Which is more important

brianthebard

Should a TD be elected to serve the nation or serve the constituency? This comes from one of the threads about the coming elections. Personally I think that a TD's first duty is to follow the policies he put forward as a manifesto, and to serve the people who elected them. The president is the only office to which one can be elected nationally, in which case they are expected to serve the whole nation. Obviously I think that TD's are there to work for the good of the whole nation, but they must keep in mind which part of the nation they are working for.

I'm not sure if the above is very clear, but I'd like to read some opinions...

DadaKopf

Yeah, I agree, in the Irish context, the national-local balance is totally screwy.

A clearer legal and constitutional system of competences among national and local government (like Germany) is the way to go.

Many say Ireland is too small to federalise. Perhaps it isn't.

democrates

DadaKopf wrote:

Yeah, I agree, in the Irish context, the national-local balance is totally screwy.

A clearer legal and constitutional system of competences among national and local government (like Germany) is the way to go.

Many say Ireland is too small to federalise. Perhaps it isn't.

Here here, we saw what happened Dick Spring when he lost touch with the locals, and Alan Dukes when he voted for good measures though in opposition.

We need a list system with people who can get jobs done of national importance without having to keep one eye on local pot-holes.

DadaKopf

You're confusing two issues. I didn't suggest that our voting system should change (there are benefits to PR-STV).

What I said was Ireland could federalise.

Central government would have competences in areas of foreign policy and matters of national interest such as common health, education and infrastructure. Central government must be fully accountable to the citizenry and be able to resist big lobby groups (this would be vital, and would require serious people-power), but must also retain distance from local politics in order to press through public goods that benefit all.

Local governments could, then, have competences in local issues - some taxation, some economic planning, social services, cultural services etc. This would be governed by local democracy - more than councils, less than national government.

But this would be a very difficult balancing act. Particularly because, as local beats national in most political matches, central government may in practice become less accountable, and Ireland therefore less democratically governed in matters of state and national interest. Arguably it is this realm of 'high politics' that determines much at local levels.

It may even get us all past the "little old Ireland" mentality. Ireland may end up seeming a much bigger place.

It makes sense to make these boundaries provincial. And I believe this would be acceptable to most. The main obstacle to this vision is the partition of Ulster.