A Mayo View: Why I worry for the future of our nation
by Dr. Richard Martin
I’m worried about the future of this country.
I was at the fuel protest last Sunday in Castlebar.
It started in the Market Square at 11 a.m. and then the protest marched in a circle around the town. Up Chapel Street. Down Linenhall Street.
Up Main Street. Down Castle Street, and then around the Mall and back to the Market Square. I’d say roughly between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
Some are friends of mine. One man – a close personal friend of mine – told me he spent €700 last week on fuel as part of his work as a contractor. Normally it’s €400.
He’s a hard-working, clean living man who ordinarily keeps his head down and provides for his family. He’s someone I respect and admire on every level. There were a lot of people there like him.
I’ve been at protests before but this was different, people are frothing at the mouth with anger.
The march stopped at Alan Dillon’s office for a few minutes. There were cries from a section of the crowd, as seen across social media, claiming he was 'a traitor'.
He isn’t. Far from it in fact. What was uttered was nothing more than a far-right dog whistle.
Alan Dillon has represented his club and county with distinction for the guts of 20 years, appeared over 100 times for his county and was awarded two GAA All-Stars over the course of his career.
He possesses post-graduate qualifications. He is now a Minister of State who has been elected twice over. He has an overwhelming electoral mandate. This is a married man with a family. If he’s not a role model who is?
Calling him a traitor is an insult to the silent majority of the county and his democratic mandate.
I feel the same way about Dara Calleary. He is our senior minister and the most prominent politician in the province. An outstanding man in every respect.
What way I vote is irrelevant. I respect their mandate.
If I saw that happening outside Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh’s office I would be equally enraged. She topped the poll in the last election. Her mandate must be respected.
Right or wrong, democracy must prevail.
While I appreciate that many who turned out to protest over the past week did so out of genuine concerns for their jobs, businesses and livelihoods, some of what happened at oil depots and other locations was nothing short of economic treason.
The blockade at Whitegate was disgraceful.
The entire country was held to ransom by an unelected minority.
Urgent legislation needs to be enacted to make it a criminal offence to blockade our fuel depots.
Anger has turned into anarchy. Our whole democratic framework is under threat. An angry unelected group cannot govern the country.
The schools resumed on Monday after the Easter break. It’s a huge week for the Leaving Cert across the country. They have deadlines with projects and some have practicals.
How many students across this county take the bus to school?
How many people across this county go to the hospitals in Galway for chemotherapy and radiation treatment? How many of our doctors, nurses and teachers drive to work?
Our whole society is on the verge of collapse, and I am convinced that the silent majority are totally enraged by the actions of a very small unelected grouping with no electoral mandate.
The actions of a few have caused untold reputational damage to this country over the past week.
How do we attract major international business if chaos reigns on the streets? Our whole economic model since Lemass is based on FDI.
Get back to work. Restore discipline. Then and only then, make your case.
The government have to listen to the people.
It’s OK to be angry, it’s OK to protest, but overstepping the mark has no place in our society.
Not now.
Not ever.
(Dr. Richard Martin is a regular columnist with The Connaught Telegraph).