A new year toast to "the union dividend"

From a wind and rain battered Atlantic coast, "happy new year!" Not that out local celebrations were cancelled, there never were any in the first place. It is one of the strangest aspects of living here after so long in Scotland, that the whole New Year thing is very underplayed. No concept of folk visiting each other or staying up for the bells. Still we did our ex-pat (strange phrase that for Ireland) best by tuning into BBC Scotland around midnight and cracked open the chilled Irn Bru.

Nevertheless, it looks like an interesting year ahead for Ireland, with an election coming up in May, although as I mentioned in an earlier post, the polls seem to show the likelihood of Fianna Fail continuing in government, but Garret Fitzgerald countered that in his recent, regular, column in the Irish Times (can't link to it online since they charge membership/access fees). The Green Party is celebrating its 25th anniversary and interestingly will be holding its forthcoming national conference here in Galway. Fine Gael and Labour are trying to present a united front as part of a pre-election coalition deal, gradually releasing joint policy documents. The Progressive Democrats, the "junior" coalition partner, has a new leader in the shape of the justice minister, Micheal McDowell, and of course, Sinn Fein are focusing for the present on the issue of recognising the police force in Northern Ireland.

Still haven't heard of anyone here catching on to Jack McConnell's "union dividend." It's frustrating how an external perspective can shed so much light on the situation. I guess that's the old Burns adage of seeing ourselves as others see us, and in the case of citizens of other small nations looking at Scotland it probably can be summed up in "bemusement" at the bizarre arguments against independence that seem to hold sway. If any of them were true, none of these little countries would exist, never mind be doing successfully on many measures.

Don't get me wrong, living here, I am well aware of the drawbacks of Irish society and government. The lack of a decent public healthcare system, a legacy of underinvestment in education, public transport and other social provision (although much is being addressed with recent monies from the booming economy), but that is the fault of the political parties (and the electorate) and their priority setting, rather than a consequence of the constitutional settlement.

Wouldn't it be great if Scotland had noone to blame for its problems other than itself? Isn't it about time we took on the responsibility, rolled up our sleeves and got down to work?