It is a sign of the lack of interest in real political choices in these islands that the British general election did not come to life until the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, threw a punch at a protester.
In Ireland it is the same. Social partnership, EU rules, global competition and a weakened Dail have deprived politics of its bite.
Some might say this is not the worst thing that ever happened. There was little political apathy in the hungry 1930s. Hardship makes people turn to politics. Prosperity allows them the luxury of turning away.
The challenge for Irish politicians today is not one of pursuing the will-o'-the-wisp of keeping voters constantly fascinated. It is the more mundane one of identifying the things that are working and leaving them alone while getting stuck into the things that are not working. I believe there are three areas where political action is needed:
1, social justice;
2, accountability;
3, social capital.
First, social justice. The gap between top and bottom incomes in Ireland is getting wider. The rate-cutting tax priorities of the current Government must be dropped if this is to change. The priority should be increasing tax allowances and bands. The legal system must be transformed into a genuine justice system. Unless you are poor and can get legal aid, or are very rich and can afford to risk large sums, you should not use the courts to seek justice.
I heard recently of the case of a legal separation between a taxi-driver and his wife. The legal costs of the separation came close to what it would cost to buy a small house. This is not social justice. We may need to change the Constitution to introduce systems of arbitration, with limited grounds for appeal, if we are to get costs under control and make justice accessible.
Second, accountability. We have many tribunals. Their purpose is accountability for past misdeeds. One must ask why the Dail itself did not detect or prevent these misdeeds in the first place.
The key instrument of political accountability in the Dail is the parliamentary question. If ministers know they will have to answer questions fully, then there is accountability. Unfortunately, no sanction exists if a minister fails to answer a Dail question adequately. One simple reform would take care of this. Give the chairman of the Dail, the Ceann Comhairle, a right, on appeal from a member, to direct a minister, who has given an inadequate reply, to come back into the House and give a fuller one.
If we do that, we will need fewer tribunals. Accountability must also extend to the peace process. It is inconsistent to demand exacting standards of accountability from constitutional political parties, while political parties linked to illegal paramilitaries are not made accountable for those links. People who rightly demand accountability from constitutional parties should be equally strong in demanding it from paramilitaries.
Accountability should also be demanded of social partners. If decisions affecting people's lives and careers are to be taken by trade union and employer organisations, we have as much right to demand accountability of them as we have to demand it of government.
Ten days ago, the Irish Nurses Organisation decided that, within seven days of the beginning of a nursing strike, it would withdraw all emergency cover from medical and surgical wards in hospitals. This would mean that people, who would otherwise live, would die. The Irish Times described this policy decision as "a remarkably sophisticated programme of escalation, which members of the ASTI can only view with envy".
That comment implies that this is some sort of game. Where the lives and careers of others are threatened by industrial action, victims should have redress through social partnership and, failing that, through the courts.
Finally, and most importantly, we must address the decline in social capital. Irish politics should set itself the explicit objective of putting social supports around families and neighbourhoods, with a special focus on the needs of children. As a society, we are beginning to drift apart. Relationships are breaking down, people do not know their neighbours, voluntary organisations find it hard to get volunteers.
The Government should support families with children by increasing child benefit. The Government should set out to build neighbourhoods as part of its Spatial Plan. A neighbourhood exists when houses are built around social amenities within walking distance, where neighbours can meet. This will never happen as long as the planning of the homes of Ireland is driven by developers, held back only by reactive local authority planners. We need a proactive plan to design neighbourhoods for people. The anonymity of housing estates must be ended.
In short, we must harness the market for social goals, rather than allow the market to determine social outcomes.
John Bruton is a Fine Gael TD for Meath and a former leader of the party
Vincent Browne is on leave