Sir, - In the midst of yet more scandal, bad politics and the unhappy thought that we get the kind of politicians we vote for, might I suggest the following:
All those who aspire to political office, national or local, must, before allowing their name to go forward, have obtained a formal qualification in civics and public administration from a recognised college. In the case of local politicians this qualification might take a year, whereas for national politics it might be over three years.
The advantage of compelling aspiring politicians to undergo this type of training would be that, from the very outset, all aspirants regardless of background or education would learn the dos and don'ts of what it means to practice politics. This would go some way to changing the present way of doing things wherein political trainees seem to "find their way" either through doing what others do, or what has been done before, or simply doing whatever is necessary to get as much as they can from their situation. In so doing they seem to develop the skills of that most nefarious of creatures, "the cute hoor".
If our politicians, after such training, decided to break the rules either in letter or spirit, then it would be much easier to criminalise them. Joe Public would not have to endure huge expense, time and effort to find out who was and was not corrupt.
The demise of our particular brand of "hoorism" - which so many seem to admire and regard as a credible political philosophy - will have to be brought about if politics is to survive with an independent identity, one which is not based on corruption. It has some way to go before being regarded as an activity, which encourages dialogue and exchange. Aristotle held that "man is by nature a political animal". It would appear that for some at least this means that man is by nature a politically corrupt animal. - Yours, etc.,
Bill Seery, The Green, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co Wicklow.