Barry Clifford: 'It doesn’t matter whether the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice.'

The Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said: “It doesn’t matter whether the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice.” He said it at a time when it was politically dangerous and suffered greatly for it. His son was thrown out of a 3^rd story building and rendered paralyzed in a wheelchair for the rest of his life; while Deng himself was stripped of all status and sent to a place that must have been called nowhere. In the end, he triumphed and became the greatest leader China had ever seen while his son continues to champion human rights at every level since, and especially those with disabilities. 

One can only hope in Ireland that any new party which may be born or re-born on these shores anew can come to embrace similar tactics as Deng to find their political footing, and be centre stage rather than forever be on the margins because of the inherent political and institutional corruption that has blighted this country since 1922.

I believe any party worth its morals laced with idealism should put the economy at the centre stage of all its ideals, and corruption as its other main objective to achieve it.

Any parties core objectives today may be too narrow and cannot  describe everyone in the Ireland we have now. The single biggest immigrant group who can vote in Irish elections today are British, followed by the Americans, and then the Poles. It will take more than broad rhetoric to win the hearts and mind of either, against the apathy and disgust of voters who are still suffering and reeling from the bill and ultimate payment for what corruption means in monetary terms. Much work needs to be done.

We have seen a false economy come and go and its physical footprint in ghost estates across the country. Not so visible is diminishing services of health and education that is the core of any political ideology. Get sick and you will see it. You know all this. Irelands only success story today is its ability to borrow money rather than create wealth. The diminishing median businesses cannot stand and support themselves anymore, let alone a wider economy, or its tax liabilities because of been given a bill without choice from the crime syndicate that is fianna Fail and their banker/gangster friends. The only thing that has changed at all is the balance of power festooned with the same liars wearing different masks. It is a wonder there will be an electorate at all because of their undoubted apathy. There is always a hope and a way.

It is for any new political party or person to show that way, if integrity still exists without compromise, and when it does it will get the credibility that it seeks and be better able to realize its citizens ideals and expectations. It is paramount not to repeat parish pump politics ever again for that can only mean a pump without a parish, where the traditional villages will become empty but die permanently this time; and traditional gossip will become the sport of the birds in the trees.

Do something before nothing can be done.

Barry Clifford