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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Learning from the first Irish presidential debate and Newt Gingrich on immigration

Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 03:54 AM

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This is a tale of two debates that I watched the last two nights.

The first was the first Irish presidential debate which took place on the 'Frontline' program in Dublin hosted by Pat Kenny, one of Ireland's best known broadcasters .

As I have mentioned here I have been mulling over a decision about running for president of Ireland, after being approached during the Obama visit .

I could not take part in the debate as it took place at too short a notice. But I certainly learnt a lot.

The format was different. There were two Greek choruses, commenting continuously on the statements made by the four candidates who did appear.

There was an in-studio panel of two experts and the studio audience themselves who gave vent to their many deep frustrations about the Irish economy and other assorted topics.

The results had a deer in the headlights feel to them,with candidates being second guessed within seconds of making a point, not by the other candidates but by the clearly fired up Greek choruses.

Right at the beginning, journalist Tom McGurk,one of the panel of two, made it clear he considered the entire presidential field inferior. He had suggested rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll take the job .

Meanwhile, the audience was revved up also, taking issue with almost every candidate's points.

The upshot is the feeling that being a candidate for political office in Ireland right now is a little like forming a firing squad in a circle. The people are plenty angry and any election will do for them to vent their frustrations.
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READ MORE:
Irish leader Enda Kenny to stay neutral in presidential candidate race

Niall O'Dowd: Why running for President of Ireland brings out the best and worst

Niall O'Dowd: Running for Irish president (maybe) day one and two
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That is healthy and good,I'm sure but not necessarily for the candidates ,who I've previously noted all seem like solid citizens with the best interest of Ireland at heart.

The Republican debate later that night was a more classic format with the candidates lined up facing a moderator, John King of CNN.

I was impressed with of all people Newt Gingrich who gave the only realistic answer on the illegal immigration issue of anyone.

He pointed out it was not feasible to deport all 20 million undocumented, any more than it was feasible to legalize them all.

Seems such an obvious point but that is what passes for in-depth analysis of an issue that has been demagogued to death these days.

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maloney | Jun 17, 2011, 07:34 PM EDT

seamusmor you are not the brightest bulb now are ya?

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DeValera | Jun 17, 2011, 06:19 PM EDT

Was Timothy Leary an irish-american?

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DeValera | Jun 17, 2011, 02:58 AM EDT

If you love Ireland so much why did you leave ?As a teacher you could have offerred great service to the community but it seems to me self serving is the order of the day. If the office of President wasn't so well paid I doubt you'd be "mulling over it"

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tullyallen | Jun 16, 2011, 02:47 PM EDT

So Mr O' Dowd you think you can go back to Ireland and waltz into the first citizens office ,because you'd like to market "brand" Ireland . Is this some kind of joke ?

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tullyallen | Jun 16, 2011, 02:43 PM EDT

Article 31:1 "There shall be a Council of State to aid and counsel the President on all matters on which the President may consult the said Council in relation to the exercise and performance by him of such of his powers and functions are by this Constitution expressed to be exercisable and performable after consultation with the Council of State,and to exercise other functions as are conferrred on the said Council by this Constitution" Article 31:2 "The Council of State shall consist of the following members: i "As ex-officio members : the Taoiseach,the Tànaiste,the Chief Justice,the President of the High Court,the Chairman of the Dàil Eireann,the Chairman of Seanad Eireann and the Attorney General" Unless the constitution is radically amended and this can be done only by referenda of which there have been only 22(I think) amendments since the foundation of the State . The President has litle or no executive power as is the case for the majority of European republics with the exception of France ,when only after the 3rd republic did the President begin to enjoy the executive powers he has now . However the wisdom in these measures is to avoid centralisation of power making everybody in the administration accountable to each other . The only way that this could possibly change would be in the creation of a federal republic which would require a federal government.

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Towngate | Jun 16, 2011, 11:06 AM EDT

Niall, a chara : "In the Art of War, there is no Feat,near half as Noble, as a sound Retreat!" Mull over Article 13.11 and ask yourself if you are prepared to accept that you can only do what this present Irish Government lets you ... Kinda defeats the object ... your Voice on Irish matters will be stronger in the future as a 'withdrawn - for business reasons' ~ than a defeated 'blow-in interloper' who has Legally renounced his Irish connections and Formally Sworn Allegiance to a Foreign State. When it comes to Voting (and many other things) we Irish are a funny lot!

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tullyallen | Jun 16, 2011, 04:43 AM EDT

Airteagal13:11 "No power or function conferred on the President by law shall be exercisable or performable by him save only on the advice of the Government"

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tullyallen | Jun 16, 2011, 04:24 AM EDT

Its a bad trip .

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tullyallen | Jun 16, 2011, 03:42 AM EDT

He's delusional

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rpmschevy | Jun 16, 2011, 03:14 AM EDT

seanmac50 you really want a criminal leading your country? And on top of that he left Ireland for another country. He left his homeland for another "better" country.

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rpmschevy | Jun 16, 2011, 03:12 AM EDT

SeamusMor you have to be kidding? This is the United States of America. I am proud of that fact I love my country. At the same time I respect other countries and I respect their laws. When I go to Ukraine I pay the fees, I follow their laws, I pay taxes as appropiate or I leave. You are correct that on this world there is the human existence, and I would expect everyone to want to come to this country because of its possibilities, however, we have rules on getting here and we have laws when you are here. Tell you what post your address and let us all come live off of you. I mean it is the only civil thing to do.

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seanmac50 | Jun 15, 2011, 04:39 PM EDT

Hello Niall,I think Niall O'Dowd has a difficult job ahead of him to (1). Get nominated, and (2). Get elected President of Ireland. There is a cosy polital club, or cartel here, which will be difficult to break. Indeed the negativity about Niall has started, as can be seen in an article by a Walter Ellis, called "opinion", in todays Irish Times. As a resident of Ireland, I think we need you Niall, because as Mary Harney once said "We are closer to Boston, that Berlin" Indeed I have more close relatives in the U.S. than in Ireland. Come on Niall - Convince us. John

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AngelPrecious | Jun 15, 2011, 03:37 PM EDT

Seamus, if 20 million ILLEGAL immigrants came to YOUR country and drained so many resources and took away so many of YOUR jobs, you probably would be screaming foul. With that said, we also have too many illegals sneaking in as part of the drug tradem making our major cities into battlegrounds. You have NO idea how dangerous it is to live near the border towns so until you really KNOW the situation, keep your humanitarian views and well, stuff it! We need to do a better job protecting our borders. Finally, most citizens of the US are NOT happy with this whole situation and are NOT participating in this mess. I would say that business owners are the ones that benefit most from this cheap source of labor. We need to do something to curb this problem.

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SeamusMor | Jun 15, 2011, 12:51 PM EDT

In light of the fact that twenty million live in the U.S. as "undocumented" there should be regonition of two levels of paricipation in American society: Citizens and residents. The only distinction between the two groups should be that the former have the right to vote. All other civil and hman rights should be accorded to the latter group with no other restrictions imposed upon them. Documented or undocumented, we share membership in one society, country, and economy.

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rpmschevy | Jun 15, 2011, 12:31 PM EDT

Oh and it illegal immigrant not undocumented workers. Frankly about 15 million of them are not even working by some estimates. Grandparents, children, etc.

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