On the occasion of the state visit paid by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, in October 2006, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi stated, “There is no better model to emulate than that demonstrated by Ireland, which has become famed as the “Celtic Tiger” (The Times, 7 October 2006).

He had good cause to do so. By virtue of Green Party participation in coalition government, Ireland’s powerhouse economy has proved to be as resilient as it is robust, a reality entirely consonant with Dr Gonzi’s affirmation, “I also agree with AD wholeheartedly on the issue of sustainability”, when he was presented with the Green Party budget proposals last year (TMID, 21 June 2007).

In the same accordant vein, Dr Gonzi had urged “the people to put partisan politics aside and focus on moving ahead as a nation”, just 10 days before (The Times, 11 June 2007).Given that successive coalition governments have achieved such spectacularly fruitful results in Ireland, envisage then, what this nation, no less blessed with talented human resources, could similarly accomplish by discarding delusive false dawn “new beginnings”, and embracing instead, an authentically alternative, “new way of doing politics”: that of enlightened common sense consensus governance, and a real reforming change for the better.

“Yes, together everything is possible.”

Indeed, QED.

Oisin Jones-Dillon

Xemxija