Desmond O'Toole writes guest article on jasonomahoney.ie

A short while back I was invited by Jason O'Mahoney, a commentator on Irish and European politics, to contribute a guest article to his blog jasonomahoney.ie. The article, "Why should European democracy matter?" puts the Campaign for a PES Primary in a joint Irish and European context and emphasises the common failure of Conservative and Liberal politicians at both national and European level to adequately respond to the current economic and social crisis.

The following gives some flavour of my views:

The Irish government is utterly overwhelmed by and patently unfit to address the profound crises that Ireland is suffering, but what of the EU’s response? With its eurozone structures, capacity to co-ordinate and lead government action and substantial budgets for regional and structural funding the EU possesses significant resources to bring us through these difficult times. But the European Commission has demonstrated extraordinary lassitude in mobilising a continent-wide effort to create jobs, protect standards of living and promote strategies for economic recovery and growth. Led by José Manuel Barroso, the Commission has shown itself unequal to the task.

You can read the remainder of the article at this link.