Ex-Politicians writing articles about the problems they failed to fix are the worst.

The Art of the Post-Career Mea Not-So-Culpa

There’s a special kind of audacity in watching politicians, especially those who failed to address critical issues while in office, write op-eds lecturing the public on how to “fix” the very problems they failed to address while in office. These pieces often follow a familiar script: a solemn tone, vague calls for unity or reform, and a convenient rewriting of history that absolves the author of any responsibility.

Eamon Ryan, the former leader of the Green Party, has an article in today’s Irish Times lamenting why a safe walking and cycling route around Dublin Bay can’t be built. There is nothing wrong with that, even ex-politicians are entitled to their opinions. As I finished reading the article, I thought to myself, he must have no mirrors at home.

Eamon Ryan, Green Party leader—until he wasn’t—once held more ministerial titles than a banana republic general. Communications, Energy, Transport, Environment—you name it, he had a fancy nameplate for it. And while he was busy saving the planet (or at least issuing press releases about it), the Dublin Bay cycleway—a bike lane, for God’s sake—somehow can’t get built.

Ryan goes in to great detail why it didn’t happen—Irelands awful planning laws, bureaucracy, NIMBYs, the alignment of the stars—but what did he actually do to progress the issue while he was Minister for Transport. We don’t know, he doesn’t say. This was a politician who had TEN special advisors. What’s the point of being a minister with that many special advisors if you can’t so much as get a bit of paving done? Ireland’s planning laws need to change. This government doesn’t have the Green Party as a coalition mudguard anymore. Fine Gael is the mudguard now, and the ability to build houses is what this government will be judged on.

But I digress.

Ex-Politicians, particularly former minister’s love to position themselves as wise elders offering solutions, but their op-eds rarely include meaningful self-reflection. They usually blame their successors –they’ll claim things were “on the right track” until the new administration ruined everything. Blame “the system” – They’ll lament partisan gridlock or bureaucracy, conveniently ignoring their own role in perpetuating it. Pretend they were powerless – Many of these writers had years, sometimes decades, in office to push for change, but chose political expediency instead. From “failed bureaucrat” to “elder statesman” in 800 words or less.

For these ex-politicians, op-eds are less about real solutions and more about rehabilitating their image. After leaving office, usually with low approval ratings, they rebrand as “thought leaders”. Amusingly, a lot of them would be quite vacuous characters. They like to stay relevant – If they’re angling for a comeback, a well-placed op-ed keeps their name in the conversation. Eamon Ryan is trying to distract from his record in that Irish Times article. By focusing on lofty ideals, he hopes readers forget his actual legislative failures. If you can’t leave behind actual accomplishments, leave behind a trail of high-minded editorials.

If these politicians truly wanted to make amends, their op-eds would: Admit to specific mistakes – Not just vague “lessons learned,” but clear examples of where they failed. Name their allies and opponents – Instead of generic calls for all parties/stakeholders working together, they’d name and shame who blocked progress and why. Burn the whole place to the ground.

In the end, these op-eds are just political performance art—a way to fail upward while absolving yourself of any blame. The only thing more shameless is the way these articles get published without a critical analysis of the people writing them.

I’m not saying ex-politicians should not be heard, we shouldn’t silence these sages of hindsight. But neither should we mistake their late-onset of wisdom for being anything more than an act of self-rehabilitation.