Possibilities of a better and bolder Ireland

Instead of simply complaining about any perceived lack of leadership we must ourselves be prepared to lead.

We live in a new Ireland. We no longer trust our politicians, our bishops or our banks. All have let us down in truly grievous fashion. All of the old pillars of our society have collapsed, and many of us are left without any real sense of the emergence of a new kind of leadership that might help to restore some sense of confidence in our bruised and battered society.

Many of us are angry and cynical. Of course a real danger is that we may simply replace our old unquestioning confidence in those failed systems with a reactionary and all consuming cynicism that sees self-serving cronyism at the heart of any and all efforts to find a new way forward.

So, instead of simply complaining about any perceived lack of leadership we must ourselves be prepared to lead. We must no longer look to others to articulate a vision of the kind of society we wish to live in and then wait for them deliver it for us, rather we must work to set out that vision ourselves and work tirelessly to realise it. The failures of recent years must surely teach us that it has been our failure to demand accountability in how power is exercised that has allowed it to be abused and used to the benefit of some at such great cost to many. We share at least some responsibility for the failures of recent years, not least because we have not demanded better loudly enough and worked to achieve change where and when we perceive it is most needed.

It is time too to stop looking only backwards in a never-ending cycle of recrimination. That’s not to say that those who are responsible for gross failures must not be held to account, they clearly must be. But we must also begin to look forward, to learn from our mistakes and to imagine a new future.

We Irish are often too good at looking back to history, but too often a re-invented history, one which allows us to view our own role through rose tinted glasses so we can see ourselves as hapless victims of some greater authority. The terrible tragedy of that approach is that it requires us to remain powerless and impotent. We deny ourselves the power to build a brighter and bolder future simply so that we can abdicate any responsibility for the failures of the past. How utterly pointless is that?

Our history is littered with references to our dreams of a better future for all of our people. In 1916 those who died for the idea of a free Republic proclaimed a vision of an Ireland that would cherish all the children of the nation equally. They dreamt of a nation built upon the principles of equality and respect, of care and compassion. We have grown up with those bold and radical dreams imprinted upon us as some kind of birthright and yet we have failed to realise them.

And it is our failure. At the end of the day it’s up to us, each and every one of us. The reality is that political leadership is usually led by public opinion rather than leading it. An absence of regard for accountability at the political level is evidence of a disregard for that principle across our society. A failure to cherish all equally is a reflection of a society that does not care enough about that principle to demand it as non-negotiable.

And the cure to that ill is simple enough. We must be bold and vocal in our demands for respect of such principles. And we must do more than simply demand better of others; we must be prepared to work to achieve it ourselves.

And therein lies the new and exciting possibility; the possibility of a re-imagined Republic, of a better and bolder Ireland.

We have created the society we live in and we have the power, individually and collectively, to change it when change is needed. It may not always be easy to do so, but it is possible, even inevitable if enough of us decide to stand up and demand change. Such change always begins with the actions of determined and idealistic individuals, people who will not allow themselves to be dismissed as idealistic dreamers demanding the impossible.

It is time to dream anew and then to make our dreams reality. It is time to be unashamedly and unapologetically idealistic. The gift in all of this turmoil is surely the opportunity to learn from the past. We must realise that the ideal will always evolve as we learn from our successes, but perhaps above all, from our failures. And there is the gift in it all; the opportunity to learn, to build upon the experience of our past, to realise the vast possibilities of our future.