In the run up to the General Election, Independents’ popularity is rising – but could Independents actually form a stable Government?

One of the only things the big three Irish parties have all agreed on is that a vote for an independent is a vote for instability.

Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Independent Senator Michael McDowell disagreed with this opinion.

With opinion polls showing Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael neck in neck, Senator McDowell said it’s a “great likelihood "that they will govern again together – and if this is the case, “who will enable them to govern in a stable and coherent way for five years?”

“The assumption at the moment is that you need a party with a party whip to do that, rather than do a deal with a number of like-minded Independents,” he said.

“The point I'm making is that, rather than choose somebody who is ideologically incompatible with you, simply to get a party whip group of TDs behind you, it might make sense to do a deal with like-minded Independents who could be depended on to keep the Government in position.”

"A different culture can arise"

Senator McDowell said it will “probably” be a situation where maybe 10 or 12 Independents “will get together and sit down and hammer out a deal with Government” to put down collectively what they want to achieve over a five-year term.

Senator McDowell thinks that having some Independents in Government or supporting Government might hasten the demise of a whip system and introduces a plurality of views.

“I think that, you know, the Government parties of the outgoing Government - they rigidly imposed the whip system and guillotine all their legislative measures through the door without adequate debate,” he said.

“A different culture can arise and the way it can arise is if the 10 Independent TDs that we're talking about, if they can get together, can say to the Government, ‘we want a different culture, we're not going to be forced against our conscience to vote on A, B or C, and we want a bit of latitude on private judgment in future’.

“[They could say], ‘We won't bring down the Government, we won't undo a budget which has been approved in consultation with us, but we will reserve the right not to just simply be rubber stamps’.”

"Unforgiving and vicious party whip"

Senator McDowell said Ireland has “an unforgiving and vicious party whip system”.

“Nobody is allowed to step out of line on any issue, whether on conscience or anything else,” he said.

“If you look at the United Kingdom or other countries, you know, individual TDs or members of their parliament, they're entitled, on occasion, to vote against a Government measure other than one which will bring down the Government.

“So, I mean, we may be facing into what I think would be a far healthier political climate where, you know what people individually think does matter, on subjects like hate speech and the like, which aren't, you know, foundational issues.

“[It would] enable, you know, people to exercise their own rational and political judgment on individual issues.”

Senator McDowell said he doesn’t agree with the current system which he thinks makes the Oireachtas irrelevant as Government “shoves matters through”.

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Michael McDowell at the Disclosures Tribunal in Dublin Castle, 6-3-18. Image: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie