by Ken Smollen
Since the onset of the recession in Ireland, many people have questioned how and why a small group of people, banks, and organizations could have brought our country and its people to our knees. Many people who ordinarily would not have had a huge interest in politics began to wonder if there was anything that could be done to alleviate the misery being imposed on our people by the present and last Governments. The severity and harshness of the austerity being imposed on people who were in no way responsible for the very questionable activities of banks, bondholders, large businesses, and even our own Government led to many groups of people holding protests in many locations throughout the country.
However, it quickly became clear that protests alone would achieve very little as they were being totally ignored by the Government and they went largely unreported in the national media. This then led to a number of meetings between people who were convinced that another way must be found to have the voices of ordinary people heard. In mid-October 2013, having studied different forms of Government throughout the world, a group of people emerged who were convinced that one particular system of governance definitely seemed to provide the fairness that has actually never before existed in Ireland. This system is called Participatory Democracy. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the outdated and very corruptible Representative Democracy system that we have used since the foundation of the state.
Representative Democracy has existed for over 200 years. Its principles were deemed necessary at a time when the general population of the western world was largely uneducated, with most people not being capable of making appropriate decisions that would best benefit the people in any of the countries in which it was practised! The answer to that was to allow the ordinary citizens to elect people of 'higher standing’ who were deemed capable of making decisions on their behalf!
Over the last number of decades, it has become evident that Representative Democracy is very susceptible to corruption with the interests of banks, large businesses, multinational corporations, and very many lobby groups being placed before the interests of the very people it was originally designed to protect!
Despite the promises of many politicians past and present, what we experience at every election can be described as something similar to the children’s game of musical chairs. Each Government consisting of elite representatives is replaced by another group of equally elite and privileged people who are cocooned and protected from the harshness of the life they impose on ordinary people!
Unbelievably this completely outdated system of democracy is still in use today. It is now so unfit for purpose that when the electorate vote at election time they are basically giving away their right to being involved in decisions that affect them. This realization alone led to the birth of the Irish Democratic Party in late October 2013 in which we advocate a complete change in our system of governance to Participatory Democracy. The principle of this system of democracy is that it is the electorate who have the final say in decisions being made that affect them. With the advancement of modern technology and with the use of social media and locally organized meetings, proposed decisions can now be discussed by the general population with the elected official’s role being to vote in accordance with the majority of his/her electorate’s decision. It also provides the safeguard that if any elected official fails to adhere to their electorates' wishes they will be recalled and dismissed from their position. It also banishes the dreaded 'Whip’ system where at present elected representatives must vote in accordance with party leadership’s wishes no matter what the consequences of such a decision for the people who elected them to their positions. Participatory Democracy will allow elected officials of the same party to vote in opposing ways in different constituencies, depending on how their own electorate want them to vote!
A very similar system of governance has existed in different parts of the world with great success.
In the city of Puerto Alegre in Brazil, the local population is allowed to participate in making decisions on how the local budget is spent. This has led to a far more equal and fair system and is called Participatory Budgeting. Following hurricane Katrina, the people of New Orleans were also allowed to use this system where the local population could decide how best to spend the budget in order that they could repair their own city as they themselves saw fit. The famous author George Orwell spent some time in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and in his book 'Homage to Catalonia’ he describes the use of Participatory Democracy which was used in parts of Spain during that time as the fairest form of democracy he had ever experienced!
The same system of governance which ensures fairness, equality, accountability, and transparency can be tailor-made to suit Ireland and our people and it’s for that reason that our party was founded. The founding members of the Irish Democratic Party were Ken Smollen, William Bryan, and Edward Lennon. We were quickly joined by Laura Smollen and Angela Briggs. These five people are deemed to be the original founding/executive committee of the IDP whose role it is to steer the party in the direction for which it was founded. Ken Smollen is a former Garda having been stationed in Tallaght, Edenderry, and Portlaoise before retiring after 30 years of service. William Bryan is a Disability Transport Provider and is based in Geashill, Co. Offaly. Edward Lennon is a taxi driver from Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Laura Smollen is a Registered General Nurse in Tullamore General Hospital. Angela Briggs is a housewife and carer for her youngest daughter.
The commitment required in founding and running a new political party is immense and is aided by the fact that all of the present Executive Committee live close to Tullamore where we meet twice every week in the run-up to the official launch of the Irish Democratic Party which takes place in the Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore, Co. Offaly on Saturday 25th October.
This event will create political history for three reasons:
1. It is the first time that a political party has been launched in Tullamore since the foundation of the state.
2. The IDP is the first party in Ireland to advocate a complete change in the political system that’s used in Ireland, namely the change to 'Participatory Democracy.’
Every member of the IDP is an ordinary person with experience of the hardship that elite groups of elected representatives have imposed on our people.
3. We don’t have any former or ex-politicians on board, and neither will we allow our party to be used by former politicians to revive their careers!
One of the first objectives that we now have is to gain the attention of the media both locally, nationally, and even internationally. The first article that was written about the IDP appeared in the Offaly Independent about two months ago. The second article appeared in the Tullamore Tribune on 4th September with the headline, 'Political History To Be Made In Tullamore’.
The Irish Democratic Party can rightly claim to be totally unique in Ireland in that we are the only political party in the country that offers our people the only real and genuine alternative to what they have experienced since our state was founded. Every other party and all Independents are content to use the Representative Democracy system of governance which has served our people so badly for decades, whereas the IDP advocates a complete change from this clearly outdated and very corruptible system to the much fairer system of Participatory Democracy!
To date, we have members in twenty-two counties in the country. We also have members in N. Ireland, England, France, Bulgaria, the USA, Canada, and as far away as Cambodia. All of this has been achieved via social media and without any funding or the use of any printed material whatsoever. We now have our website up and running. This can be seen at www.IrishDemocraticParty.ie. Very shortly we will have our very first leaflets printed which will explain exactly who we are and what the IDP is all about.
As previously stated, the official launch of Ireland’s newest political party will take place, on Saturday 25th October, in The Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore from 2 - 4 pm, and everyone is more than welcome to attend what will surely be the opening of a completely new chapter in the history of Ireland and our people.
Autumn 2014