Amid continuing political scandals and voter apathy, is there still room for civic pride? Four people explain why they believe a healthy civic spirit is essential for the general well-being of society. Sylvia Thompson reports
Ask a few people - your neighbour, partner, best friend, local shopkeeper - what they understand by civic spirit and you'll probably be met with blank expressions and vague comments about not dropping litter.
Has civic spirit become an empty concept in a country ranked fourth in the world in this year's Index of Economic Freedom? Is being able to afford a smart four-wheel drive yet not being able to park it safely on a city street really liberating? Is being able to buy a lot of pre-packed, pre-cut, pre-washed food at a time when the country has a mounting waste crisis an advance for society?
When a country is booming, there is an unwritten rule that you don't harp on about aspects of life that are falling by the wayside. But when was the last time you spent time talking or thinking about how your community could be enhanced or ways in which new people could be better integrated into it?
With a general election looming, the deluge of political leaflets offering every solution to society's ills is about to begin. Canvassers will attempt to engage us in debate about what matters to us, promising they have the cure.
How about a remedy for a diminished sense of civic spirit? Or a pill to relieve the pain of civic shame brought on by apparent political skulduggery, greed and the absence of public responsibility in State bodies? How can people be expected to carry out their civic duty by voting when all they might feel is civic apathy?
Terry O'Regan, a Cork landscape consultant and founder member of Landscape Alliance Forum, believes there is a diminished sense of civic spirit, which is a result of the lack of political leadership and the poor recognition of work done by some community activists for the benefit of all.
"There is a tremendous civic spirit at many levels, such as in the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and Tidy Districts, but outside of these areas there is no recognition from local authorities or government if somebody does something for the community. Without recognition, disillusionment sets in.
"If you feel civic ownership, you have pride and interest in your local area but if you don't feel an owner, you don't have pride. The Government think they own the country because we elect them. They almost see themselves as feudal princes. But they have no exceptional privileges or rights."
O'Regan believes the current behaviour of some Irish politicians is a poor model for engendering a sense of civic responsibility in the wider public arena.
Paula Downey is a Dublin-based consultant working in the area of communications, values and culture. She also believes that civic spirit has been diminished. "We have lost a sense of the big picture and the sense that we are part of and dependent on the bigger system and it is dependent on us. People don't walk around with a sense of co-authoring of the world they live in. They feel the stage is set, someone has written the script and they play their part," she says.
"But, if you look at what's missing, you see there is a lost sense of direction, purpose or meaning at almost every level of public life. The sense of civic duty is missing at leadership level and this permeates down. The void is filled by brands, celebrity and economic culture. These become the billboards which guide our choices and behaviour.
"We totally believe that our primary role is as consumers and producers.The idea of your primary role being a neighbour or a daughter is not considered. Our entry into society is based on what we have and what we make and not who we are and how we behave. This is pretty shallow."
Downey believes companies often don't seem to realise they are part of the bigger picture too - in terms of the social and environmental impact of their businesses. Yet, surveys have shown that corporate social responsibility is becoming a consumer expectation. Two-thirds of adults in a survey on "Responsible Business" carried out by Amárach Consulting agreed that "industry and commerce do not pay enough attention to their social responsibilities".
Downey says such results show there's an opportunity for companies to show leadership and engender a stronger sense of civic spirit in us all."Having a long-term view is absolutely in the self-interest of business and a lot of businesses need to wake up to that." .
She also believes that allowing political and business scandals to happen without responding diminishes our own sense of civic responsibility. "We don't have enough people saying to their peers 'you have disgraced us'. People in positions of authority in public life, as well as business leaders, set the tone for what's acceptable behaviour for everybody." A corrosion happens when we don't speak up for what we believe in. We each have this responsibility, she says.
Through his work with the Dublin City Development Board, Peter Finnegan has had ample opportunity to gauge the strength of civic spirit in Dublin. "It's an issue that is central to our work - the idea of civic pride and how the citizen can be more actively involved," says Finnegan.
In 2001, the Dublin City Development Board organised a series of five civic forums in which individuals were chosen from the electoral registers and asked to express their views on a vision of Dublin for the next 10 years.
"In the South East electoral area, there was a strong sense of citizens taking responsibility to ensure that the city was a greener and safer place, whereas in the North West electoral area, there was an emphasis on the civic right to receive services which would have responsibility for these jobs," he says.
Voter apathy is also something that the Dublin City Development Board is keen to tackle and to reverse downwards trends expressed in local government polls (for instance, there was a 52 per cent turn-out in local government polls in 1967 as compared with 35 per cent in 1999).
The Dublin City Development Board is putting forward a model in which individuals would be asked to participate in the decision-making process which would shape the city. The idea is that citizens would be called up to do civic duty much as they do jury service. "The idea is also emerging of businesses being corporate citizens who have their own civic responsibility," adds Finnegan.
FINNEGAN is keen to stress, however, that in a changing city such as Dublin there can be a tendency to romanticise the past and believe that neighbour once looked after neighbour. "There is a certain element of truth in that, but large cosmopolitan cities become more anonymous and sometimes, there can be no harm in that. There is a great need now for educational awareness of what other cultures with different mores can contribute to our city."
It has been suggested that a values commission should be formed. "Given the increasingly diverse nature of city communities, such a commission might organise an annual 'Values Festival'. This would include lectures, focus groups, music and artistic events in schools and community centres around the city," adds Finnegan.
Joe Murray, co-ordinator of Afri, the peace and human rights non-governmental organisation, says he has mixed feeling about the term "civic spirit"."It has the suggestion of being a good citizen - toeing the line, not raising awkward questions or bucking the system. For me, the idea of civic spirit has to extend beyond that.
"People in voluntary groups are exercising their civic spirit and they do valuable work with tremendous generosity. But, I believe we need a new understanding of civic spirit so that we can live more critically within our own society and within the global economy.
"The good citizen model implies that you take your job and do it. But, I say that you need to look at the consequences of what your work involves. Such a concept of civic spirit would extend into the way we relate to and engage with minoritygroups and multi-ethic groups. There is a big difference between accepting answers handed down to us and trying to think things out and take initiatives and be responsible for those decisions."
