I was delighted to be invited to speak at the MacGill Summer School this July. The theme was whether we can meet the challenges ahead without fundamental reform of our politics and institutions. My theory was that all reform of institutions (educations, HSE, the Dail, etc.) are hamstrung by the lack of reform we’ve seen from political parties.

Ireland won’t get the legislation and institutions it needs to become a modern society and economy until the Oireachtas is modernised. And that’s not going to happen until we have parties which become less centrally controlled and more modern themselves.

• Slide 1: Intro
• Slides 2 & 3: The Irish Political system has operated as a duopoly from day one, though unlike similar countries like the US and the UK, Irish voters don’t see much difference between the choices.
• Slides 4 & 5: The failure of the Establishment parties is so deep that for the first time in the history of the State, the Cartel is under threat. But for it to matter who is in power, the political system must modernise how it works.
• Slide 6: How it works served Ireland well for many years, with great gains in equality, health, education and prosperity seen in the latter half of the 20th Century
• Slide 7: But while the rest of the developed world evolved its working practices, Ireland’s political system and institutions did not.
  These two worlds collided in the 21st Century with drastic consequences for Ireland, including a collapsed economic and lagging education and healthcare systems.
  But even with everything that’s happened, with all the promises, and with all the public demand, the political system in Ireland has failed yet again to modernise, leaving us vulnerable once more.
• Slide 8: This is because the political parties themselves have failed to modernise, and so we see their working practices reflected in those of the wider political system, which reflect those of wider institutional Ireland.
  There are four recent examples of how the parties are stuck in the past; Eoghan Murphy getting in hot water with Fine Gael for discussing policy with other backbenchers; not one Government TD turning up for a recent meeting of the Finance committee to hear pre-budget submissions; the promotion of Ministers of State with no experience in those fields; and the expulsion of reform Alliance TDs from Fine Gael for doing what they believed was right.
• Slide 9: A political party that is designed to work in a more modern way is not only possible, it would be a catalyst for much-needed change, and should be well rewarded by the electorate.