GAWAY’S environmental issues and local community have been discussed at the last Green Drinks meeting on Thursday evening at Kelly's bar.
“I go to the countryside every day and every day I see dead animals,” said Brendan Smith, Community Outreach Officer at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) in Galway.
“We have killed something we were proud of in Ireland,” added Smith. He showed pictures of the pollution on the Galway coast and in the surrounding woods in his presentation. Smith said the nationwide recycling programme needs to be improved to reduce the amount of bottles and cans that are thrown into nature.
Once a month Smith mobilises for cleaning up parks and gets the local schools involved in the project. “To me it is important that there is a sense of local community,” added Smith. Furthermore, the environmentalist offers guided cycling tours through Galway to show the participants the “beautiful countryside within the city boundaries”.
Photo: bostongreenblog.blogspot.com
Smith believes we should concentrate on getting young people involved in technology science for a sustainable future. “To me technology has damaged the planet so much but also technology is going to be what can save it,” stated the researcher during his presentation.
According to Smith the City Council has recently agreed to reactivate the Terryland Forest Park. He said there are always opportunities for people with various interests to get involved in one of the projects. Smith wants to combine technology and environmental issues with the local community and Ireland’s cultural heritage.
The community activist went back into Galway’s history and talked about the Hippie culture in the 60s and the anti-war movement he took part in. “I have seen Galway grown from a very small town to what it is now,” said Brendan Smith. The community activist was accused of promoting the use of condoms in the 80s. He thinks the town has changed a lot since he started studying in collage and said it is more difficult nowadays to develop strong community bonds outside of school.
When asked where he takes his motivation from for keeping up with all of his activities over so many years Smith answered; “I try to make it a better place before I leave.”
Green Drinks is a monthly event in about 450 cities around the world and organised by Transition Galway. People who are interested in environmental issues get together for drinks, discussions and socializing. The organisation wants to make aware of the diminishing oil and gas supplies, climate change and the importance of community based activities.
Besides Green Drinks the initiative organises film screenings and workshops in Galway. The main project is a community garden in the city centre which has been created in cooperation with the Spirit Centre in Galway.
A small candle lights up the damp inside of the blue tent. Both cabins are open and four people sitting on air mattresses are facing each other. The wind is pushing tiny raindrops against the side of the zipped up entrance. The little fire candle and the perpetual breathing heats up the cold air from outside. It is midnight and passersby are shouting joyfully in the square while heading to the next pub.
Galway Occupy Camp, Photo: Donn Morrison
The four exchange smiles when they are talking about camp life. The bearded Chris is holding his blue guitar and pulling one string after another. The conversation is concentrated on the plans for tomorrow and the upcoming march against the household charge.
Over four months have passed since the first tents were set up on the stony ground in Eyre Square, Galway. Although some people have left and others have joined, the core group of 20 who started the protest is still around.
"The novelty is gone. Everyone has gotten used to it now,” comments Chris Duignan who was one the first to support the local protest. After his first year in archaeology the 26 year old had to drop out of collage because he couldn’t afford to pay the fees and didn’t get a grant from the government.
“You can see so many things are wrong and nobody is going to fix them,” says Chris about his reason for joining the Occupy movement. “If it’s not going to work out at least you have tried,” he adds. Nevertheless, there are times he finds it hard to keep going.
“It’s hard to sleep because of the noise and the traffic,” he says; “You get worn out after a few days. Then you go home and relax for a while and remember why you came down in the first place.” Chris remembers Rag week as the hardest nights they have had on Eyre Square. “Wednesday night. It was just crazy. I was just looking at what is the point, what am I doing to me, why I’m getting abused and shouted at?,” are some of the thoughts Chris recalls going through his mind on the night hundreds of students raged drunkenly through the streets.
Chris Duignan, Photo: Tanja Goldbecher
"If you were living here and all you can see is night time you would think every single person in Galway is in an alcoholic,” says Chris. One person jumped over the fence and fell on one of the tents where a girl was sleeping. “People shout at us every single night,” he utters with a tired glare in his eyes and adds that often bottles are thrown at the camp. Chris talks about Halloween when a traffic sign was thrown on his tent but he makes clear that there never have been any problems during the day.
Chris is the informal event manager of Occupy Galway. An open mic, where everyone can express his or her opinion in public, is set up for a few days to discuss changes that could be made to constitution. In the past, the camp has organised various charity events and has given money to the St Vincent de Paul Society, COPE Ireland, the Samaritans and the Simon Communities. The next charity event is planned for March 2nd in Áras na nGael but everyday smaller activities like invited guest speakers or gardening are written on the white board at the entrance of the main tent.
A woman in her 40s stops at the entrance of the fence. “How is the protest going?” she asks the activist who just came out of his tent. “I would protest here myself if I could, but I have to work” says the woman.
The main tent is big enough to stand up in. A chain of lights hangs across the marquise and a tiny bit of orange light from the street lamps falls into the open entry. The dark carpet and leather couch next to a low table simulate a cosy living room atmosphere. The sides of the tent are reinforced with timber from pallets. The roof is stable and a green plastic cover tied to it keeps the wetness out. In one corner the kitchen area is set up. Cups, plates and cooking pots are placed on the kitchen board next to the gas cooker and kettle.
Camp Poster, Photo: imgfave.com
"All of the things are donated and Stephen the carpenter puts them together," says Chris. He leads the way through the back door into the sleeping area where each tent is fixed on separate pallets. He points at the solar panel that is delivering parts of the camp's energy supply. A small office has been created in the back and another shed for the kitchen still requires more timber to complete its construction. A grey metal sink is already leaning against the side.
Chris believes the City Council is against the Occupy Camp. “They want to take legal action against the camp,” he says. So far, the camp is going to stay where it is. "Eventually, there won't be the need for the camp to be here because people will just come and talk,” comments Chris; "The camp is here to be used by anyone. We are not here to tell people what to think; they should come and tell us their opinion.” At three o’clock in the morning, when the last pub is closed and the crowds make their way home, the area around the square quietens down. The camp will be asleep until the street cleaning starts at half five. A few people are going to stay up all night. The temperatures are not low, but the dampness creeps into the body anyway. A hot shower is not available for warm feet in the sleeping bag. This is a typical night at Occupy Galway.
How much money has the government spent protecting such controversial projects as the Shell Refinery in Co Mayo? At least €14.5 million. Sinn Féin Deputy, Peadar Tóibín, was compelled to ask in parliament for a full list of the Gardai expenses on the project when the Minister for Justice, Shatter, finally released the shocking figures. Cuts in education and health are quite understandable when Shell Exploration & Production (E&P) is building a gas pipeline and needs government defence for it. Most of the money was spent on overtime for Gardai.
Local Protesters, Photo: guardian.co.uk
Retrospectively, everyone regrets the costs, but this hasn’t led to questioning the rationale for the project in the first place. Why did the project need so many Gardai present at the building site? Why didn’t Shell take ownership and responsibility of the problem itself?
Instead of asking these questions, the government seems to prefer to give millions of Euros to the Gardai for travel and other expenses. A referendum would have cost less, but it is quite clear that the government is really seeking genuine solutions to the problems of the local people.
Videos of local activists in conflict with Gardai at the Shell building site have been all over the news media lately. Pushing, screaming, discussing: the anger on the ground between the opposing parties is evident. When a construction truck at the site was pushed against activists behind a fence the situation really escalated: people jumped on the truck, held onto it, got injured, and were finally removed with the force of the police. “They got overtime for beating us,” said one activist who was part of the protest.
Shell’s plans to build a gas pipeline have ignited people’s fears that their local environment could be destroyed and pollution could lead to health problems. A five kilometre tunnel is planned to connect the pipes from the field to the gas terminal at Bellanaboy. From there the pipes are to be tied into the national network. The ongoing protests about this project have gained increasing attention when Gardai, controversially, used mass force to keep the building site clear for construction.
Shell Project, Photo: shelltosea.com
“The Sea has been very good to the community here. It has kept us going. That’s why I wouldn’t like to see it polluted,” said one of the local fisherman. In 2005, five farmers were put in jail because they stopped Shell workers from coming onto their land. The community supported the so-called “Rossport five” and kept the protest going, even though the Court decided against the farmers, placing an injunction on them. “All we had done was protect our homes, our families, our land, our neighbours,” said one of the five jailed. “We only got out of jail because Shell got negative publicity,” he continued.
The Mayo County councillor, Gerry Coyle, speaking about the site of the new Shell project, commented: “I think it is the most monitored site I was ever in. If I would think it would pollute the drinking water I would be down there protesting myself.” He described the flourishing economy of the area and all the jobs that have been created through Shell’s project, but added: “No one wants to see damage to the environment for the sake of jobs.”
Michael Crothers, Shell’s Managing Director, said that there will be 700 direct and 750 indirect jobs created by the time the project is completed in 2014. Furthermore, he added that €4.4 billion will be contributed to the Republic’s economy and the gas pipeline will provide 60 per cent of the natural gas in Ireland.
The “Shell to Sea” campaign is the biggest protest movement in Rossport. People representing a broad spectrum of ages, heritages and professions are protesting against the project being built on shore. “This is different from the pipes I usually drive over every day and don’t give a thought about it. Here if it leaks, it might explode, what is a scary thought,” said Diane Amber who is one of the activists.
A lot of energy has been lost in the defence of this project. The government’s financial resources could have been invested in better ways and, psychologically, exhaustion, anger and frustration are common feelings on both sides of the debate.
Gardai and Protester, Photo: keithheneghanphoto.photoshelter.com
Colin Joyce who works for Shell Ireland explained that it is only a small-medium sized gas field and the pipeline would only travel nine kilometers on land from Rossport. The gas refinery could not be built in the sea because workers could only access the site via helicopter.
However, the arguments on the other side continue to build. “They didn’t ask us,” commented Willie Corduff, another local farmer. Corduff added that Shell workers at least have the free will to go to the site, whereas people from the village cannot choose if they want to take the risk and live above the gas pipelines. Furthermore, he claimed that Ireland’s natural resourses are not only used for Ireland but are exported to other countries.
“It’s going to cause pollution and it has caused pollution already,” commented Eoin O'Leidhin, Shell to Sea activist. The local people in Co Mayo are scared of the consequences of the gas project and fear that they will have to move away. Rossport could turn into a place where there is no recession but where no one wants to live any more.
The project is good for Shell’s business and Ireland’s economy but harmful to the landscape and the people living in the area. Therefore, the Gardai expenses are far too high to be paid by the public. It’s not too late to raise that issue.
Cartoon of Angela Merkel, photo: danikaturen.wordpress.com
The arms are bent, the fingertips are touching. Angela Merkel is ready to face the press conference on the euro summit in Brussels. Her velvet suit is dark blue, the background is light blue and the European flag shines also in blue with the twelve yellow stars on it. Only the German flag in black, red and gold does not fit the theme of the conference.
Last October the European leaders met to discuss the continuing debt crisis. “Europe should, in the same way as Germany has, become stronger after the crisis,” stated Chancellor after the meeting. Merkel’s rhetorical training seems to work out. She stressed the right words in each sentence: “Maximization”, “nominal increase”, “avoidance” and “approximately”. These terms became very important in her speech.
“We agreed on economic reforms that consist of five elements: First, the individual effort of the member states, second, a sustainable solution for Greece, third, the optimization of ESFS, fourth, the recapitalization of Europe’s banks and fifth, the strengthening of the stability of the Euro zone,” said Angela Merkel. That’s it. Those five “elements” are the solution of Europe’s financial problems or rather “a step forward”, as Merkel likes to say.
“I am very confident with the outcome of the meeting,” added the Chancellor at the end of her talk. She is then ready to answer questions of the journalists who have been silent so far. Merkel is juggling with billions of Euros for Greece till no one really understands how much money is actually going to be paid. When she doesn't know the answer she simply looks at her notes, repeats what she has said before, folds her hands and smiles confidently. Besides, none of the journalists are confronting her with tricky questions.
There is nothing to enrage Angela Merkel. She remains calm and keeps her way as usual. In her home country the Chancellor is rather seen as an uncharismatic politician. In Europe Angela Merkel is ruling walking hand in hand with Sarkozy and tells other nations what to do. Abroad she is referred to as Dr. Merkel and in her home country that title does not seem to exist at all.
Angela Merkel’s history in well known. She was born in Hamburg but grew up in East Germany. Her father Horst Kasner worked as a pastor in the local community and therefore Merkel’s Christian background is obvious. In 1973 she started studying physics in Leipzig and gained her doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry. Merkel remained in the academically working sphere until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Her political involvement began with the membership in the new party Democratic Awakening. Shortly afterwards, the party united with the Christian Democratic Union, CDU, where Merkel is the federal Chairwoman since 2000. She was elected to the German Bundestag and represented her home state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern there. Furthermore, she used to hold the title of the Federal Minister for Women and Youth and afterwards Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
The federal election in 2005 made her move into the so called Kanzleramt and she became known for being the first female Chancellor in Germany.
Some say Angela Merkel is not a typical woman and that is why she has been so successful in the man dominated world of politics. Another question is what “femine” is supposed to be and if women in leading positions are not always seen as dashing and stern.
Even though, she seems to have a lack of charisma, Merkel is not only the leading figure in Germany but also one of the most influential politicians in Europe. Her conservative views are followed and even her coalition partner the Free Democrats cannot really introduce any liberal policy. Merkel is respected, perhaps because of Germany’s economical strength or because people believe she knows a way out of the crisis.
„We are going to have regular Euro summits and the obligation of the member states, we agreed on that today, that the debt limitations (...) are going to be prescribed into domestic law," stated the Chancellor. There she goes again. Merkel is clear about her demands. She wants to move on with the “economical convergence in the Euro zone” to improve order and obedience in the financial world. Basically, she tells the others what to do and that is to lower the autonomy of the Euro states. Otherwise, the bailout fund could be cut very quickly. The powerful and wealthy states tell the dependent and indebted ones what to do. The ongoing protest in Athens can not change that either. France and Germany are putting even more pressure on Greece to keep with the agreed austerity measures.
Her party, the CDU, enjoys increasing prevalence in the German population and according to the latest surveys Angela Merkel is the only politician in Europe whose popularity grows within the crisis. That is quite the opposite to Sarkozy’s current status heading into the presidential election in France in April.
Merkel and Sarkozy at Summit, photo: hellenext.org
“I am going to support Nicolas Sarkozy, because we are friends – no matter what he does,” said Merkel in the double interview with Sarkozy at the beginning of the week. “I admire the woman who led 80 million Germans so well through the crisis,” was his reply. German papers refer to the dream team as “Merkozy” and write about Sarkozy’s strategy to win the elections due to mutual support. The German-French relationship might never have been as strong as it is right now. They present themselves as invincible parties for Europe and historically grown friends. To create the image of personal affection and coorporation between Merkel and Sarkozy is the aim of that campaign.
There is no gossip about the German chancellor and in general very little is known about her private life. She doesn’t have children, is married to Joachim Sauer but together they are rarely seen in public. Merkel doesn’t give statements in outrage, controls her emotions and is always diplomatic. She can not even be exposed with a fake doctorate like other German politicians have been lately.
When Angela Merkel is smiling she seems to be a different person. The angles of her mouth are lifted up, her face brightens and little wrinkles appear next to her eyes. Merkel is not as intimidating as Margaret Thatcher with the high pitched voice. Merkel is just “Angie” who can not be imagined to lead anything anywhere. Again, it might be rather the ability of wealthy nations to profit from the crisis than great politics that rule in Europe.
Deep and powerful is the first word she sings into the microphone. Dressed in a black dress and with a stern look on her face she is standing on stage of the O2 Arena in Greenwich quietening the audience with her voice. The piano player in the black suite swings to the soft melody. The performance is simple but elegant. In the end of the song tears run down her face.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is still showing emotions when she sings her song “Someone like you” over and over again. Adele tells the story of a heart broken woman who wishes “nothing but the best” to her ex-boyfriend and his new life. When the British singer tunes in the verse “sometimes it ends in love but sometimes it hurts instead,” she reaches out to the people’s hearts. All of those experiences are easy to identify with because she is referring to issues in everyone’s real life. The lyrics are structured in simplicity and played so often that the memorization of them unavoidable. The music in her second album “21” turned from jazzy beats into catchy pop. Though, her voice kept the heavy soul what makes her sound much older than only 22.
Photo: sound.to
Most of the time, she wears black. Pictures show her bulgy hair which is neatly tied back to a big bun. Even her makeup seems to be the same all along. The black eye liner that emphases her big eyes and the rouge that stresses her cheekbones are a set part of her occurrence. Adele isn’t one of the dainty pop stars. Her figure is curvy and the features of her face are very smooth. Her style, self-created or adopted to her, is elegant and mature.
The way Adele is behaving in interviews is the complete contrast to her deliberate and severe music. While talking to Jonathan Ross on ITV her strong Tottenham accent becomes obvious and her humorous nature, too. Similar to her singing voice her laugh is tremendous and the audience giggles with her. Adele makes jokes on behave of the presenter’s age, her ex-boyfriend and also doesn’t take herself too seriously. Even though, her lyrics are quite sad and sorrowful the singer seems to be a joyful person who just gets on with the ups and downs of life.
According to her main focus on relationships that didn’t work out and the feelings that remained from that time, Adele is frequently questioned about her own relationships. Too quieten the ongoing rumours about her current boyfriend Simon Konecki she posted on her blog lately:
“This is the first and last time I will comment on the details of my relationship with Simon. Contrary to reports and headlines in the press today, Simon is divorced and has been for 4 years. Everyone in our lives separately and together wish us nothing but the best, and vice versa. These are the facts. Take care and see you all in February xx.”
Fed up with the media reporting Adele stated: “I don’t really look at the internet anymore. There is way too much bad staff.”
There have already been drinking issues in Adele’s short career. After her first album “19” was flourishing and she got the Urban Music Award for “Best Jazz Act”, she cancelled her 2008 tour “An Evening with Adele”. The reason for that was her wish to spend more time with her present boyfriend.
"I was drinking far too much and that was kind of the basis of my relationship with this boy. I couldn't bear to be without him, so I was like, 'Well, OK, I'll just cancel my stuff then… I can't believe I did that… It seems so ungrateful," she said looking back.
Adele started a drunken diary that she reads through when she is sober again to sort out her feelings and keep those thoughts for song writing. “I am not very good at talking. To myself obviously, but not to a lot of people. When I’m in a shit time in my relationships I am never really saying how I feel and talking about it even if they are trying to bring it out of me,” she said and added that she hates to be single.
At the age of four Adele began to sing and refers to the Spice girls as her great inspiration: “they made me what I am today.” She wrote her first chart song “Hometown Glory” when she was only 16. Right after her graduation from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology Adele published two songs on the online arts publication PlatformsMagazine. Later, a friend of Adele uploaded her songs on MySpace what caught the attention of the music label XL Recordings in 2006.
Her second album “21” was classified as roots and country music. Adele commented that the tour through America made her change the style of her music. The single "Someone Like You" was sold over a million times in the UK. Adele won the BBC Sound of 2008 and got the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2009. In 2010 the German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut covered Adele’s song “My Same” in an alike British accent and blues rhythm. Adele took part in X-Factor and finally made her career with Bob Dylan’s song “Make you Feel My Love”.
Adele is famous for her remarkable voice and there is no need to cite more numbers to proof her success in the pop business.Nevertheless, she says that she doesn’t care about her popularity. “I am pretty oblivious to everything. I’m not very in tough with the fame side of it. I am not chasing it and to be honest it doesn’t interest me a lot.”
In December 2011 she announced that she is going to take a break before producing her third album. This announcement followed previous health problems with her throat and voice in October.
When Adele’s recognition launched to grow she was often compared with Amy Winehouse and other female soul singers on what she commented “we're a gender, not a genre”. Those critics seem to be ceased when her second album was released.
The influence of her music is immense. People overwhelm her with declarations of love on her homepage like this woman from Colombia who wrote:
“you are my example of life and you help me a lot! give me streng in the most hard moments. thanks for be like you are. you are my hope and my favorite person in the world.
thank you.”
The music business depends on artists it can push to the top of the charts. It could be an overweening sentimentality that is made up to hit a female love frustration. The strength of her voice and the harmony in her music is definitely her advantage. Still, how honest her expressed feelings are can hardly be measured. Maybe that is not even important as long as she has the ability to tough crowds with her lyrics. The look at top 10 hits like Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” where the first line goes: “I want your ugly, I want your disease, I want your everything as long at its free...”, isn’t really the better alternative.
It's not all talent but also hard work that turns Laura Su Bischoff’s photos into an eye-catcher over the social network. „At the beginning I would have never thought anyone would like my photos,“ says the student from Berlin. Once she got lots of positive feedback on facebook and flickr Laura Su became motivated to chair even more of her work. Now she is proud of the process she has made since she started to take pictures. All of her photos are made monochrome, mostly in black and white, and have nothing to do with the simplicity of digital photography.
The 27 years old likes to walk through the streets of Berlin and to focus her lens at things or people she comes across by accident. „Since I started to photograph everything appears so much more interesting to me,“ says Laura Su and describes how her own perception has changed with her new hobby.
Old man in Berlin, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
Laura Su Bishoff’s pictures are very diverse. One of them might show an old person partially covered in Berlin, another the speakers corner on her trip through London. Though, she isn't just interested in finding good moments to capture. Laura Su wants to be part of the whole process and therefore transformed a tiny storage room of her apartment into a darkroom. „Even when I was in school I loved to experiment with chemicals. It's a little bit like magic,“ says Laura Su and smiles. The room holds all of the material she needs to enlarge and project the negative image on photo paper to create a print. With a radiant look on her face Laura Su describes the darkroom prints which she has created through the photochemical method.
Speakers Corner in London, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
The long black hair falls strait over her delicate shoulders and matches the dark eyeliner. Like other people have to take a handbag when they are leaving the house Laura Su carries one of her 30 cameras around with her. Most of the time, the black plastic camera, called Holga, is her constant companion. „It is perfect to take pictures of people on the street without them taking notice of it,“ explains Laura Su why she prefers the vintage model. To take pictures of ordinary things and make them appear out of a different angle is the personal challenge for her.
2004 Laura Su started to study English, modern history and North America studies in Berlin. Close to her graduation she began to look for a new hobby because she needed a change from her final thesis. For a while she tried out painting and puppet crafting but couldn't keep it up. Then she reminded herself of her father who used to photograph, too, and gave his old cameras to his two daughters.
Theater festival in Berlin, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
Two years ago Laura Su traveled to the United Nations of America to work on a theater project in Vermont. When she came back she brought loads of pictures with her and realized how much she enjoyed this way of documenting the project. Shortly afterwards she took a photography class to learn more about the technical background of cameras.
Laura Su continued to shoot with the antic plastic Holga and developed the ambition to learn all about the fine art photography. She points at the old man picture she has made with the help of the Holga and comments: „I think the optic is very nice. The pictures have something imperfect in them.“ She used a toner on that image what makes it look slighly warmer. Her favorite pictures are put up in frames in her apartment in Berlin Neukölln. All of them enlarged in black and white. „I like the vintage look they create,“ says Laura Su. One of the pictures is a portrait of her mother. Others reflect of the theater project in the United States and right next to them are pictures of the first slutwalk in Berlin.
Berlin Slutwalk, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
Beach in New York, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
Through photography Laura Su Bischoff found a way to combine all of her interests: theater and politics. Over one year she used to be part of the organization Corasol what stands for "Contre le Racisme" and " Show Solidarity". Once a month the group organizes a grocery shopping for refugees and fights against their deportation.
Laura Su loves to travel and to take pictures of the countries she visits. The photos don't show touristic highlights but intimate moments of those places. Her mother, South Korean and her father, German, moved to a small village in the west of Germany when Laura Su was born. Even though her appearance doesn't necessarily uncover her origin Laura's second forename Su is Korean. She plans to go back to South Korea this year and visit the family of her mother.
Mother, Photo: Laura Su Bischoff
„There is always something I can take a picture of,” says the dainty woman. It's was a hobby found out of boredom that turned into a lasting passion. „ If I don't photograph for a long time I get sad and I miss it very much,“ she adds. For a long time Laura Su used to shoot images every single day and never stopped enjoying it. Now she still photographs two or three times a week. Nonetheless, Laura Su wants to keep it as her hobby instead of turning it into her profession. “There is no pressure on your hobby. If it’s you profession you have to photograph things you are not interested in and I wouldn’t like that.”
Clientelism invaded every part of Irish politics and is therefore a real danger for the democracy on the island.
Money Tree, cartoon: politics.ie
Clientelism means that politicians build up a sizable and stable body of people they have some obligations to. These people are the so called clientele. The politicians would contact their clientele during the election time and remind them of the work they have done. In that way, politicians try to build up a reputation in the constituency and create a stable set of people who are going to vote for them.
To understand how clientelism can occur in Ireland you need to have a look at the role the representatives. The Teachta Dálas, TDs, are the elected representatives to the Dáil Éireann what is the lower house of the Irish parliament named Oireachtas. The responsibilities of TDs can be split into their primary role, to work on legislation, and their secondary role, to keep in touch with their local constituency. The secondary role can also be divided into three main functions. First, the role of the local representer includes the attendance of local events. Second, the local promoter advances the interests of the area, e.g. attracting new industries. Third, to advice people, to sort out individual problems or to contact civil service institutions for constituents is called the role of the welfare-officer.
On the one hand, the workload of the welfare-officer is criticised for being very time consuming. On the other hand, politicians believe it is very important for politicians to build up a good reputation to get re-elected. There are two different views on the outcome of the secondary role of the deputies. One side argues for a little outcome because it’s more like an “imaginary patronage” that is supposed to make people believe the TD achieved something for them even though he or she hasn’t. The other side is in favour of a great outcome that contains considerable power, undermines institutions and can be seen as corruption.
Though, it could be argued that it doesn’t matter what actual outcome the work has. The important fact is that people rather contact their elected TDs than civil servants to sort out private matters. In that way the administrative system is undermined and at least the perception of inequality is created.
The most obvious impact of the clientelism is that the casework reduces the time TDs can spend on their parliamentary duties like legislation and discussing policy. This weakens the Dáils ability to provide scrutiny of the government. Nevertheless, deputies should be able to cover both functions. In 2003 there have been about 12 civil servants per minister to take care of the constituency work.
Even though, TDs might be able to help people getting what they are entitled to the effect on the civil service is a waste of time and money. Therefore, the perception of the political system can be positive in terms of the citizens having the impression there is someone who takes care of their problems. Still, it can have a corrosive effect because the confidence in the administration is injured. The political landscape tends to be centralised with two main parties because many politicians are adopting popular views to win the next elections. This leads to more inner party competition than party unity.
A very important effect is the individualisation of social conflicts. Michael D. Higgins, currently president of Ireland, argues that clientelism “disorganises the poor” and encourages links to TDs instead to people in the same position. Finally, that reinforces social individualism and perpetuates the uneven distribution of resources like wealth and knowledge.
Important politicians like Charles Haughey, Bertie Ahern, Ray Burke and Michael Lowry have all been involved in some controversy about political corruption. Most of the time, the politicians received high payments from individuals what made their political decisions on certain matters questionable. It is very likely that every one of the named above had a well established clientele to back up their actions.
A different term that can be used to describe the relationship between local politicians and the constituency is brokerage. There the TD is used as a broker to access certain services. In contrast to the clientelism no long lasting relationships or obligations come out of that connection. Some scientists argue that Ireland should try to turn away from clientelism and to more brokerage.
Clientelism can be called corruption and is therefore a real danger for every democracy or the people’s confidence in it. If the social services would improve their efficiency and TDs would start to refer every request to the responsible institution clientelism would be unnecessary. People would be encouraged to become more active and organise themselves. Clientelism fails democracy completely. The expectation someone else is going to fix your problems is undemocratic because it stops people from participating and critical thinking within the system.
