Remove Career Politicians and Give Successful People the Power

The entire dire economic situation we find ourselves in could easily be solved cutting the slack from the civil service and public sector. However all our politicians are terrified to do so due to the fact that in the majority of cases politics is their career rather than a civil obligation?

Many of our current crop of elected representatives do not have meaningful careers outside the Dáil. Yes many of them have professional qualifications but one does have to ask the question how meaningful or well paid were their careers in comparison to a cushy number in Leinster House.

A lot of people in the left wing of the Irish establishment didn’t like Michael McDowell, primarily because of his willingness to give commentary where others dared not to thread. Michael had a very successful career as a barrister which he put on hold to take up public office, the big difference between Michael and other public representatives was that his career paid far more that the public office he held. Therefore Michael was there because of his political ideals not for the cash.

Over the course of his career in politics Michael McDowell stuck firmly to his political beliefs and the policies he espoused to his constituents when putting himself forth for election. If one were to go back over the careers of the other members of the Dáil would their election promises hold up to such scrutiny?

Another fearless politician who stuck firmly with his goals was Albert Reynolds. Reynolds only held office for a short term as Taoiseach yet arguably he achieved more in that time than many others who have held the office for longer periods. Yet again Albert Reynolds like Michael McDowell was not dependant on his elected status in order to provide a good living for himself outside the Dáil.

The main problem with the type of politician we have in the general make up of our current legislature is that most are career politicians.  Many of them have held their seats since their early twenties and have made little or no attempt to flourish their careers outside the house since being elected. This has led to the situation where the slavish need to adhere to short term popularism has gained the upper hand over long term solid policy making that would lead to much better results.

It is this form of pupularism that has led to appeasement of the unions, civil servants and certain “public interest” groups as opposed to implementing policies that will have the long term good of the nation at heart. The simple fact of the matter is that the majority of our politicians are terrified of losing their seats, not because of the loss of power that would entail, but because of the loss of income. It is a most unfortunate situation that has been allowed to develop and one that is not serving this country well.

So what can we as a people do to amend this current situation? Well firstly if you are a member of a political party then get active when convention time comes around. Look for the candidates who have proven themselves to be successful in their personal lives outside of politics. These are the people we need running this country, they will not fret about their Dáil salary when tough decisions have to be taken.

Now I can already hear my leftist critics saying “but you are advocating putting rich successful people in the Dáil, what about the right of the common man (or woman) to govern?” Well I have this to say to those critics, I would prefer any day to put my future in the hands of someone who has proven them self to be a success as opposed to someone who hasn’t. If we do not have successful people running this country then we will have unsuccessful ones; and unsuccessful people running any company, business or country is a recipe for disaster.