Best of the bunch from 2021 across the political landscape

I happened to be doing the annual trawl through the national archives in the run-up to Christmas. And one of the things I came across was a discussion between Albert Reynolds and John Major in the mid-1990’s. The discussion was about Scottish devolution with the British Prime Minister saying he was not a fan of the electoral system they were plumping for in Edinburgh. Which was of course, proportional representation.

His objection? It did not give a clear outcome – or to be more brutal about it, a clear winner.

And that’s one thing that the first-past-the-post Westminster model does.

Proportional representation here produced clear winners for most of the past century. But that was because two parties dominated. Now, with a fragmented political landscape the norm of Irish politics, it’s never going to be like that again.

From time to time, we will have clear winners. But mostly we will have a fudge. Having lots of parties is not necessarily a bad thing. It will mean a lot of consensus and gradualism. And it will certainly make government-formation a complicated chess game in the future.

So, what was the best of politics in 2021 and who were the best politicians, and what were the worse political moments?

Biggest issue

Coronavirus in all its guises. Again. Will it be the biggest issue of 2022 as well? Certainly the second half.

Second biggest issue

Brexit…again. It’s never-ending. It’s worse than the Leaving Cert. And infinitely more boring.

Best Minister

There was no standout like Simon Harris during the early months of Covid-19 last year. That said, a good few Ministers got over their early nerves and had a good 2021.

Roderic O’Gorman made inroads in direct provision, came up with a redress scheme for mother and baby homes (imperfect but still an achievement). Helen McEntee, another new senior minister, came up with a lot of progressive legislation despite between taking six months out for maternity leave. Lately, she has come up with an amnesty for undocumented people in Ireland, long overdue.

Michael McGrath and Paschal Donohoe are solid operators, but neither is spectacular in terms of initiatives. Still, they have thrown Biblical amounts of money at Covid-19.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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