When is a democracy not a democracy?

Question: What do the peoples of Donegal South West, Waterford and Dublin South have in common?

Answer: They matter less than the rest of us.

This may sound like quite an incendary statement but let me qualify it by stating here and now that this is not my opinion. It is, rather, the opinion of Fianna Fail and their coalition government lap dogs, the Green Party. Since 2009 there have been three by-elections outstanding due to the election of Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher to the European Parliment, the resignation from the Dail of George Lee and the death of Fianna Fail TD Seamus Brennan.

Fianna Fail have, at every turn completely rebuffed all efforts to have these by-elections held. Why? The goverment would have us believe that the country and political classes need to focus on the current (Fianna Fail created) economic crisis and that these by-elections represent too large a distraction. The simple truth of the matter though is that with the government's tiny Dail majority of 83 to 79, and with neither Fianna Fail nor the Greens expected to have poodle's chance in North Korea of winning any of these three by-elections, the goverment are running scared of the electorate. As usual, Fianna Fail regard their own needs as being more important than those of the Irish people.

Today sees the second day of a High Court challenge by Sinn Fein senator Pearse Doherty against the government aimed forcing Brian Cowan to name a date for the Donegal South West by-election. That's right folks, the government now have to be taken to the High Court in order to force them to uphold the constitutinal rights of the people. What's more disgraceful than anything else in this sorry episode in Irish democracy is that, at a time when the country is on it's financial knees, the government are actually defending their stance, legally challenging the constitutinal rights to equal representation of all citizens, wasting even more of tax payers money in the process.

The government's argurement isn't that these people don't deserve equal representation, nor that senator Doherty's legal challenge is wrong. It's merely arguing that it's up to the Dail, and therefore the govermnent to decide when these elections should take place. In other words, they know what they're doing is wrong, but they can't legally be forced to do the right thing. So they won't.

One of Brian Cowan's most infamous quotes (as far as this blogger is concerned) goes like this:

"Sometimes the government has to put the good of the country ahead of the good of the party".

Sometimes! That's right, as far as Cowan is concerned there are numerous occasions when the Fianna Fail good is more important than that of the people. Or the country. Many would argue (myself being one of them) that this is always how Fianna Fail approch the governance of the country. The famous tent at the Galway races cetainly wasn't erected for the good of the people living in West Cork, nor for the poor unfortunates on the health waiting lists!

I take my hat off to Senator Doherty. I'm no supporter of Sinn Fein but, for once, the party finds itself on the side of justice. Let's just hope that the High Court is on the same side.