Decentralisation and all that…

By Terry Reilly (c)

Lining up for the cameraman just a few minutes ago reminds me of a story I

heard the other day....

The school children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to

persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice

it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's

Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.' A small voice

at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, She's dead."

A few years ago at this School I shared a platform with Minister Frank Fahey

of Galway who entreated the lunchtime gathering not to vote for Sinn Fein,

or Independents in the upcoming General election.... because, he warned,

they could achieve nothing...

In the General Election that followed in this neck of the woods the

electorate chose to ignore him and duly elected not one but two

Independents, Marian Harkin and Dr Jerry Cowley. Prior to that they had

elected Dana to Europe, and since then one Independent Marian Harkin has

replaced another Dana, in Europe.

Why did the electorate ignore the Minister's advice in electing Marian

Harkin and Dr Cowley?

Surely the answer was simple: The electorate elected two Independent TDs in

this region because it was fed up of decades of lip service. Promises had

accumulated into abject deceit: schools, banks, post offices, garda stations

and medical services had been run down. Infrastructure was coming via the

snail mail route. Communities had been driven up against a wall, and there

was no way out other than to hit back.

After years of neglect something had to give, and, out of sheer frustration,

the electorate switched allegiance and provided two local independents Dail

seats. And they are unlikely to take them back too quickly. Not while roads

in the region remain long-fingered, or while hospital units remain unmanned,

or while cancer patients have to trek to Dublin for radiotherapy treatment

-- often to discover that they have to return home again untreated because

machines have broken down.

To be fair to the Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, he is on the right

track when it comes to decentralisation. Maybe that is why they weant to

shove him off to Europe? Anyway, the Minister for Finance,wants to move

over 10,000 civil servants out of Dublin. Why? Because it is good for the

country, and good for Dublin. But some within the Cabinet, and other

politicians, amongst them Mayo man and Labour leader Pat Rabbitt, and

former Fine Gael Leader John Bruton are adamantly opposed to such a sensible

and overdue move to bring some balance to a lopsided centralisation which

has bred the Dublin mindset.

And lest I forget it, John Bruton was not slow in coming forward with

decentralisation plans for Meath when he was in a position to deliver to his

own constituency..

Some civil servants are also opposed to the idea, and some no doubt have

valid concerns. But go to Dublin and talk to civil servants or people who

hailed originally from the provinces and you will hear of all the downsides

of living in Dublin: crime, drugs, lack of schooling, lack of a sense of

community, overcrowded hospitals, and having to leave home for work at 7 am

or before and not get home before 7 or 8 in the evening.

But those civil servants who oppose moving to, and I quote, "those

God-awful places down the country where all one has is a choice of dingy

pubs." Unquote . They decry a lack of third level education facilities and

yet see nothing wrong in opposing government policy that could lead to an

evening out of development-educational, social, infrastructural.

Of course, decentralisation is not a one-way street. We in the West know

that better than most. We have seen decentralisation stride Eastwards for

years and years. Migration, emigration, railway tracks have all gone in that

direction. And now we about to lose our health boards which are being

packed up and sent back to Dublin in yet another grand experiment to fix a

poorly run system...at our expense! Will this grand new experiment work? Or

was there a better way? People will say it is too early to judge, but those

who say that are not speaking from a western perspective: we have seen

devolution before in all its guises, and we have counted and borne the cost.

We are about to see it again when natural gas from North Mayo goes to fire

up huge areas of the country. Regrettably, it will not be made available to

the people of North Mayo. Why? Because vision and leadership has again been

sarcrificied on the altar of expediency. More than five years ago, I raised

this issue as Editor of the WP, and called upon the Government to at least

develop centres of enterprise which could be fuelled by natural gas in an

imaginative and overdue concession to the region. Not unexpecteldly, it fell

on deaf ears...but imagine the hullabaloo there would have been if the gas

had been found off Dublin and Dublin was told "HANDS OFF ," the West is

getting the most of the find."

So, to return to my 'thesis' : Are not the people of the country, who are

electing Independent TDs, Independent Euro MEPs and Sinn Fein councillors,

really looking for that great old virtue called LEADERSHIP which is even

handed, transparent, honest, has a vision and desires to serve all of the

people of the land equally.

We have had the false promises. The hype. The spin. The nod and wink of

duplicity. It would be nice to get back to calling a spade for what it is.

But will we? I am inclined to say "don't hold your breath." But we must

continue to fight tooth and main.

Decentralisation will be the next big battle. But watch this space on that

issue if Charlie McCreevy is packed off to Europe in a haze of spin and

hype, smoke and mirrors and the heat goes out of his decentralisation

agenda. We need to keep our eyes open in rural Ireland and make sure the

Government delivers on this one.

And speaking of a vigilant eye………….

The children were lined up in a school cafetaria for lunch. At the head of

the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted it on

the apple tray: It read... "Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a

large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had

written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples".

To which I might add, in the best tradition of the Skibbereen Eagle, we are

watching the Government!