By Séamus Mac Suibhne
To all young people out there who ever pondered over possibly attending a political debate in the hope of hearing some thought provoking solutions to the many dilemmas of our time, please take my advice. Don’t bother. Go on Facebook. Listen to your ipod. Chat on msn. It’s clear that politicians think that we have been intellectually anaesthetised by 21st century technology if they think they can inspire young voters with the pathetic political drivel that I witnessed firsthand yesterday.
Having attended a public debate on global justice and development in Cork which was organised by Trócaire and Dóchas, I think I finally get it. I think I now understand why young people are disinterested in politics, or at least why I personally have become completely disillusioned with it all. It is because politicians never, EVER, answer the simple questions they’re asked. At the beginning of the debate, four prospective MEPs for the South constituency were asked the simple question of what they would do to promote tackling climate change, promote fair trade, tackle global hunger…etc. Here are excerpts from the beginning of their two minute answers to this simple question.
Kathy Sinnott MEP (Independent): “The best indicator of what someone will do is what someone has done……I’ve been a member of the human rights committee, the climate change committee….I hope to tell you a bit about what I’ve done…”
The question was what would you do, not what have you done. Not once was reference made to things she would actually do if elected.
Toireasa Ferris (Sinn Féin): “When we look at the European Parliament, the world will judge the conscience of the European people by how our parliament responds to the needs of those who are most vulnerable in the world…If elected I hope to continue the good work that has been carried out by MEPs in this region...”
Now this is my own personal favourite. It’s beautifully eloquent isn’t it? Judging the conscience of the European people? This in no way even attempts to answer the question asked. It’s stating the obvious! She also stated how she was committed to the goal of having the EU spend 0.7% of GNP on aid by 2015. Well that’s great but I’m sure every single one of the 44 European candidates would say the same thing. Not one mention of concrete actions she would personally take if she was a MEP for the South.
Colm Burke MEP (Fine Gael): “When I was Lord Mayor of Cork, one of the things I did was go to Kenya. My sister has been working out there with the last 18 years. We went into the slum areas where…..”
That’s a really interesting story, but yet again completely avoids the simple question asked. Full of wonderfully glowing anecdotes of trips he has been on while serving in the European Parliament. No reference whatsoever to any definite actions he would take if elected though.
Senator Dan Boyle (Green Party): Spoke of how “economic partnership agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are good in theory……but need to be reformed, be more effective”
Senator Boyle failed to mention a single thing he would do in reforming these or making them more effective.
When the floor was subsequently opened up to questions, the phrasing of them was interesting. A number of people specifically requested that the candidates refrain from talking about how bad the problem was and tell people what they would actually do. Did any of them actually pay heed to that? Nope, just cue meaningless party political broadcasts recited verbatim.
My message to any candidate out there is simple. If you want my vote, just answer the question. It’s as simple as that.
