Fiach Mac Conghail on Renewing the Republic
Taken from the Irish Times, Monday, March 15 2010.
The vision of our leaders is bankrupt. Now is the time to change our political culture.
In times of crisis, more than any other time, we need our politicians to provide leadership and clarity so we can make some sense of what we should be doing as citizens. In our current malaise we are still waiting for them and our public and corporate leaders to empower us with ideas so that we may reimagine our new Republic. It is a time of trauma and also of great opportunity and the need to correct this for the next generation should be a priority.
What has been evident is that our artists, writers, thinkers, philosophers and (some) economists have been suggesting alternatives and a way of thinking afresh. I’m not suggesting that these new ideas will make us financially solvent again but in the absence of a dynamic political leadership, it is as good a place to start as any. It will, at the very least, replenish our idealism…
Continue to read Fiach’s full article online. You can also see some of the letters sent to the Irish Times in response here.