EASTER 2016 - BACK TO THE FUTURE - HOW TO RECLAIM OUR INDEPENDENCE FROM THE STATE

MONDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2015


Just six months away from the 100th anniversary commemorations of the Easter 1916 Rising nobody seems to know exactly what events are planned or how we are going to be celebrating the centenary... typical. If it's like the millenium celebrations when we found out on December 31st 1999 that the country would mark the dawn of a new century with an RTE Special: "Joe Dolan Live Concert from Killarney"...then we're looking at sitting down in front of our televisions for Daniel O'Donnell's Fire-Side Tribute to Padraic Pearse!

I say 'celebrate' but of course there's absolutely nothing to celebrate. We can REMEMBER the heroes of 1916 and COMMEMORATE them, which is an entirely different thing ... but there's NOTHING to celebrate. 100 years of stroke-politics and whimpering abasement to foreign authority, whether London, Rome, Brussels or Washington, have defiled the memory of 1916 and the dreams of its visionaries. Ireland was liberated to be a neutral country ... we have turned it into a neutered country!

So how should we commemorate that historic moment in time? In 1916 a small group of patriots struck at the heart of the greatest empire in history since the Romans, the British Monarchy, and tried to reclaim a small island country and put it back into the hands of its people. Why shouldn't we do what they did?: Reclaim our nation from the control of an oppressive, unelected, foreign power (the EU)!

We know that continuing with the current system and doing absolutely nothing differently to what we've been doing for 100 years - voting in the sham of a democratic system that gives us the illusion of having control of our fate - is a waste of time because it will only produce the same result as before: elect a government (and opposition) that puts the private interests of business, banks and the legal profession ahead of real public interest.

So what are the options?

There are four :

1. Stage a militarised bloody revolt.

We could reenact 1916. But I don’t mean as a theatrical production ... I mean as an actual armed uprising. Unfortunately the austerity years have shown that the 'fighting Irish' myth is just that ... a myth. There have been several large, very polite protests against the political regime but nothing that threatens to overthrow it. In Belgium and Spain anti-austerity protesters have been fired at by police with rubber bullets, cars have been overturned in city streets and burned out, protesters and police have been seriously injured. In Ireland a Garda had her hat knocked off with an empty coke bottle...
No sane person wants bloodshed ... so let’s discount this option.

2. Vote for parties that will put through reform...

Every party talks about reform but none ever do anything about it. Why would they? Why would any political party that benefits from the system want to reform it?

The proposals to reinstate articles 47 & 48 of the original (real!) constitution are noble and desireable 

but, in my view, are unrealistic.

The proposal involves electing a majority of sympathetic TDs in the Dáil who, having been given legislative power by the people, would give the power directly back to the people...who would then have the power to over-rule them / reprimand them / remove them from office... Given the strength of the grass-roots base of the parties and the calibre of individual that has traditionally made up the core of our body-politic, I can't see such a majority in the realistic future.

3. Democratically bring down the political system...

If we agree then that the system will never be changed from within, it might be possible to use the current electoral system to IMPLODE our political system - forcing us to fundamentally restructure and reorganise the entire structure.


As long as we think that the power of the vote is the basis for a fundamentally fair and democratic society, and that the will of the majority is preferable to power in the hands of an individual or group, however benevolent, then we will continue to use the representative process to form our governments.

Using that system we should be thinking about first breaking the power of the old crony parties and 

their destructive, self-serving agendas.

We should be voting for every independent, non-aligned individual candidate and every small, minority, even single-issue parties that stand for election.

The result would be to undermine the stranglehold of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein and other parties. What it would also mean is an elected Dail so disparate that it would be unworkable with no possibility of forming a functioning government. In that case we would have no choice but to redesign how our representative body is elected and formed.

This might work, but it would only be a first step, and would not solve the problems that run deeper than the superficial matter of government.

The problem facing us is not the government. Changing the government is like changing the cabin crew on a hi-jacked plane: it's not going to change the direction of the plane or change the possibility, or indeed inevitability, of a serious crash in which most of the passengers will be killed or seriously injured.

We are so distracted by the media who tell us that we need to focus on the colour of the cabin crew's uniform (currently blue...) that we wilfully ignore the important question of who is flying the plane, what the destination is, and whether we will like the country we land in.

No matter who gets into power as our government the real influence on public policy lies in the layers of unelected civil servants who really run the various departments, and those that have their ear: the lobbyists of real power (money, business, media etc).

Ireland's position as a tiny yet not-insignificant player on the world stage has been created on the back of its strategic role in global business and finance. The importance of the IFSC as a hub in the global financial markets structure, our corporate tax structure in the phenomenal growth of the high tech industry and the exploitation of our tax regime in the immoral tax policies of multinationals have all meant that we are beholden to the corporate giants represented by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland. Just think about who they represent: Google, eBay, PayPal, Microsoft, Intel, Starbucks, Amazon, Facebook, Accenture, Blackstone, DELL, Hewlett Packard, ELAN pharmaceuticals, Citi Group, Pfizer,

When a government is elected the ministers are briefed by the department secretaries on major issues, strategy, policy and what matters are on the department's agenda list. The priorities for all departments is not set by the politicians that the people elect ... they come from elsewhere.

When Enda Kenny describes his dream for Ireland he puts "business" as the number one priority - ahead of "family"'. The "business" he is talking about is BIG business ... not the small family business or self-employed person. Mrs Murphy's Cake Shop and John Smith's Plumbing Service don't donate to the political parties (especially indirectly...) but big business does. John Smith will never get through to a government minister with phone call or the possibility of a meeting to explain what he needs in terms of taxation reform, financial support, the removal of bureaucratic barriers and restrictive regulation in order for his business to succeed and grow. The head of Google in Ireland will get through straight away and demand as much time as he needs to ask for all of that ... and he'll get it.

This sycophancy is justified in the name of jobs, international reputation, Ireland's position as a global hub for business, blah blah blah. The value in all those terms is unjustifiable when Mrs Murphy and John Smith go out of business due to lack of support from their own government.

There is no longer any such thing as Public Policy, Public Interest and Public Service.

All we have now is Corporate Policy, Private Interest and Self Service.

So, how do we reassert our values and reclaim our independence, just like those in 1916 did?

4. I think the solution may be simpler than we think. 

We simply DECLARE our independence! From our own government. And declare a NEW state.

Stay with me here....

We want to live in a democracy.

The problem is that for us that means a willingness to delegate responsibility for that to elected 

representatives ... and in the past they have betrayed that trust.

But the people we elect are not the problem. The system is the problem. And the system protects itself - just look at the tribunals, inquiries and committees set up to "investigate" corruption and illegal activity without any guilty parties ever actually being prosecuted or sanctioned. We know that there are serious questions or corruption in our Garda force, our judicial system, our public service, our political body, our banking industry, and on and on, yet NOTHING changes. There is no will to change because the system works very very well ... for those who are inside it, who benefit from it. 

Why would they change it?

So if the game is rigged, and if the game can;t be changed because the players and rule makers won;t change it, what do we (the people in the stands) do to make things better for ourselves?

We start our own game.

If they won't let us play, we say, well, actually if you won't let me play your game, which I don't like anyway, I'm gonna go off and start my own game!

The legitimacy of the existing structures and system are founded in the Constitution and the mandate of the Electoral System. As long as the electoral register comprises at least 51% of those eligible to vote it doesn;t matter how many people actually vote ... those registered subscribe to the system, accept the result of elections and legitimise the authority of those elected. So a turnout of any size, even 1%, can decide who gets govern the entire country.

I firmly believe that the recent referendum was in large part driven by the intelligentsia's attempt to reinforce the authority of the current system by bolstering the electoral register. [INSERT May 2018 - This has been repeated with the Repeal8th Referendum - a topic which mobilizes young voters]. The performance of our elected representatives in the past, and the previous Fianna Fail government and current Fine Gael/Labour in particular, have led to such a backlash against our political system that the apathy of the "ah sure what can you do?" attitude risked the diminution of the electoral register especially among young people.

What better way to motivate the young who might be if not instinctively a-political then quite simply anti-political to sign up to the electoral register than a referendum issue on gay marriage. While that is an important issue, at what point since 2008 did the gay marriage issue become a priority issue ahead of everything else that has been tearing at the fabric of Irish society right across the board? It didn't ... what became a priority was the underlying hidden threat to the authority of the political system of the disillusion of the Irish voter. And when disillusion is the threat ... ILLUSION is the solution. The illusion of democracy.

The second referendum on the age of the President..?? Where did that come from? Exactly for WHOM was the age of the President SUCH a critical political issue that it merited a referendum...? For the political system itself of course!

The biggest winner of the recent referendum was not the gay community ... it was the political community.

If the political system receives its legitimacy and authority from the electorate, then the electorate needs to be at least 51% of the population. The referendums and now the issue of allowing ex-patriot citizens to register and vote also secures the position of the system...because that is the biggest threat to their cosy little game and they know it!

So imagine this:

51% of eligible citizens DE-REGISTER from the current electoral system.

An ALTERNATIVE electoral register is setup and 51% of citizens sign up to it.

This alternative register creates the basis for a general election to an alternative Oireachtas.
The new Oireachtas, having a mandate from 51% of the country, declares independence from the state and the creation of a new state. No international court could refuse it!
The current system and its players would be POWERLESS. They would have no argument against a democratic system if they accept the legitimacy of the democratic process.

What would a new system look like?

Actually I think it would, at least on the surface, look like the current system. All structures of public administration would continue in a seamless transition to a new system. Essentially we would be saying that everything continues as normal, but it's a new game ... our game ... and here are the new rules.

In this way all administrative structures like the health service etc would continue in operation without interruption. All the current parties and politicians could also be transferred (yes...even FF, FG and Labour..!).

Effectively we'd be saying: We're not playing your game any more (because it's rigged) ... We (the Irish people!) have our own game now ... and it has the legitimacy, authority and mandate of the democratic majority. You can come and play if you want ... but here are the new rules!


Of course we'd need some debate, but a few simple changes would make a huge difference. To kick off at least, here are my suggestions:

1. € 25 billion in government austerity bonds to be destroyed with immediate effect. The bonds created on Prom Night are a noose around the neck of our economy.

2. Reintroduction of the Punt - interest free - initially as a public service currency, with value indexed on Sterling. This could quickly be established as a valid domestic currency instantly making interest-free credit available to small business and improving cashflow in the SME service economy while we prepare for ...

3. Exit from EU - the EU is NOT what we joined in 1973. It's an entirely different beast, with different agenda. After 40 years we should be asking "if we had a choice to join the EU today, would we?". I say we wouldn't.

4. Political Reform:

a. End of the Party Whip System - the most undemocratic element of the current system. This literally silences the democratic voice of citizens who vote for their local constituent TD but have that vote usurped by party leadership which always has its own, corporate-sponsored agenda.

b. Public representation in Seanad Eireann

c. Capped salaries and pensions in all public service jobs - including existing and retrospective payments. Pensions should also ony be payable at retirement age and when recipients have actually stopped working. There’s no justification for a former Taoiseach to receive a pension when they get handed a directorship of a private business ...think Cowen-Topaz.

d. End to Oireachtas Allowances (free money!) and unvouched expenses - if this kind of thing happened in a private company the Revenue Commissioners would impose fines and even prosecute for jail sentences ... it’s fraud plain and simple.

e. 3 Term maximum in Oireachtas - fifteen years is long enough for anyone to hold a TD seat. It is important to break the “dynasty” phenomenon which in great part fuels the culture of entitlement among the political elite: Kenny inherited his seat from his father, and when he retires it’s likely his daughter will inherit it from him! It’s very evident that the sense of entitlement has bred an arrogance, disconnect and disdain for the ‘ordinary’ citizen among our politicians that surpasses the over-class attitude of the House of Lords. If you get to be a member of the Oireachtas for 15 years and haven’t contributed anything you shouldn’t be there. If you have contributed something then “thanks very much ... now step aside and let the next generation in”!

5. Savings in Oireachtas wage bill to be redirected to Health Service and Housing with immediate effect. Slashing the wage, expenses and pensions bill of the Oireachtas instantly frees up cash for critical public services.

6. Govt to pursue multinationals for € 19 billion in unpaid corporate tax and implement mandatory straight 15% corporate tax rate for these companies with no loopholes.. This is actually supported by the EU while our current government are against the idea!

7. Constitution of 1922 to be reinstated with existing amendments accepted by emergency legislation. The 1937 absolutely removed the rights and powers of the electorate and created a ruler - subject structure ... read it!

8. Conduct in Public Service to be sanctioned for Corruption, Waste and Fraud with new standards and rules.
Criminal activity should be prosecuted. Included in this should be a reward system for whistle-blowers who expose criminal or corrupt activity.

9. Cancel all natural resource positions on oil and gas and insert a Constitutional protection on all natural resources placing them in the ownership of the people.

10. No more US military flights through Shannon ... NONE! There are US airbases all across Europe ... why do they need to land here at all??

11. Write off mortgage debt above 20% of market value of family homes. The manipulation of the financial markets, which trade (I mean speculate/gamble) products comprised of mortgages, is what led to the global financial crisis. There is NO argument to justify private home owners being handed the tab for those losses. 20% margin on any mortgage is reasonable enough for any lender. The write down could be implemented by means of a charge on the lending company, reimbursed to the borrower in tax credits.

12. Institute a National Basic Income
There are so many other areas to be reviewed and even removed such as the power and appointment of the DPP, Garda Commissioner, Attorney General, the judiciary etc, but not everything can be made perfect in a short period of time. Indeed there may be some things that may never be ideal, but at least we will have taken some serious steps toward a society of real justice and equality.

When the game can't be changed, change the game ... start a new one!

Iceland did it...

Portugal is doing it.

Why not us?

All we need is the courage to walk away...

De-register now and let’s start a a new electoral register.

Otherwise... take up arms ... or simply carry on as if everything is perfectly fine ... and make sure to vote in the next General Deception.