I think you are simply wrong by saying we did not have democracy, we did, its just that you did not like the form of Government that it produced.
I find it very difficult to belive that anyone who voted in the last election in 2007 didn't realise what they were getting when they voted. They were getting a continuation of the same policies since 1997. Was Bertie Ahern going to change his ways, hell no! The people are now being rewarded for their own stupidity in not taking enough interest in their own affairs. It begins, and ends with the people and this current period should be a salutory lesson to them. You get what you vote for and in 2007 they voted for the continuation of their greed. Now instead of realising the part they have played in their own demise they turn looking for a scapegoat, and the public service is number one on their list.