1 4 Nov/Dec 2016
McKinseygalitarian
Optimistic, nuanced and honest,
Stephen Donnelly impresses Niall Crowley
more than he did the Social Democrats
Niall Crowley interviews Stephen Donnelly
S
TEPHEN DONNELLY is an accidental politician.
There he was sitting in front of his TV minding
his own business, watching the news pictures
of IMF officials striding the streets of Dublin.
He saw the threat. “I’m trained in this stuff –
what happens when the IMF arrives in your country, the
mistakes that get made, and how to protect people in a
context of painful economic correction”. He had a sense,
from watching the government make mistakes, “that our
political system was missing some key skills. I couldn’t
just sit by and watch it happen”. A whirlwind election
campaign saw the new deputy take his seat in the Dáil.
Endearingly, his first day he mistakenly went to the gate
of the next-door National Museum in search of his new
place of work.
The 2011 election “created a politburo”. A huge major-
ity in the Dáil was controlled by a cabinet that was ruled
by four people. This “consolidation of power” made for
a highly dysfunctional Dail with parliament effectively
“sidelined, left with the role of observer to critical deci-
sions affecting millions of people”. Donnelly was
unimpressed with his initiations in the Dáil. “I, and many
other TDs, invested a great deal of time and effort in
drafting amendments to proposed legislation and then
spent hours debating them, only to find that none of
them were ever, ever accepted”.
It is not easy to break into politics in Ireland. You need
to be family, you need to be part of the party machines
and you need resources. Irish politics has been unique,
with economic crisis and austerity merely nudging poli
-
tics to the left without any real change in personnel or
direction. New faces and new ideas are scarce. Donnelly
stands out in this regard. It’s not easy to start a new
political party in Ireland. Donnelly gave it a go, but came
a bit of a cropper. Ambition, however, will not hold him
back.
He is an enthusiast for the ‘new’ politics. He is unfor
-
giving of the “jaded commentary” that asserts “this Dáil
is a mess”. “Parliament is relevant for now. Parliament
has a role. It is working”. “I’m talking with TDs and Sena-
tors across the political spectrum who are flying. This
Dáil provides them with the opportunity to make pro-
gress on issues they care about and that matter for the
country. That is what good politics should be about”.
This could go in the future but “once you empower
people it is hard to revert back”. TDs who have never
been “remotely happy with their role on the sidelines”
are unlikely to allow a return to the dysfunctionality that
was a feature of previous majority governments.
Tax avoidance by vulture funds costs the State
between €10bn and €20bn, according to Donnelly. He
offers treatment of this issue as an example of the ‘new’
politics in action. He raised it at leader’s questions a few
months ago but the government had no position on it.
He then talked to politicians across Fianna Fáil, Labour
and even Fine Gael and prepared a policy paper on the
issue. Fianna Fáil then announced they would not vote
through any Finance Bill that did not address the issue.
Michael Noonan presented an amendment to address
the issue. Donnelly prepared a technical note on the
amendment, pursued the matter further through the new
Budget Oversight Committee, and met Michael Noonan
privately on the matter. A further amendment was put
forward by the Minister. Another detailed technical note
issued from Donnelly: further change was promised.
This new-found efficacy, he allows, may reflect the fact
he’s a more experienced legislator in his second man-
date. However, his case is that this is the ‘new’ politics
in action. This would not have happened in the last Dáil.
“TDs can now raise issues, co-operate across party
lines, and have some confidence that the executive will
respond. TDs have greater and more varied forms of lev
-
erage open to them. They have more possibilities for
engagement on issues. More responsibility leads to
better outcomes. My hope is that is what we are seeing
now through this ‘new’ politics”.
He comes across as somewhat unforgiving in his first
responses on issues. He is not patient with popular disaf
-
fection. If we are not happy with our political system, we
need to be aware that: “the political system is a manifes
-
tation of the country. If it has faults we need to remember
we get to choose those who run it”. If we are not happy
with our economic system, we need to keep in mind that:
“we live in one of the most prosperous countries in the
world. We have high quality public services compared to
most countries”. However, conviction gives way to further
reflection and nuance when he is pushed. This is what
makes him an interesting politician.
NEWS
Nov/Dec 2016 1 5
I’m talking with TDs and
Senators across the
political spectrum who are
flying. This Dáil provides
them with the opportunity
to make progress
“Are we short of political vision? Yes. Do we need
more political vision? Yes. Would the public respond
positively to this? Yes”. It gets more interesting
when he suggests politicians “need to get better at
laying it out”. We don’t do much political vision and
the bit we do, we don’t do very well. That last ele-
ment is missing from most commentaries, but it
could be the real stumbling block. Still he doesn’t
let go. “We have an awful habit here of blaming the
supposedly lazy or self-interested politicians for
everything. That’s a trap and it disempowers us. If
we want to see change, we have to stand up and
make it happen”.
Donnelly’s political vision is set out in neat
frames. We should be building “a country where
every child grows up with opportunities and every-
one can live with dignity. We have a fantastic
country but we’re still a long way from achieving
this”. If we are to pursue this goal, we need first to
secure “sustainable exchequer revenues”. That
means “backing SMEs and Foreign Direct Invest-
ment, stopping unwanted tax avoidance, and
responding well to Brexit”. Secondly, we need tar-
geted investment “looking at short-term and
long-term projects by both state and non-state
actors”.
Thirdly, we need to focus on quality of life. This
encompasses “great public services, reducing the
cost of living, ensuring decent wages and working
conditions, defusing the pensions time-bomb,
invigorating community based activity. Critically
we’ve got to get smart about sustainability, both
ecological and built environment”.
All very neat. But what happens when the
focus on sustainability under quality of life
suggests that the manner in which you are
generating exchequer revenues is from
unsustainable economic activity? I detect
the merest pause as he points to the “sus-
tainable” in his “sustainable exchequer
revenues”.
“You have got to square the circle for
sustainability. You have got to be
smarter”. He puts a lot of store on the
need to be “smarter”. This is his new
ideas territory and we certainly need
new ideas.
All very well. But not a mention of
equality. He reminds you that he has
already said that this is about building
“a country where every child grows up
with opportunities and everyone can live
with dignity”. Opportunities and dignity
are imperative. However, they are mini-
mal standards when it comes to equality.
It all comes across as a bit tame and lack-
ing in ambition at first.
Donnelly’s neat frames seem
for a moment to symbolise
this former McKinsey

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