When governments make unpopular decisions, there's always a spin doctor
to remind us that "it's a democracy", and we must accept the decisions of the elected government or vote them out in 5 years time.
That's a very thin veneer of democracy for 'the little people' not the 'big players'.
Take for example the banks. Back in 2006, when it was known that we were already building far more houses than even the frenzied property bubble was buying up, the banks were still lobbying
heavily to get the regulations changed, so they could take even bigger and riskier gambles.
Some of the civil servants at the department of finance and staff in the financial regulator raised repeated concerns about this, but were over-ruled. The government published a bill in February 2007, and
passed in April 2007, just BEFORE the election. No empty election promises for this crowd. They got their changes without even trading a vote for it. So much for the 'currency of democracy' in Ireland.
