The sight of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receiving a standing ovation from US Congressmen and women last month is perhaps the most infuriating and revolting sight that the world has witnessed in decades.

The man who has overseen the slaughter of 40,000 people – mostly women and children – in Palestine in the past ten months should be standing trial in The Hague, rather than being feted by the country that prides itself as ‘the leader of the free world’.

That image – if ever deserved – is now firmly in tatters as the Netanyahu visit exposed the racism and impunity that makes a mockery of American claims as ‘a beacon of democracy’, and ‘a global defender of human rights’.

But democracy is under attack in many other countries too, from India to Russia, Rwanda to Hungary, Venezuela to Italy, with rigged elections and the emergence of Far Right autocratic leaders who frequently trample on their nations’ constitutions, and ignore the cries of the poor and disenfranchised.

Democracy is under siege, and we too are not immune from that virus, as the public question whether their vote and voice really matter, or if anyone in power is bothering to listen.

The Fermanagh voter seems to particularly fall victim to bureaucratic decisions made with minimum consultation or reference to the needs or the future of the county.

Locals could indeed be forgiven for thinking that they are children of a lesser God.

The most recent example was the visit of Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd, who travelled to Enniskillen – presumably at taxpayers’ expense – to announce that Fermanagh would be the only county in Ireland not to benefit from the proposed new cross-Border rail project.

The Minister was neither apologetic nor ashamed of that exclusionary ruling.

Instead, he tried to defend the decision by claiming that the county doesn’t have the population or the business infrastructure to justify the rail investment.

That came from an infrastructure minister who clearly fails to comprehend that essential infrastructure such as roads and railways boosts business and jobs, and eventually leads to an increase in the population.

To add insult to injury, locals were informed that an express bus service from Enniskillen to Belfast was being considered.

What may have been intended to pacify Erne folk was in fact mere tokenism from an Executive that appears to view the lakeside county as a backwater best forgotten, and left to survive by its own devices.

In any case, regional assemblies were established to devolve power and resources to areas that had previously been neglected or ignored.

The very basic principle of devolution is subsidiarity.

In other words, decisions that affect the people at the lowest level should be made by them at the local level, and resources in turn distributed on an equitable basis.

The case of the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) is well known and documented as it no longer merits the name of being an acute hospital.

Just about every family in the county has experienced the inconvenience, delays and waiting lists for essential medical services.

Regular appointments and emergencies are routinely handled in an already overcrowded Altnagelvin Hospital.

Consider too the state of our roads, and that schools will soon reopen with major headaches over cash flow that will jeopardise the quality of education that children deserve.

These are the everyday issues that are at the core of a democratic society, but it does appear that our local elected representatives are not doing the job they were elected to do.

When was the last time you heard our local politicians coming together from the different political parties to voice the real concerns of the voters that they are paid to represent?

There was hope that with her background and experience Pat Cullen could contribute greatly towards improving our declining medical services.

She comes with a very impressive CV and track record, where she represented 250,000 nurses as Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing.

Yet Sinn Féin’s insistence that they will continue to boycott Parliament will severely limit the impact she may have.

In an age when Sinn Féin parley with Royalty at garden parties, and participate in every other institution of governance established by the British Government, it makes no sense that they don’t take up their Westminster seats and represent the people who voted for them.

At this stage, they appear inconsistent. Their rationale for the boycott is becoming a very hard sell, and it would seem that Sinn Féin have backed themselves into a corner on the matter, and lack the nerve to reverse that policy lest they lose face with their core constituency.

That boycott needs to be revisited; as James Bond said: “Never, say, never”.

Put another way, in politics if you’re not at the table, then you are most likely on the menu.

Fermanagh folk have been on the menu for decades, and thereafter left to scramble for the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.

We most frequently get the leftovers, the least and the last.

Every forum and decision-making body that offers an opportunity to speak on behalf of the needs and rights of the poor, neglected and deprived needs to be taken advantage of by councillors, MLAs and MPs.

Unfortunately, currently the political class are mostly failing the public, and as a result we are looking more and more like a failed state, or a Third World country.

Now that elections are done with, there is no excuse for the different political parties not working together for the common good of Fermanagh people.

There is something terribly exhausting, lazy and boring about politicians more concerned about promoting “their sides’” limited, historic and frequently sectarian agenda to the detriment of “the other side”.

Most people in this great county work, play and interact in a normal, healthy manner. They all share the same joys and hopes, and suffer the same neglect and marginalisation and indifference from the Government.

They deserve better representation, as they are taxpayers and citizens with rights.

It is time the political elite got back to the grassroots and listened to their people, and then gave voice to their real concerns.

Father Gabriel Dolan from Cashel is a missionary based in Aughdrumsee.