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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Ireland needs a Tea Party this election and almost had one

Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 08:02 PM

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Let's face it if American was ripe for political revolution in the last election how ripe is Ireland right now?

The latest opinion polls from the weekend show voters indicating that 15 percent of them will vote for independents, rather than any of the established parties.

That sure smells of revolution, but the problem Ireland has is that there is no organized Tea Party to take advantage.

There almost was.

Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole (pictured) revealed this weekend that he had considered gathering clean government advocates like himself and running as an affiliate group of independents.

The name of the new group was going to be called 'Democracy Now.'

Among those approached according to the Sunday Tribune were businessman and former Wexford hurling manager Liam Griffin, Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack, cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley and Seamus Boland, ceo of Irish Rural Networks.

O'Toole gathered together many big names, including columnist Eamon Dunphy, economist David McWilliams and a bunch of others. They had raised $600,000 in one day and headquarters were being provided by Riverdance impressario John McColgan.

But O'Toole said time ran out as the election was called sooner rather than later.

They were to have a five point platform, calling for a referendum on the EU bailout and an impartial investigation into government and business corruption.

Chances are his version of the Tea Party would have done extremely well.

A measure of how badly the Irish electorate thinks of their leaders at present is that 30 percent think the newly elected Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin would make the best Prime Minister.

This is a man who was in a senior position around the cabinet table for all the major decisions that brought Ireland to this crisis.

But he is a 'now' face, relatively speaking, taking advantage of widespread coverage of him over the past two weeks as he challenged incumbent Brian Cowen.

But the Tea Party envisaged by O'Toole would have been an intriguing experiment.

Do commentators and economist make better politicians than those currently in the job?

Could they make any worse?

The answer to that is definitely no.

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27 comments

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peterson | Feb 10, 2011, 01:50 PM EST

Yes, Look what the Tea Party did in the U.S. Go for it !!

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Monsoonman | Feb 04, 2011, 09:52 PM EST

Your swag is as good as any Lad. Some say this is a celestial boot camp, go figure. One thing for sure though, we are still the same beings with the same intelligence, we just have more advanced technology to screw things up on a more grand scale.

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seanomelbourne | Feb 04, 2011, 05:24 PM EST

Maybe you've got it wrong Mman,maybe we are living in an hallucinogenic world and the mescaline takes us back to reality.

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Monsoonman | Feb 04, 2011, 11:33 AM EST

Lad, you must mean mescal=firewater. Then there is Mescaline, a shroom based hallucinogenic used by the local native population for hallucinogenic purposes. It has been known to turn liberal oriented people into conservatives...take it if you dare. Call 1-800- pharmacia.

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seanomelbourne | Feb 04, 2011, 04:28 AM EST

A silver mine in Taxco a beach (near a bar) on the Sea of Cortez now we are talking.Can we buy some mescalin there?

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Monsoonman | Feb 03, 2011, 09:27 PM EST

Taxco and Cuernavaco are quaint old places Lad, I would want to own my own silver mine if I lived there however. If I couldn't own a silver mine, then I would prefer to live on the Sea of Cortez, probably in Mulege, one of my favorite towns. It was also John Waynes favorite hangout when he was alive. It hasn't changed much over the years, great weather, fishing, etc.

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seanomelbourne | Feb 02, 2011, 04:34 PM EST

Cuernavaca or Taxco are nice spots, old with cobble stoned streets and no one cares.

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Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2011, 06:19 PM EST

Yes Lad, back in those day when the villains had pencil thin mustaches and the heroes wore white hats and badges. Now the motto is: badges? We don't need no stinking badges!...Think I'll move to Mexico, where things are simpler

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seanomelbourne | Feb 01, 2011, 05:54 PM EST

Mman a movie made in era when very few people questioned government policy.Oh! how happy we were to be steeped in ignorance and now we realise what a lie we lived.

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Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2011, 12:49 AM EST

Lad! Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean someone really isn't after you or your goods. (circa: Treasure of the Sierra Madres)

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Towngate | Jan 31, 2011, 07:33 PM EST

SERIOUSLY, any person or party wanting to make headway in Irish Politics must first challenge the so-called national Broadcaster RTE which the Fianna Fail Party seems to have sealed in a huge 'Brown Envelope. Their 'soft' and apologist attitude to the party in interviews and reports , without exception,beggars belief! They could be the real 'fly in the ointment' preventing the Electorate from getting fair and balanced accounts and analysis of the State of the Nation! - Just my view: Judge for yourselves on 'RTE Player'.

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Towngate | Jan 31, 2011, 07:11 PM EST

A 'TEA-TOTAL' PARTY might be good! These pioneers might clear the drink-sodden 'brains' out of Irish 'Politics'!

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jmchrystal | Jan 31, 2011, 05:24 PM EST

Careful what you ask for. The energy of the Tea Party followers is great and change is necessary, but the behind the scene movers and shakers are decidedly leading it, not for the people or the country, but for their own already well-lined pockets.

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seanomelbourne | Jan 31, 2011, 04:58 PM EST

Love to go to a tea party Lyons gold label or Barry's tastes ok.Mman feeding his paranoia again

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