Tommy McKearney

Think carefully about  this shower

Enda Kenny and his coalition government are being rightly condemned for their tardy       response to the flooding crisis in the south and west of Ireland. Much of the criticism, however, tends to suggest that the Taoiseach and his Cabinet were asleep at the wheel or overindulging through the holiday. There may be something in this but the reality is even grimmer. This government, quite frankly, is incapable of dealing with a crisis, any crisis that is.

The Fine Gael & Labour Party coalition has pumped up the myth that they are a paragon of competent and capable government. They have spun the story that they steadied the ship of state in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Along with a fawning media, they have promoted the notion that Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin are ministers of incomparable sagacity whose wisdom, coupled with inspired leadership from Kenny and Burton, has delivered Ireland from a cruel fate.

Their inability to deal with this most recent crisis demonstrates just how false is this self-serving propaganda. The coalition government didn't design a cure for the financial crisis; they merely followed instructions laid down by the Troika. Now, left to their own devices they are helpless and floundering in the current emergency because this government has a limited range of answers to any problem; let the Gardai arrested it, have speculators privatise it, ask Angela Merkel regulate it or send the Bruton woman out for a photo-call.

Let's face it, though, Enda and Joan are not totally indifferent to the fate of the electorate in the South and West. Without someone to hole their hands the poor sods just didn't know what to do.

The real message to draw from this debacle is that the current government, far from being competent, is not to be trusted in the throes of a crisis. They are bereft of ability during an emergency. This is something that should be kept to the forefront during the upcoming general election because there is no reason to believe that another economic crisis will not happen. We suffered as a result of incompetent governance during the last crisis and will suffer even more from incompetence during a further crisis. 

Think carefully before re-electing this shower - in case it rains again!

Tommy McKearney...2 January 2016