Michael Collins and Irish Water
and why Russell Brand is wasting everyone’s time.
A common element that you will find throughout the many debates on the imposition of water charges is a reference to Michael Collins or to the brave men of 1916 who fought to free us from oppression. Enda Kenny finds himself compared many times to the aforementioned and undoubtedly more charismatic Corkman. Personally I would be interested to know just what someone like Collins would say in relation to the current situation. Would he be out spitting at and threatening government ministers?
In relation to Mr. Kenny we must note that he was not in power when the charges were first proposed. As most of you will know, the charges were included as one of the conditions of the IMF Bailout that was agreed under the last Fianna Fail government.
The circumstances of the bailout can be compared to certain events that took place in London all the way back in 1921. Leaving Cert history students will know that that is when Michael Collins signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty under the threat of swift military action which would have decimated the island of Ireland and sealed our fate as members of the Union. His decision was met with anger from many parties but it is one that has most definitely been proven correct in the long run. The link below is a letter that was written from the Chief of the European Central Bank to Brian Lenihan, the former Minister of Finance, just days before Ireland applied for financial help to solve our crisis. There are several similarities that can be made with the Treaty negotiations. The ECB flexed its economic muscles and threatened to cut off all financial aid if Ireland did not commit to a process of austerity. The consequences of a complete cut off would have been devastating.
The strong arm tactics worked and several days later the call for financial assistance was made. An Irish Finance Minister threatened with annihilation cedes to a larger organisation in the hopes of securing long term benefits. That sentence could apply to both events. It is quite likely that men like Collins would support the decisions made. Therefore, those who would invoke names such as Collins should remember that heroes are not always heroes in the present.
Austerity has enabled the country to get back on its knees economically, that is undeniable. Look at Greece and Spain for examples of where we could have been without decisive rule. However, we are nothing if we cannot live up to our word and to the terms of the agreements. The implementation of water charges is one of them.
What is worrying about many of the recent protests and complaints is the absolute lack of respect for democracy. Again and again the comparisons are made with the men of romantic Ireland, those who fought for our sovereignty and how the current government are doing away with it. Praising the revolutionary heroes of the past whilst at the same time abusing members of our current democracy is the height of hypocrisy. Those men fought to achieve our democratic freedom, and we use this freedom how? To block and harass the deputy leader of our country in her car for two hours? To video ourselves abusing our leaders and those poor Gardaí who must enforce the insertion of water meters? Some of the stuff I have seen is nothing less than disgusting. I will admit that Joan Burton could often be described in negative terms, but she is a democratically elected figure and one of the most important figures in our government. If we cannot respect those who have been elected to lead us where does that leave us as a nation?
One person who seems to be in favour of abandoning the democratic system is Russell Brand. His video on the theme of water charges gained a lot of attention and on the back of this I decided to attempt read his latest book, the very originally titled ‘Revolution’. To sum it up briefly: a load of rubbish. Brand rambles along, offering up no feasible alternatives to democracy as he attempts to tear it down. He seems to blame his former drug addiction on the appearance of a shopping centre in his home town. He assures the reader that his personal driver is actually his ‘mate who just happens to drive him around’. The mass media is, of course, brainwashing everyone and it was surprising for him not to mention bringing out the tinfoil hats. I struggled to finish it, the ideas in the book are as jumbled together as the previous few lines. Although, I must admit that there are some humorous parts. He is a very funny man but a terrible political theorist. It is such a shame that someone with such a wide reach would offer up no alternatives to the democracy that he says we should all avoid. The book is a pointless exercise but I am sure some shrewd publishers are quite happy with their work.
One more thing I’d like to mention this week is the danger of false information on social media. I feel like I have mentioned this before but it is such a phenomenon these days. The reach of videos is amazing. That Brand video on water charges has nearly 300,000 views. Another video I saw doing the rounds this past week was a man giving a very strong speech attacking the European Union. The video was often shared with comments proclaiming that this explains how we are being controlled by those in Brussells, how our sovereignty has been compromised and how all those freedom fighters died for nothing. The video does not name the man speaking, but anyone who follows British politics will instantly recognise Nigel Farage as the speaker. He is the leader of UKIP. For those of you who do not know UKIP I suggest you read up a little about Nigel and his policies and perhaps that might lessen the chances of sharing videos of him in the future. Context is everything and it is so often lacking on social media.
