In racing, a Gold Cup win can be, for a few weeks anyway, a poultice drawing the toxins from our too often fraught relationship with our neighbours.

In public life, we, sadly, need only sit and wait for the next scandal born of a culture free from anything that resembles accountability.

The cervical cancer scandal, the school buildings’ outrage and the difficulties facing our police force are just three current but avoidable implosions.

Political life is not immune to reacting — or over-reacting — to these known unknowns.

Apart at all from normal coup plotting, the backstabbing, and dishonest evasions, or maybe because of them, the suggestion, more often a plea, that we need a new political party is regular enough.

It resurfaces most decades.

Occasionally new parties are established but they, like autumn leaves, come and go faster than you can say “rural broadband delivered to everyone by 2020”.

It is 33 years since Des O’Malley, appalled by the gloriously corrupt Charlie Haughey, led the establishment the Progressive Democrats.

That party was built on the idea of speaking for middle Ireland, for decency and probity.

Unfortunately but all too predictably, the PDs became champions of privilege, provincial Thatcherites if you like, and did not endure or even leave a legacy other than a decent pub quiz question: Name the short-lived party’s five leaders.

The party was dissolved in 2009.

Six years later Renua was launched and though it insists it has a real presence a pub quiz question asking for the name of Renua’s leader would baffle all but the most committed political anoraks.

Peter Casey’s 21% has stoked the embers around the idea of a new party, one that would tick all the boxes not being ticked by the parties dominant since the Civil War ended in May, 1923.

The idealism, the romance behind that suggestion is admirable but, as history shows, it is misplaced.

We have more than enough parties, what we lack is committed participation in politics or trade unionism.

When the grab-the-headlines provocations are half-forgotten, those with a real interest in the integrity of our democracy will be far more concerned that only 43.87% of the electorate, the lowest ever for a presidential vote, thought the effort to participate worthwhile.

It may be challenging to, after a hard day’s work, face into a winter night for an interminable grassroots’ political meeting but that is how, that is the only way, real change can come about.

Young people, exploited by the housing market and, occasionally, employers may look at older generations and the conditions they enjoy with envy.

Maybe they should realise that these conditions were hard-won by determined trade union solidarity.

Maybe they might organise a union — and no matter how difficult it might seem today it would be infinitely easier than it was the first or second time around.

All around the world democracy is at the use-it-or-lose it stage and Ireland is no exception.

We don’t need a new party, we need a new, wider determination to make politics work.