John Arnold: I coulda been a contender, so I salute all election candidates

‘ARNOLD, John - Vote No.1’.

Well, that has a nice ring to it alright, and with a name beginning with A, I’d be guaranteed to appear ‘early’ on the ballot paper!

I love all aspects of politics and political life and have a fascination for elections of all sorts.

Since April 13, the 969 million people in India eligible to vote were making their choice, right up until last Saturday.

American Independence Day on July 4 was the date chosen by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as the day the UK can choose their next Government.

Here at home, Friday, June 7 is D-Day, or more properly, E-Day, when we have local elections, European elections, and a mayoral vote in Limerick.

I wont deny that on days like these I do often ponder what might have been if I had chosen a different path in life and immersed myself in electoral politics.

Yes, I ponder and wonder ‘and still I gaze and still the wonder grows’, but in fairness I don’t lose any sleep over the matter. The American poet Robert Frost wrote The Road Not Taken, the last verse is;

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the difference.

I suppose the life of a farmer could hardly be described as ‘the road less travelled by’, but for me it was - truly, I have no regrets.

Politics is a tough vocation in life and I really think it can be described as such - why else would a person go before the public, warts and all, and seek election?

Politics has changed so much over time and the way ‘unsocial’ media has spread like a cancer is truly awful.

There’s a story told about a small boy who asked his mother: “Mammy, do all fairy stories start with ‘Once Upon A Time...”

“No,” said the mother: ‘Many of them start with, ‘If I’m elected I promise...’”

Now, I’m not being critical, because someone has to do it - or do they?

We take pride in our democracy and put a high value on it, but of course the democratic system is just one of many ways of governing and being governed.

Then, within the democratic ‘family’, there are many variations -single seat constituencies, ‘first past the post’, and the version we have embraced here in Ireland, Proportional Representation.

Look, there’s probably no Utopian system that can be held up as ‘the best’. In fairness, our PR does give a fair chance to everyone, and that’s been well shown in modern times with the growth of smaller parties and a huge increase in the number of Independents getting elected at both local and national level.

One result of this change is that the old, what was called ‘the two-and- a-half-party system’ we had for so long, is probably a thing of the past.

I cannot envisage a single party Government being elected in this country again - well, not in the foreseeable future anyway. 

We have rapidly caught up with much of Europe, where inter-party and coalition governments have been the norm for decades.

Two very broad accusations are oft hurled against our Irish politicians: ‘Yerra, they’re only in it for what they can get out of it,’ and ‘Sure, they’re all the same’.

Such catch-cries are just that. Of course we’ve had corrupt politicians in Ireland who’ve ‘been on the make’ for their own benefit, but the vast majority of those we elect are decent and hard-working. If they were all such hideous scoundrels, why did the Irish people vote for them? Do we not get the Government we deserve?

Since we achieved independence over a century ago, we have had a stable democracy - not all countries could say the same. Look at Italy, for example - since 1945 they have had 66 different governments! By that yardstick, we’re not doing badly at all.

I suppose the Irish have a real love/hate relationship with those elected to public office, “like a kind of necessary evil” was how one eminent moral theologian described this connection between voters and those ‘voted in’.

They say all politics is local and that’s a truism, and as sure as night follows day there will be some young twenty-something elected to some County Council or other tomorrow and in a decade or less that councillor will end up as an MEP. That’s the well-trodden path for so many.

Why would you bother? Why would you take all that flak, opprobrium and vilification? Is it for power, wealth, status or garnering influence?

Undoubtedly, some candidates are involved for some or all of those reasons, but I firmly believe that a huge proportion of those who put their name on a ballot paper do so for no other reason than that yearning to serve their parish, county, province or country.

Yes, we still have idealists who have a sense of wanting to make our communities better places to live in - surely that’s a lofty and a laudable ambition?

I know critics will claim that county councillors are no more than messenger boys and girls - then again, the messages concerning local problems and issues have to be articulated by someone in a public forum - surely that’s the essence and heart of what democracy is all about?

I know that a John Arnold was the youngest ever billionaire in America -in 2007, that another is Bishop John Arnold of Salford, and who was the main engineer of Jurassic Park ? Yes, you’ve got it - John Arnold!

There’s a nice ring to all of those, so Cllr John Arnold, John Arnold TD or John Arnold MEP would sound actually quite plausible and believable, wouldn’t it?

On the other hand, John Arnold, farmer, and John Arnold, storyteller, is fine too!

So, tomorrow I salute each and every candidate in each election - I wouldn’t vote for some of ye in a million years! But fair play to anyone who goes before a critical public seeking endorsement.

We are so lucky to live in a working democracy. We fought hard enough and for long enough to get the vote so make sure you use it.

Am I sorry I didn’t ever ‘throw my hat in the ring’? Yerra, no, I’m happy with what I’ve got an,d as the great Edith Piaf sang. Jje ne regrette rien’ truly, I have no regrets.