Epoch Times: Mr Haskins, can you explain why you decided to get involved in politics for this election?
Dylan Haskins: Well, I have always been very political, but I always found that it was more effective to do things on the ground than to join a party. I have always liked to speak my mind, and the idea of towing a line on something because a whip told me is something that would never rest easy with me.
From the age of 15 I started organising festivals, gigs and tours for young bands. We created our own facilities because the government did not provide any facilities for us. In 2009, I set up an arts and social centre in Temple Bar called Exchange Dublin, where the idea was to offer a free space for people to present work in the city who would not be able to access space otherwise, because space is a really hard thing to get in Dublin.
Around the same time, I joined the board of directors of the Project Arts Centre, which is probably the leading contemporary arts centre in Dublin.
My background ... I come very much from an arts background, but it’s political in the sense that I have always liked to explore different ways of working and ways around, you know, when you are presented with problems and obstacles. Be that a politician not writing back to you, and trying to figure a way to create the facilities without funding. To sitting on the board of directors of an arts centre, and seeing them through the several funding cuts that every organisation has seen.
So in the past year, I suppose, it’s been extremely frustrating watching what has happened to the country, and seeing my generation emigrating, and that the prospect for when you finish college is that you have to leave the country. I look at the Dail and I see 70 per cent of the Dail is over the age of 50, and you know 80 per cent of the Dail is male as well: I think the Dail should really look more like Ireland in terms of gender, and in terms of age.
The only way that will happen is if more young people and more women stand, so I decided to put myself forward as a candidate, and I also think that coming from the background of the creative sector, I think we need a lot of creativity in government at the moment.
ET: Do you think your youth will affect your chances of getting elected?
DH: We have grown used to politicians being much older, but in reality, in the first Dail, the average age was thirty, and they were working without any precedent. But also I think having worked since 2004 in the constituency starting projects, I might be young, but I do have experience, and it’s real experience on the ground, but also, you look at that and you look at the people who have been running the country, who have lots of experience, and look what’s happened. Experience is only worth something if you actually learn something from your mistakes. I have watched what has happened to my country, and I have been critical of the mistakes as they were happening. I feel that I am aware of where the others fell down in the past and I am not willing to make those mistakes, and I am not disposed to those mistakes.
I listen to a broad range of views and take my advice from there. I don’t just listen to a particular group of people which, it seems, have called the shots in the politicians ears in recent times. I’m about listening to a much wider range of views on particular issues before I make up my mind.
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ET: Please explain your slogan “It starts here”?
DH: Ireland has changed fundamentally but we are still quite a young state, and at the moment it is a real test to the state. How do we come through this? I think there is a real calling on our younger generations to come forward and come up with ideas, because really we have the greatest investment in the future.
The debts that have been incurred by older generations, we‘ll be paying them off long after they have retired. I’m not naive enough to think that everything is going to change with this election, but we have to get the ball rolling now, and that has to begin, so that’s why my slogan is ’It starts here.’
It’s a long road ahead, it really is, and it is not a pleasant road ahead either, but it does have to begin at some stage. You have to take that step forward.
ET: Was it a difficult decision to make, to decide to run for election?
DH: Absolutely, it’s potentially making a commitment of five years to work at something, that’s a long time, it’s just over a quarter of my entire existence on the planet, so it’s a big commitment to make, but also there is nothing more fulfilling than to be working in the service of your country, really it’s one of the best things you could do.
ET: Do you think a political background is necessary to run for election?
DH: I think the less political background you have, the better really. It’s more about what type of work you have done and what experience you bring to the table. We need a diversity of experiences. The way I have run my campaign is to set a model for other people, because just yesterday, I published my income and expenditure for the first week of the campaign.
We need a lot more transparency in all aspects of Irish life, be that governance, be that financial decisions that are made. I think that independent committees in the Dail should be able to publish their findings publicly, and not just be internal memos. The more transparency the better. I have done that with my campaign, I have published my expenses so people can see exactly how much it costs to print posters, to print flyers, and if people believe what you are about and that you will work at it for free ... nobody is paid in this campaign, everyone is doing it because they believe in it.
I wanted to do it openly so people could say: “If he can do it, why can’t I do it?” The more people who stand the next time around the better.
ET: What role has social media taken in your campaign, and how is it funded?
DH: Donations from our website. We are getting lots of small donations.
How I launched my campaign, with a YouTube video which I announced on twitter, it has been really important in terms of building awareness. I only announced my campaign last week and it was very much social media-driven, but I am also aware that I need to be knocking on doors. It’s been great for building up awareness, so people know who I am now when I knock on their door, but it’s important that I knock on their door so they can talk to me and have that personal interaction as well.
The reason for using it is because I use it anyway, I was using social media before the election campaign. I’m not doing it because some PR person told me I need to be using ’the twitter', it’s something that I find to be an effective way to communicate, but I understand that not everyone communicates that way. For those who don’t, I need to find out how they communicate, and that’s usually on their door step.
Facebook is hugely beneficial because people are posting and showing their friends, especially when young people use Facebook so much, it is a way of spreading a message and it is an effective way, it means we don’t have to pay for advertising.”
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ET: What will you do if elected?
DH: The fundamental thing is to set a new standard as being a different type of politician. I’m not doing this as a vocation; I never wanted to be a politician. I’m doing it out of what I see as a need for new ideas and problem-solving attitudes, and that’s my motivation.
I don’t see myself doing this in thirty years’ time, but I think it needs to be done now. The only way you can set a standard for a new type of politician is by setting that standard yourself, and by creating a best practice, so I am doing that with my accounts. I also want to donate a quarter of my salary to start a creative investment fund, which will provide seed capital for creative entrepreneurs that are starting new projects, and I have other ideas how I can source more funding for that.
I want to start a monthly constituency forum where councillors and the other TD’s from my constituency meet up on a monthly basis with the community and we can discuss the national issues and the local issues.
If someone says their drains are blocked or their lights are broken, then we can hand that question over to their councillor, and say “This is your area”, rather than them coming to the TD asking for that because they couldn’t get through to anyone else. You empower people by providing a way for them to engage their politicians regularly. So I am representing them on a monthly basis, and that dialogue is happening monthly, not just every time an election comes around and I need their vote, and I think that’s crucial.
ET: What are your views on political pensions?
DH: I think the idea that someone has the incentive to earn more money by retiring than by staying on … is absurd, there is no sense in that. Where is the motivation to be working really? It should be about service, there shouldn’t be these huge golden handshakes for politicians. If you become a politician it should be out of service for your country and that’s enough payment, to have done that and to have the fulfilment of having served your country well, that’s worth more than any golden handshake.
ET: While canvassing, have you noticed any trends in the issues being discussed?
DH: I’m feeling quite encouraged by the fact that people aren’t asking me about stuff on their road; they are focused on the national issues, and the big question of the 19 billion euro gap between tax revenue and public spending. It’s not being discussed: Recent discussions in the media have been about leadership debates, or about the IMF EU bailout. The reality is that we won’t be able to afford any bailout, restructured or otherwise, if we can’t close this 19 billion euro gap, because we will go bankrupt anyway.
I think the reason no one is talking about it is because there is no sound-bite solution: A big problem requires lots of small solutions, and that does not sound as catchy when you have your one minute sound-bite on radio; that’s why I think it is not being addressed, but I think that is the huge concern for people. They want people to talk straight and to be honest with them, you know, not to be saying “I'll create 100,000 jobs”, because a politician won’t create 100,000 jobs. They will create the right conditions for a country that is attractive for people to invest in, and facilitate people who are trying to start businesses up as well, that’s all you can do, and you shouldn’t promise people more than you can actually achieve.”
ET: Mr Dylan Haskins, thank you.
DH: Thank you.
