Dearey reflects on first week of canvassing and his year in Seanad Éireann

From the GE11 Campaign Trail
Dearey reflects on first week of canvassing  and his year in Seanad Éireann

With canvassing in full swing Senator Mark Dearey says that key themes are emerging: jobs and the economy and the collapse in trust in politics and politicians. On the latter issue Dearey sees this election campaign as an opportunity to renew the relationship between people and their political leaders after years and years of half truth and political elitism.

He explains "The economic crisis that has befallen us is all the more serious because it has been primarily caused by soft option politics during the McCreevy/Ahern years. The end result has been a loss of faith in politics."

Dearey continues "People can plainly see that they have been betrayed by complacent politicians who ran economic policy with a gamblers instinct and basked in the crassness of it all for a few brief years. Some expressed to me their disappointment that the Green Party chose to go into Government with those politicians in a Fianna Fail party that Gordon Gekko would have felt at home in."

"We are a serious political party and we were prepared to take our chances with FF in the firm belief that certain key legislation in planning, political funding and climate change would only be achieved with the Greens in Government. The new Plannning Bill is mission accomplished and we have come agonisingly close to completion with the other two. But all political goals were of course overtaken by the banking collapse and the runaway public spending deficit. When that hit we knuckled down and took tough decisions that undoubtedly make this a difficult campaign for us. But it should be remembered that when the former Bank regulator Patrick Neary and was exposed for the "yes man" he was we insisted on the appointment of outsiders with no political baggage. We got what we wanted and went on to work closely with central Bank Governor Patrick Honahan, with John Corrigan of the NTMA and with Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield right up to and including the weekend of the EU/ IMF deal last November when we called time on the Government."

"This campaign gives the opportunity for thousands of conversations between politicians and voters. It can be the start of a renewal. For my own part my aim is to be clear and honest in what I say as I do my bit to repair the relationship between people and politics. This is important work because dangerous and daft proposals and ideologies can flourish and take hold in this current politically toxic environment."