Irish Examiner View: Political connections are best made in the real world
Voter Focus Picture: Seán Than Nolan Moya Rather Contact ó Media Criticised On Social Feargháil
No matter what the party or ideology, being noticed by the electorate is always a pressing concern. There is a very good reason why politicians try to get to funerals in their constituencies — where, legend has it, the most practised of them sign the condolence book across two or three lines to make sure their presence is not missed.
In that sense, social media is a godsend for the hard-pressed politician. It offers the chance to connect with a wider group of people in a fraction of the time it takes to canvass a housing estate, for instance, and even a short video clip can be rehearsed and practised until it can be posted as a flawless, punchy message.
However, are such social media posts a substitute for human contact? Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl thinks not.
He has criticised politicians for focusing on their social media content rather than actively listening to the public.
“I mean not putting up on social media photographs of ourselves at every dog fight that happens in our constituency, because that really has no meaning or benefit but being on the ground in communities,” Mr Ó Fearghaíl said this week.
“The failure to revert to that is going to lead, inevitably, to more disillusionment, more disenchantment, more of a sense of alienation on the part of people who find that they may only see their public representative on their X account.”
His points are well made. The low turnout in the recent general election cannot be attributed to one single factor, but a sense of disconnection from politics is surely one element contributing to the sense of alienation mentioned by Mr Ó Fearghaíl.
There is no substitute for meaningful personal interaction between politicians and their constituents. The convenience of social media may be appealing in comparison with face-to-face encounters with unhappy voters, but it cannot replace those encounters. There is a good reason why successful politicians refer to the reception they get on the doorsteps — and not to positive messages they receive on social media.
In a couple of weeks, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States for the second time. This is a daunting prospect for many, with a growing fear that the chaos of his first term in the Oval Office may be outdone over the next four years.
Recent events in America are fuelling those fears. A US military veteran is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 15 people in New Orleans, Louisiana, after he steered his pickup truck around a police blockade and slammed into revellers before being shot dead by police.
The complicating factor here is that the veteran in question, one Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is believed to have been flying the black flag of Islamic State (IS) when he crashed into the celebrating crowd.
An apparent terrorist attack carried out by a supporter of the Islamic State would have been enough to raise the temperature, but a separate incident has also drawn plenty of attention.
On Wednesday, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside president-elect Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, killing a suspect inside the vehicle.
Video footage shown at a subsequent police press conference showed charred fireworks, mortars, canisters, and other explosive devices in the back of the truck.
Tesla is owned by Elon Musk, who is a close ally and backer of Mr Trump. The symbolism of this attack — a Musk vehicle exploding outside a Trump hotel — will not be lost on anyone, though Mr Musk’s immediate focus was on ruling out vehicle malfunction as a cause of the explosion.
He stated after the incident: “...We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”
These events also have wider implications. Michael Waltz, tipped to be Mr Trump’s national security adviser, suggested the US close its borders in response to the incidents — even though the alleged perpetrator of the New Orleans attack was a US citizen. That does not bode well for anyone expecting measured responses from the Trump administration.
Matthew Glover and his wife Jane Land then wanted to promote veganism. In their first year, 2014, some 3,300 people signed up to Veganuary, pledging to try a vegan diet for the month of January.
By 2023, more than 700,000 people had signed up — with more people understood to have tried a vegan diet for at least part of January. Celebrities such as Billie Eilish, Joaquin Phoenix, and Paul McCartney are Veganuary ambassadors.
The concept is truly global: There are official Veganuary campaigns in Britain, the US, Germany, India, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain, while partner organisations lead campaigns in Australia, Singapore, France, South Africa, Switzerland, and Italy.
In a world where many consumers are concerned about the health impact of highly processed foods and the farming methods used to produce meat on an industrial scale, Veganuary has much to recommend it.
For readers feeling a little bloated after the excesses of Christmas, it might help to restore balance.