That RTÉ documentary on the Minister for Education September 7, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Economy, Irish Politics.trackback
That Ruiri Quinn Ministerial documentary is highly, if probably unintentionally, entertaining. I’ve seen a similar dynamic at work before in relation to government and Ministerial advisers who have had to defend the often indefensible – and the same minimisation of policy implementation such as cuts and so on. The line ‘It’s not like Cromwell…’ had a particular resonance there.
Well no, but ask a parent of a child in a small rural school, or facing cuts in SNAs (as indeed is true of the N.S. my daughter has moved into) what it’s like and it’s no picnic.
Instructive too to hear the same old same old in terms of the perception of – and I paraphrase – ‘no one understands us…’.
Not sure whether it was a triumph of optimism over experience to hear an adviser suggest:
‘Get the first budget right every things easy after that… get the first budget wrong every things difficult after that’.
Only to later hear another say that non-pay items had been cut to the bone in that first budget and it would be a ‘two-pager’ for the next education budget… i.e. nothing was left to cut short of pay. The softening up process continues apace.
Funny moments too, Ciaran Cannon raising the issue of fee-paying schools (natch!). And Quinn’s line, now a little tired at this stage, that:
We’re not in control because of the way Fianna Fáil destroyed the economy.
Erm… remind me again about the 2007 Labour Party Manifesto and those tax proposals.
[...] “That Ruairi Quinn Ministerial documentary is highly, if probably unintentionally, entertaining. I’ve seen a similar dynamic at work before in relation to government and Ministerial advisers who have had to defend the often indefensible …” (more) [...]
The senior civil servant’s post-dated revenge on Quinn was fun to watch, as well. From denunciations in the Dáil to… well, mild-mannered little speeches on how much he enjoyed working with them (it’s a failing of WordPress that there’s no easy way to include an eyeroll emoticon!)
Great point re the post-dated revenge. Heh heh.
A couple of striking aspects: the power now wielded as a policy advisor by former Independent education correspondent John Walshe ( teachers had better hope he’s not followed into Marlborough St by Sean Flynn) and the sight of ASTI President Pat King shielding Quinn from his (King’s) own members.
Something I’ve been thinking more and more about lately, having been on too many to count: the futility of protest marches. They’re fully discounted by those on whom they’re intended to put pressure, like the markets discount ECB rate cuts in advance.
That’s quite a worrying point you make re Walshe. I felt he was far too dismissive of the impact of the measures taken. Again I saw precisely that not so long ago where every cut was minimised.
Re marches, I’ve long thought that their main, indeed often only, function is to rally the troops. Not all marches, there have been those with an impact, but tbh there’s too many, they’re often too small and so on.
On the other hand if they didn’t take place…
The troops are rallied all right but – as the marches viewed through the windows of a government office (a novel angle, at least) showed, the powerful find them almost comforting. The media can be relied on to portray them in a certain way; the rank and file go home having let off a bit of steam and union leaders can claim to have done something. As the Quinn programme showed, there’s a choreography involved that leaves a lingering sense of futility and a suspicion that I’d be better off down at a TD’s clinic causing him a bit of personal discomfort.