How democracy doesn’t work
Minister of State, Tony Killeen is in a spot of bother after he appeared to make representations to the Minister for Justice for the early release of a child rapist. Representations by TDs for the early release of prisoners are commonplace - in my book they shouldn’t be tolerated - the only reason this one made the headlines is because of the emotive nature of the offense. Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen got into similiar hot water with the same case a while back for the lesser offense of tabling a motion to enquire when the offender would be released.
What is interesting about the Killeen incident is that it gave us a peek into the reality of how our democracy works. Apparently the Minister himself wasn’t even aware of the representations made in his name. According to The Clare People (free reg. required):
Minister Killeen confirmed that his constituency office has issued over 220,000 letters and stated that regrettably it was clear to him now that some errors had been made. He said that he had not seen the two letters issued, nor did he sign them.
220,000 letters! The politics of clientelism, clinics, and the parish pump is alive and well, and working on an unprecedented scale. And I’m sure Tony Killeen is not the only, or indeed the worst offender. Is it any wonder that our democracy is in such a pitiful state.
Mark Waters marked time at 8:27 pm on January 16th, 2007 .
