The outlook could not have been more different last week, as Ireland basked in what Met Éireann described as “extra tropical” weather. Summer is in the air.
Ministers should think of it as a warning of how quickly time passes. This weekend marks the 100th day since the 35th government of Ireland was formed — and cynics might be tempted to wonder what happened to the pledge to match its ambitious targets with a “tireless focus on delivery”?
Of course, it’s still early days. A hundred days is an artificial anniversary, and one imported largely from the US where presidents are judged on how fast they hit the ground running.
President Trump reached that milestone last week with a mixed scorecard. He certainly gets things done. Alas, they’re often the wrong things.
The Government here has less to show for the past few months, despite it being in power for much longer than that in real terms. The two main parties have been shacking up together since 2020, albeit with different housemates.
And if one does think of the country as a house — with solid foundations, but which needs doing up — then they ought to know by now what parts of the property are crying out to be fixed.
What stands out in the Sunday Independent/ Ireland Thinks poll today is how little trust we have in them to do it properly. More than half of us disapprove of how the Government is doing its job — a figure up since the last poll.
These days there is no honeymoon period for new administrations and the poll finds that fewer people now approve of the Government than voted for it in November.
The most conspicuous evidence of discontent is found in the answers to questions about the Farrelly Commission report into the disturbing allegations of physical and sexual abuse of a young woman with severe intellectual and physical disabilities, known only as Grace.
Asked if they have confidence in the State’s provision of care for vulnerable people, a staggering 77pc of respondents said no.
When it comes to whether anyone will be held accountable for the failings identified by the Farrelly report, the answers were starker still, with 84pc of people answering no.
When he sat down on Friday’s Late Late Show, the Tánaiste recalled how it was the desire to look after the interests of disabled and at-risk individuals that first took him into politics.
Simon Harris is palpably sincere about this issue, but our poll suggests the public regards the fine words with a huge dollop of scepticism.
“Between the idea and the reality,” as poet TS Eliot once wrote, “falls the shadow.”
It seems that, regardless of party affiliation, voters — to the left, right and centre alike — have dwindling faith in the State’s ability to provide basic services. Given the robust health of the public finances, that is profoundly shocking.
Ireland has not seen the disillusionment with a creaking system which has twice propelled Trump to power in the US and which last week saw Nigel Farage’s party make gains in the UK — but it is clearly bubbling under the surface.
The danger can still be averted, but wise ministers should not let another 100 days go by with little to show for them. Voters do not expect instant results, but they want to see action today.
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