Last year, Fine Gael got €3 million of public money. Labour got €1.8 million; the Progressive Democrats €725,000; the Greens €610,000; Sinn Féin €675,000. Fianna Fáil got €4.1 million, writes Fintan O'Toole.
That's the best part of €12 million in total. We give them this money for a very good reason. However much we like to bitch about politicians, most of us realise that democracy is the worst possible system of governance with the exception of all the alternatives. Political parties are essential to that system and it is worth paying for their operations. Provided we get what we're paying for: a democratic choice. In the last week, we have been given every reason to demand our money back.
Fianna Fáil has done its job well. It has given the country an accomplished, articulate and dignified President who represents the official version of Ireland at home and abroad with great aplomb. Her vision of the presidency and of the nation it represents is very much open to criticism but it makes a good fit with the attitudes of those of us who are happy enough with the status quo. Since that is in all probability a majority of likely voters, the party which nominated her, and which she still essentially represents, has clearly kept its side of the bargain.
Fine Gael and the PDs have not done so but they have at least made a clear statement about themselves. The presidency is about the definition and articulation of our society's values. By failing to even contemplate the possibility of putting forward a distinctive statement of what those values should be, Fine Gael and the PDs have told us that they do not have any fundamental problems with the status quo. This is useful information, especially in the light of Fine Gael's claims to offer a real alternative to the present Government.
For Labour and the Greens - the parties that see themselves as the vehicle for radical change - the debacle of the last week represents an astonishing abdication of responsibility. They have managed to pull off the classic trick of looking arrogant and incompetent at the same time. Arrogant because they have decided that their own interests are more important than the electorate's right to make a choice. Incompetent because they have created a colourful pantomime for the media to laugh at, a thriller in which the cries of "Oh yes they will" and "Oh no they won't" have been not squeals of suspense but hoots of derision. To engineer a situation in which the only possible vehicle for articulating dissent is, God help us, Dana, is to dress the whole notion of a political alternative in cap and bells.
It is not too late to salvage some pride. There is a viable strategy for the radical parties to at least save face. It starts with two simple decisions. One is that there is no point in pretending that Mary McAleese can be beaten at this stage. The other is that all the concerns about draining resources away from Dáil elections can be dealt with by an obvious tactic: spend no money.
The campaign, if there is one, will be very short. It could also be very simple, with two candidates and a clear choice. If one of those candidates offers a dignified public debate conducted without garish ads, wasteful gimmicks, stupid posters and silent obligations to wealthy backers, the pressure on the other to follow suit would be very strong. Even if Mrs McAleese goes ahead and raises a fortune from the builders and businessmen who backed her last time, so what? Since a challenger isn't going to win anyway, it really doesn't matter. The State pays for one free letter to every voter, the radio and TV stations are obliged to offer equal time to both candidates and the newspapers love elections. That's more than enough exposure to allow a point to be made.
What would that point be? Again, it's simple enough - to allow the substantial minority who are disgusted at the gross injustices in this society to register their dissent. By concentrating on a few issues - the treatment of people with disabilities and the mentally ill; the shameful neglect of children with special needs and the disgusting state of some of our primary schools; the contrast between the treatment of white collar and blue collar criminals; the persistence of child poverty; the State's collusion in the Iraq war - a broad statement can be made. Some kind of a debate about the nature of our society can be provoked.
Since both Michael D. Higgins and Eamon Ryan have been undermined as candidates, the person to express these sentiments has to come, at this stage, from outside the party system. There are, in the voluntary sector hundreds of passionate, articulate people who have spent years campaigning for social justice. Just to give a flavour of the kind of person who could speak with real authority about the other Ireland, I could name, for example, Annie Ryan, who has spent years exposing the plight of people with mental disabilities dumped in mental hospitals. Labour and the Greens have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to give a voice to the voiceless and in the process show they really do offer Irish democracy something different.