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SOAPBOX: We Haven’t Stomach For A Heave Ho

by Jimmy Rhatigan

Our Government doesn’t give tuppence about the people of Ireland.
That has to be the conclusion as we continue to watch in dismay as the inept trinity of FF, FG and Greens struggle from one bungle to another.
Whether its housing, homelessness, horrible attempts to build a new children’s hospital or puerile efforts to show respect and pay young nurses properly, the story continues to be one long series of blunders and some awful ducking and diving.
Disingenuous and cynical would aptly sum up our so-called power brokers, those who are handsomely paid by our taxpayers yet appear to do their damndest to scupper any ambitions of those who elected them.
Bluntly, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, aided and abetted by the lettuce Greens care not a hoot about the wants and needs of those we respectfully call the ordinary people of Ireland.
The trio of shame continues to cosy up to the real rulers of the world.
These include those in the ruthless killing fields of big business and finance, buddies in banking, developers, the monster that is big pharma, the Apples, Onions, Rotten Tomatoes and whatever.

THE SHEER CRUELTY OF HOMELESSNESS
Some of the latter probably pay less tax in a financial year than waiters, waitresses, cleaners, garbage collectors and other hard working family providers.
The laissez-faire attitude of Government members from A to Z to the sheer cruelty of homelessness and inevitable deaths of good people on our streets is dastardly and unforgivable.
The disgraceful treatment of families who, through no fault of their own fall into mortgage arrears and are cruelly evicted from their homes has to be the modern day crucifixion of the new poor by the filthy rich.
At another time it was the British who rode roughshod over our people, burned their homes and left parents and offspring to die homeless and helpless.
Today that dirty deed is brutally carried out at the behest of ruthless bankers and vultures, the latter being invited here by Fine Gael to clean up the corpses of loving mothers, fathers and children whose only ‘crime’ was that mam or dad or both had lost their jobs.
To add insult to injury, the savage acts of throwing families out on the street are often carried out by thugs in balaclavas, with the protection of our Garda Siochána.

CHERISHED IN THE ANNALS OF IRISH HISTORY
That the Gardai are detailed to preside over wicked occasions is at the least unfitting.
Should a Garda stand up and say ‘I can’t be part of this’, he or she may forever and a day be cherished in the annals of Irish history.
A fair question: Has a Garda or Gardai ever objected to carrying out senior Garda instructions at evictions?
For generations, Fianna Fáil has dithered and dawdled, failed to protect the most vulnerable among us, given the two fingers to honourable men and women and feathered their own nests at venues like the now infamous Galway Tent.
Fine Gael, or The Blueshirts as it will always be to its foes in particular, has always been a party of the rich, by the wealthy for the wealthy.

CHILDREN OF AFFLUENT PARENTS REPRESENT FINE GAEL
To prove our point, we ask a simple question: When can anyone remember the son or daughter of a poor man, clad in a blue shirt, calling to a door begging for a vote at General Election time?
Seldom if ever, we would suggest.
Yes, the party has had some good people, particularly at local level, but for the most part it is the children of affluent parents who tend to represent FG.
Today that party still lives up to its name as it protects the well-heeled and punches the heads off struggling families with an arrogance that is rivalled only by miserable Taoiseach Martin’s FF that is now officially an FG ally.
Another simple question: How can FG TDs and Ministers, most educated in private schools, have any idea, or indeed care, how the other half lives?
As for the Greens, there is always the probability that their blunderbuss will crash for no other reason but that it has an inept and gobbledygook-speaking team of woeful drivers.
All this is to now without even a reference to the at times desperately irresponsible handling of the Covid pandemic.

FEEDING US LIES AND MAKING FALSE PROMISES
Despite a series of crazy decisions, allowing people to travel to Cheltenham for a racing festival and the opening up of our country for a Christmas knees-up, the great hope is that Covid will be conquered.
However, come the next General Election, should we re-elect a majority of the morons at present in power then we will experience another familiar pandemic, more crumbs at the table for the decent people of our nation and further feasting for the so-called privileged class.
We cannot blame our politicians for the latter.
They will continue to feed us the lies and make false promises at election time, knowing full well that our innocents, party lackeys if you will, may once more don their sheep’s clothing and sign their own death warrants in the ballot box.
The great hope is that politicians of courage or indeed one brave public representative may stand up in the Dáil, refuse to dance to the tune of the Party Whip and utter the magic words:
‘For f… sake the time has come for us to respect our people. Please join me in revolt in support of our people’.
Would there be a loud cheer for the brave man or woman?
There would be a deafening silence and a motion to grant politicians another massive wage hike would be passed with mutterings from Opposition Benches.
Again we remind, we can blame only ourselves.
We simply don’t have the stomach for a heave ho that is long overdue.

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