â„¢re being carted towards the guillotine. If thatâ€â„¢s a coincidence, itâ€â„¢s an amazing one.[private] I seem to remember Michael McDowell holding positions of some influence in more than one Government. How come reform never reared its ugly head back then? It doesnâ€â„¢t require a full-on cynic to suggest that the greatest argument for abolition of the Seanad lies in the calibre and motives of those who want to maintain it. Now, I half-agree with Enda when he suggested, but later fluffed, a proposal to set up some kind of talking shop to discuss important matters of state. This was scuttled by those paragons of righteousness in the Labour Party who feared it might result in Blueshirt cronyism bestowing more jobs on their boys and girls than on Labourâ€â„¢s own. Where would that leave the likes of Lorraine Higgins? But whatâ€â„¢s stopping well-heeled retirees like Fergal Quinn and Co from togging out in togas and debating philosophy on the Dáil plinth? Thereâ€â„¢s a dearth of political philosophers on the go these days. Whereâ€â„¢s our Aristotle or Seneca? If Rousseau or Marx returned, what would be their forum? Would Michael Davitt attract more than two men and a dog if he called a mass meeting in Irishtown today? The concept of a Seanad: a space in which the important topics of the day can be debated and where ideas are tested in the heat of debate and opposition, is very much to my taste. But Seanad Éireann is no more than a museum for political dinosaurs. The cost of keeping this charade afloat doesnâ€â„¢t overly tax me (unfortunate choice of word). Irelandâ€â„¢s bloated and parasitical establishment will continue to feed off the body politic until we have genuine reform. Then, like maggots deserting a stripped carcass, theyâ€â„¢ll find fresh meat elsewhere. What really annoys me is how the reform agenda has been so comprehensively derailed by those riding on the proverbial gravy train. When this administration came to power it was on the back of a reform platform, but vested interests, stroke politics and the teat of State have all militated against its success. We can only hope that the abolition of this bastion of cronyism and home of gilded dole may awake the dormant demand for genuine reform of our slothful, corrupt and antediluvian political system and prime the pump for more to come. Its abolition would also renew the focus on the Dáil: under a more intense spotlight our legislators might just grasp the basic fact that theyâ€â„¢re not elected to play musical chairs with penalty points or write references for constituentsâ€â„¢ children on their way to Australia. They are elected to legislate and govern, a fact that escapes way too many of them. Maybe without the cosy safety net of the Seanad to fall back on, a few more will step up to the plate. Spare me the voices aspiring to reform. They smack more of self-interest than of any constitutional aspirations assigned to this castrated chamber. I choose my term carefully. The architect of our current Seanad, Éamon de Valera, deliberately made the Seanad a political eunuch, albeit a eunuch thatâ€â„¢s been able to reproduce itself since its establishment (see below). Even the title, Seanad, is an Irish solution to an Irish problem. By a happy linguistic coincidence the Gaelicisation of Senate to Seanad was carried off quite smoothly. The original term for the Roman Senate was derived from the Latin word for old men, senex, and implied a place where wise old men could meet and give the State the benefit of their wisdom. The term senile also derives from the same source, but weâ€â„¢ll pass over that for now. As you know, the Irish word for old is sean, so our Senate became Seanad and everyone was happy, especially the fáinne wearers. All sorts of reforms have been proposed over the years but they all perished on the rocks of political self-interest. Any reforms that would have given the Seanad power were scuppered by a political system that brooks no opposition, as the original Seanad found out when they tried it on with Dev in 1936. He gave it the chop without the niceties of a referendum. Dev, the Pope, Mussolini and Seanad Éireann ON referendum day in the autumn Iâ€â„¢ll be voting Yes to abolition, early and often if I can, but that doesnâ€â„¢t mean I trust the motives of the abolitionists. I still wonder what brought on this rush of blood to the head? If our fascist-inspired Senate model was good enough for Mussolini and Pope Pius XI (not forgetting our own Blueshirts) then surely our current Blueshirts should be preserving it? The Senate we know today was set out in De Valeraâ€â„¢s 1937 Constitution and is yet another example of a typically Irish solution to an Irish problem. Dev was under huge pressure from Rome to swing in with the vogue in fascist Europe for what was known as the Vocational State, typified by Mussoliniâ€â„¢s ludicrous Corporate State. Crudely summed up, this would see political parties playing a secondary role, if any, to sectional interests who could be relied on to toe the line and promote the existing status quo. Sounds familiar? For the Vatican this had the advantage of corralling the godless left into a panel that could be managed by the numerically stronger conservative panels, and it also had the added advantage of closing the political party route to all hues of red. Essentially, it was a democratic gerrymander. Dev being far too cute to snub a system being pushed by the papacy, went a bit of the road with it and then effectively castrated it through a clever bit of parliamentary draughtsmanship. He was no stranger to the possible dangers that a strong Senate could pose to Government, having himself abolished the Free State Senate in 1936 when attempts were made to obstruct Fianna Fáil in the Dáil. Devâ€â„¢s ploy was ingenious. He took the fascist model of vocationalism (corporatism) and drew up the five panels we still have today: Cultural and Educational, Agricultural, Labour, Industrial, and Commercial and Administrative. That done, he effectively subverted the whole concept by making 43 of the 60 seats the gift of TDs, county councillors and outgoing senators, in effect, the gift of Fianna Fáil. The party, and not the sectional interests represented by each panel, would elect the senators. Clever or what! The pope was on side but no matter what is implied by the fancy titles, the only game in town as far as this limited electorate is concerned is party loyalty. This is why our upper house is better known as a retirement home for failed politicians, a blooding ring for aspiring hopefuls and our equivalent of an honours system, where party favourites are rewarded at your expense and mine. It also explains, dear reader, why we can get a semi-literate philistine elected on to the Cultural panel, someone to the far right of Ukip on the Labour panel and a Jackeen gouger who thinks sheep belong in the zoo on the Agricultural panel. The Taoiseach of the day nominates 11 senators to ensure the Government has the balance of power and six seats go to the universities. Three NUI candidates and three to Trinity, in keeping with the spirit of the 1922 Constitution and the continuation of the tradition of having a few token and tame Prods about the house. Enda Kenny gave a hostage to fortune when he promised a referendum on the continuation of the Seanad and, given the current mood of the people, the outcome of any such referendum is pretty predictable if only a Yes/No option is presented. This is no statesman-like stance by our esteemed Great Leader, but the cynical throwing of a weak and wounded colleague to the wolves of populism in the hope that devouring it will satiate the bloodlust for reform and distract from thornier issues. My hope is that it will spark a reform feeding frenzy before the end of the year, but donâ€â„¢t burn the togas just yet, lads. Quote of the Week â€Å“The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassinationâ€Â â€â€ Voltaire[/private]