THE MEDIA "has less time today for serious parliamentary reporting" than was the case in the past, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last night.
But he acknowledged that the legislative process can be "unexciting and uninspiring".
In an address to the Irish Parliamentary (former members) Society at Leinster House, Mr Ahern said politicians were sometimes dismissed as irrelevant, but they had been responsible for the key milestones in the development of the country.
It was difficult for politicians to compete with "the glitter of celebrity", he said, given that the media had less time today for "serious parliamentary reporting".
Commenting on the role of politicians, Mr Ahern said: "Whatever our politics, we all have a lot in common. We have all experienced the rigours and the rough-and-tumble of political life. We have shared in the roller-coaster excitement of election time. We have run innumerable clinics.
"We have had the honour of representing the Irish people. We have had the privilege of participating in our parliament. We believe in politics. And we have all had the same motivation - to make a difference, for the better, to the world around us.
"It can be thankless enough work at times but as Ralph Waldo Emerson said: 'The reward of a thing well done is to have done it well.' And anyway, as the Book of Proverbs has it, 'A man is tested by the praise he receives', so it is probably just as well we do not have to face that test too often!"
He continued: "Some people are quick to dismiss politicians as irrelevant. The fact is, however, that the key milestones in the development of the country were the work of politicians.
"Just think, for example, of rural electrification, free secondary education, the establishment of the Industrial Development Authority, European Economic Community membership, the establishment of the International Financial Services Centre, our system of social partnership and the Good Friday agreement."
More needed to be done to promote the work of the Dáil and Seanad to the public: "It is particularly hard for us to compete for attention with the glitter of celebrity. And the media has less time today for serious parliamentary reporting," he said.
"It also has to be recognised that, while there can be moments of high drama, the process of legislating and debating is unexciting and uninspiring much of the time." Mr Ahern added that there were "serious issues at play in our parliament" and politicians had to keep trying "to raise people's awareness of what we are about".
