Dr. Shana Cohen:

That is an excellent question. It points to the fundamental issues we are talking about in our work. I agree with the comment that the term "far right" is just an easy label that people are throwing out right now. It is more for people who are deliberately contesting the way politics works, and they do not mind using misinformation to do it and they do not mind stirring up trouble. That is the way they build their base. I have heard that repeatedly in the context of the qualitative research I have done with people just deliberately ignoring science and facts. Then, however, there is a real issue, and this addresses the Deputy's point. People ask why asylum seekers are being placed in their community when they do not have enough public services and they are already being ignored and dealing with poverty and economic insecurity. It could be food or energy poverty, and addiction was mentioned earlier. They ask why their community was chosen in which to put a number of asylum seekers, and why they were not put in Blackrock or Clontarf. People could say they are being racist, but it is more that they want to know why someone did not come and talk to them and invest in the community at the same time this was being done. That is the participative democracy element, and that is what links it to representative democracy.

Another issue is civic education. We found there is not enough understanding of the policy-making process and this leads to questions about why it takes so long or it being another consultation that will not lead anywhere. The foundation of civic education could be improved, particularly in areas where schools are already stretched in terms of resources. Just a small investment in civic education would have a big impact. Speaking to communities or having more of a structured process for participation would help quite a lot. I totally agree there are effective individual politicians. It is more the structure of the system that is the issue. There are individual politicians who go to the mat for their communities and will get something done but it is more that the structure is distrusted. There is a differentiation between the individual politician and the way the system works. There needs to be more education about the way the system works and there also need to be a better system.