DEPARTING THE DÁIL: ULICK BURKE:FINE GAEL TD Ulick Burke (67) has observed a huge generational change in voting patterns since he first entered the Oireachtas close on 30 years ago.
He remembers a time when canvassers for the various political parties could identify the party allegiances of householders.
“All that is gone. By and large nowadays, young people make up their own minds on how they will vote.
“That is a good thing. I welcome the independence of mind of young voters.” He welcomes, too, the considerable involvement he sees of young people in politics. Ireland, he adds, has a very sophisticated electorate and it needs to see political and Oireachtas reform to allay public cynicism.
“The Dáil has to be reformed in a number of areas, not least facilitating members with more speaking time.
“Being allocated a few minutes for important debates is inadequate.” Over the years, he says, he has observed a growing tendency to guillotine legislation.
“Forcing legislation through, with inadequate debate, is no way to run a national parliament.” Burke has served in the Seanad and the Dáil since 1981, with a break for a number of years for family reasons.
He is for retaining a reformed Seanad and concedes there are grounds for reducing the number of TDs.
“I accept it is very difficult for the electorate to see the generous salaries and expenses paid to politicians, while there has been no real attempt at Oireachtas reform.
“The Irish political system is expensive, relative to the State’s size. There must be genuine reform to justify it.” Burke is for a mix of political parties and sees the election of Independents as a negative development.
“Situations where Independents hold the balance of power lead to political instability. The posturing of some of them is deplorable.” Because of Fine Gael’s long years in opposition, Burke never saw ministerial office. Nevertheless, he says, he enjoyed his political career enormously, working on behalf of individual constituents and communities.
“I take exception to be told on the doorstep that all politicians are the same and just in it for themselves.
“That is not true. I’m proud of the fact that my party has well-prepared policies on a wide variety of issues.” Losing his Dáil seat in 2002 was a low point, and winning the seat back five years later was a high point. The trauma of the defeat was evident in an emotional RTÉ interview he gave at the time.
“It was a tough decision to bow out this time because retaining the seat would be easier than in the past, given that Fine Gael will be going into government.” It is a source of satisfaction to him that the party organisation has been built up in the constituency, which was once a Fianna Fáil stronghold.
He is happy that he has done his best for the people.
“I feel sorry, though, that towns like Loughrea and Ballinasloe have lost industries over the years.”
