Political Indifference

The flooding of many thousands of homes, homes left without electricity and other utilities is a devastation that to each individual will be felt differently. Some people have lost everything, it will take months if not years to recover. The cause of the devastation is being blamed on unprecedented rainfall, yet is it unprecedented, is global warming the true culprit in this natural phenomena. When one speaks to locals in Cork or Rosscommon and I have spoken to both these past few days one hears un-ending stories about promises of flood defences over many years and in some cases decades, drains constantly blocked, road side drainage useless and a general careless attitude by the authorities to the concerns of local residents. Councillors blame Town Clerks and County managers, while Town Clerks and County Managers blame lack of funding from central Government, and of course central government blames the economic down turn.

It would appear that we have no one to take responsibility for the crisis thousands face today, we have no one to take responsibility for people being made homeless (while temporarily) unnecessarily. We have mealy mouthed politicians seeking credit for holding weekend crisis meetings, yet they like the little boy who put his finger into the hole in the Dam are really crying wolf. They have sat back and done nothing even when times were good (economically) and now they want applause from the media Gallery as they chew on Sunday Roast and discuss what to do about what they should have done something about many years ago.

Yet we must expect nothing different from this Government and its decaying green fig leaf, they want the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing Noble, they have nothing to offer only mealy mouthed words and carefully choreographed political maneuvers, yet the tide of public opinion will soon have its chance to wash over this quagmire of inaction and indifference.