THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST SEPTEMBER 22 2013 News Focus n13 1

I ask him if he can think of any politi- Apathy, contrariness cian he admires. ‘‘I liked what’s-his-name.’’ He pauses, and an Elvis Presley grinding a cigarette butt into the pave- ment. ‘‘.’’ impersonator greeted ‘‘It’s one of those campaigns where most of the work will be done in the last politicians canvassing two weeks,’’ Labour’s ex- plains later. ‘‘To have and Sinn ahead of the upcoming Fe¤ in on the same side is throwing a lot of people,’’ she says, arguably overestimating referendum to abolish the public’s engagement with the cam- paign. the Seanad Certainly, on Henry Street, confusion reigns. ‘‘Oh, I’m definitely voting No,’’ a passer-by barks, in what he thinks is defi- ance. ‘‘It’s costing us e20 million!’’ The Democracy Matters canvassers retreat without correcting him. Scene 3: Ranelagh

Siobha´n Brett n the more salubrious setting of the hall of Sandford Park School in Ra- nelagh the following evening, Fear- I gal Quinn’s cousin Ruairi is leafing through notes on stage. He’s about to take part in a referendum Scene 1: Carlow debate organised as part of Ranelagh Arts Week, an annual event supported by the here’s a small group of people small ^ but formidable! ^ 6 suburb. gathered in the middle of the Tweed,corduroyand pearls feature heavily Fairgreen Shopping Centre in in the overwhelmingly bespectacled audi- Carlow, almost in a huddle. It’s ence,the average age of which is at least 55. aweekdayafternooninthe I overhear a number of people complain- centre, and the group ^ ing that there’s no wine. Tdressed variously in suits and GAAwind- The Minister for Education and the cheaters ^ is conspicuous among grocery Fine Gael TD are taking shoppers and loitering teenagers. on former Ta¤ naiste Michael McDowell They’re clutching bright blue leaflets. and Irish Times columnist Noel Whelan: ‘VOTE YES’ these urge, with numerous at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow with Elvis Presley fan Myles Kavanagh from Kilkenny DYLAN VAUGHAN Quinn and Murphy on the Yes side, Whe- promises.The leaflets alone are doing the lan and McDowell in opposition. urging. The group is waiting for Minister ‘‘The ‘power grab’ argument is rubbish, for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Ri- because the Seanad doesn’t have any chard Bruton, who’s due at the centre powers,’’ Murphy says coldly, first up. shortly to help them advance (introduce?) ‘‘The days of poets and surgeons waxing their cause. lyrical on the taxpayer’s dime must come Bruton finally arrives, floating marion- to an end.’’ ette-like from his car.The group, more or Scenes from the I wonder how the surgeons and poets in less stationary for the previous 20 minutes, the audience are feeling.Whelan’s sermon converges on the front entrance. ‘‘We’ve follows. been watching your polls with interest,’’ ‘‘Why, five weeks before the budget, is Bruton tells me as we’re introduced, fan- this the issue the government wants to ning his own referendum fliers back and spend time on?’’ he asks, extolling the vir- forth in his hands like playing cards. tues of change by legislation,slamming the Just as he gets inside, he is set upon by ‘‘whipped vote’’ and repeating that, ‘‘even an Elvis Presley impersonator,whipping a Seanad crusade in its weakened state’’, the Seanad has pair of gold sunglasses from his pocket. teeth. ‘‘The county’s all shook up at the mo- Quinn takes to the podium after him, in ment,’’ he declares.The flanking hangers- a taupe suit and candy-stripe tie.The on guffaw nervously. Bruton pauses long others are in shirtsleeves. ‘‘I am the only enough for an absurd photo, promptly member of the panel to have been in the tweeted by one of his assistants. The Sea- Senate. I’ve been there twice,’’ he says nad goes unmentioned. authoritatively. ‘‘One time, I was put in Tesco runs the length of the shopping there on the condition that I was to work centre, some 20 bleeping checkouts. The my way out of it.’’ supermarket isthe main draw; other shops He’s speaking as though to pupils (‘‘Lis- are empty.Brutonwastes no time, stepping ten to the language,’’ he beseeches at a smartly inside and weaving in and out of juncture), namechecking Franco and aisles. Mussolini, the US Congress and listing People recognise the minister,or at least the five stages in bringing a bill into law. deduce his status from the gaggle of syco- McDowell, sitting behind a classroom phants in hot pursuit, and are disarmed by desk beside the lectern, flinches at some his simple queries. ‘‘Have you decided of his points. what way you’re going to vote?’’ is greeted ‘‘I heard on radio this morning that a with plenty of flustered gibberish. ‘‘We’re group of TDs were given speaking rights shellshocked now,so we are,’’ says one wo- in the Da¤ il,’’ McDowell says when he gets man. to the lectern, pausing to let the hall digest Bruton’s approach is scattergun, to say the point before proceeding, shrilly. ‘‘How the least. He stops a woman who is on the far have we come? That it is news that we phone. He stops another woman who ex- Senators and Ivana Bacik canvassing for a No vote in the Seanad referendum in O’Connell Street in Dublin BARRY CRONIN are giving TDs the right to speak? How plains in an eastern European accent that shameful is that!’’ she cannot vote. ‘‘That’s a shame,’’ he re- McDowell is angry, and his face red- plies awkwardly,and rounds the corner. dens with each point. Of course, there’s lots of benign to-ing ‘‘I’ve been in the Seanad, and intro- and fro-ing, lots of ‘‘welcome to Carlow’’ duced bills where they received a much and ‘‘take care now’’.There are other con- better treatment than in the bear pit of cerns. A bearded man approaches to com- Da¤ il E¤ ireann. I have been in the Seanad, plain that he has two viable business ideas Ruairi,’’ he growls. that he can’t afford to fund. Bruton re- ‘‘I find it abit richthat at this stage of his sponds in acronyms. ‘‘I haven’t got the fi- career Ruairi Quinn has suddenly discov- nancial backing for match-funding,’’ the ered this antipathy,’’ he says later. man persists. He doesn’t care about the The debate rattles on, hinging on guillo- Seanad. tine motions, the dissection of quotes by Further along, Bruton meets an older Richard Bruton with Aoibheann and John Senators Ivana Bacik and Feargal Quinn RichardBrutonwithMaryMcGrathfrom (not present) and allega- man in a cap. ‘‘I’m going to vote No, be- Cassin from Carlow DYLAN VAUGHAN canvassing on Henry Street BARRY CRONIN Springdale in Carlow DYLAN VAUGHAN tions ^ disputed ^ of ‘‘bullying’’ by the cause Idon’tbelieve control should be con- . centrated in one area,’’ he announces. ‘‘It It opens to the floor. A lady in a knitted should be kept.’’ A murmur of disagree- jumper and a neckscarf asks why it didn’t ment rises from the surrounding pack. ‘‘It Scene 2: O’Connell go to the Constitutional Convention for should be reformed.’’ The murmuring gets line. In many cases, however, they don’t They’re frustrated by what they see as ‘‘I’m withyou,’’ the woman says. ‘‘When discussion. louder. ‘‘It should be much smaller.’’ even get this far. Street, Dublin easy-sell populist arguments, particularly do I get my ballot card?’’ Nobody can answer her. ‘‘Excellent Unable to take it any more, Bruton in- ‘‘We no longer have our freedom, any- irate about the impugned figure of e20 Not everybody is as malleable. ‘‘We question,’’ a couple nearby whisper in terjects, citing the cost to the state and the way,’’ says a dejected man in the sauces t’s raining heavily on Dublin’s million in savings advanced by abolition- need it to protect democracy,’’ Quinn says agreement. experience of Nordic counterparts. aisle. ‘‘We’re going to have a hard budget O’Connell Street as a group of t- ists. But Quinn has a figure too: 529 to a man with shopping bags. A three-step contribution from a man ‘‘We should stick to what we had origin- again, aren’t we? How long are ye going to shirted volunteers campaigning for changes to legislation at Seanad level in ‘‘Democracy! That’s waffle.We’re bank- with earphones around his neck draws ally,’’ the gentleman says,unfazed. keep cutting, keep cutting?’’ I a Novote unfurl a bright green ‘‘De- two-and-a-half years. It isn’t quite as cat- rupt,’’ the man hisses. His wife sniggers. weak applause from the crowd. ‘‘Fix the ‘‘Originally? It originated with the Later, in a room above the shopping mocracy Matters’’ banner upright. chy. ‘‘That’s all there is to it.’’ Da¤ il, make the Seanad redundant, then House of Lords,’’ Bruton protests, voice centre, the Fine Gael team convene to de- Into this wet, weary picture arrives Se- For every person willing to take a flyer Ouside the GPO Arcade, a newspaper abolish it,’’ he advises. rising an octave. brief. Atable heaves with baked goods and nator Feargal Quinn, sporting a jaunty dealt from a damp wad,three or four walk vendor and his friend are in conversation. Encouraged by the endorsement, he One of the weirder arguments made by chocolate biscuits.There are fresh flowers floral tie and a wide-brimmed waterproof on, eyes firmly on the middle distance. ‘‘The whole lot of it’s a waste of space, if hastily tries to draw a parallel with the un- the Yes camp in Carlow is that, in the and the smell of fresh paint. hat with a Calvin Klein trim. He joins the Now and then, somebody stops with ques- you ask me,’’ the vendor says. fettered power of the Reichstag after the worst-case scenario, the Seanad can be ‘‘You probably couldn’t find one person volunteers, many who are remarkably tions. ‘‘Why is it needed?’’ an elderly wo- ‘I’ll vote to get rid of it.They’re all fuck- Enabling Act. brought back. down there today who could name ten se- young, some of them students or recent man demands. ing gangsters.’’ Dan O’Brien of , who is Those unconvinced are encouraged to nators,’’ says local TD Pat Deering, look- graduates,wearing rain jackets under their ‘‘We need a second opinion on every The friend agrees, following Quinn moderating, eyes him in complete disbe- believe that if it emerges that the political ing at Bruton ^ who is making light work t-shirts. piece of legislation,’’ Quinn says. across the street with his eyes. ‘‘Reform lief, making a kind of cutting motion with landscape is poorer without the second of a scone ^ for affirmation. They’re totally enamoured with the pro- ‘‘If ye’re gone, it’s only them,’’ she says the Senate? Reform the bleedin’ Da¤ il. his hand. house, it can be resurrected in some form. ‘‘You probably couldn’t get them to spect of Seanad reform, satisfied that if a slowly. Look at the money they’re on. Draggin’ ‘‘Ithink it’s a little unfair to throw Hitler It’s the kind of quixotic sweetener you pre- name ten TDs either, but that’s another No vote carries there will be unanswerable ‘‘Exactly,’’ Quinn says with a note of tri- bleedin’ women onto their laps, in and out in there,’’says O’Brien.Unfair to whom, he sent to a child to get something over the story,’’ he adds quickly.Everybody laughs. pressure on the government. umph. of the bar until three in the morning.’’ does not say.