Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am a bit taken aback by the Deputy's attitude. He is therefore of the view that anybody involved in a political party is a crony and that if one offers oneself for election in the public space at either local or national level, one is somehow debarred. I regard it as an asset not a liability. It is a fundamental blow against democracy for the Deputy opposite to play the populist game and pretend that people who involve themselves in the democratic life of the State are somehow debarred. I refer the Deputy to the etymology of the word democracy, which comes from the demos- the people. In Athens, the people who were not involved in the political system were called "idiotes", from which we get the word "idiot".

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