Another week another column about the left and its 'whining on the sidelines'. This time it is from Pat Leahy. He writes about how the idea of a left-led government is 'slipping away'. And he points to the contribution by Catherine Connolly in the Dáil debate around the Stardust:
"From day one," Connolly told the Dáil in the final speech of an emotional afternoon, "a narrative was determined because the powerful were in charge. The powerful have remained in charge and the narrative remained the same until today. Now, it has been lifted off and the Taoiseach has had to stand here and tell people they are innocent. They knew that from day one, but the powerful, through the institutions of the State, told them differently ... The powerful protect the powerful."
This analysis of the Stardust tragedy – the powerless versus the powerful – has been heard repeatedly in the past week, inside the Dáil and outside it. It relates how the political representatives of a callous establishment acted against the interests of the ordinary people whose lives were turned upside down by the disaster. It's hard to argue against it when considering the State's response after the fire and for a long time afterwards.
But the subtext for many advocates of this is clear: that this "evil elites vs virtuous masses" model of understanding the world still holds true today. This is the essence of the populist critique of politics, here and elsewhere. I am not sure that this view of the world still stands up to much scrutiny today – the fact it was a Fine Gael Taoiseach delivering the apology would tend to undermine it, no? – but there is no denying its continued potency in the politics of the 2020s.
Actually one can make a counter-argument that suggests there's no undermining that argument at all. A Fine Gael Taoiseach, a member of a party that has been in government since 2011. A party that has been with Fianna Fáil, who it shares coalition with, one of just two parties to lead governments across the history of the state. An apology made in 2024 when the Stardust tragedy took place in 1981.
Difficult to think of a better illustration of how there are concentrations of power in this society, political and otherwise, who have remained embedded across a century or so. Moreover the weak versus the powerless - apologies wrested by ordinary people who had to persist across many decades.
But Leahy regards all this as proof of the contrary.
And he goes on. He regards the fact that the duopoly of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is evidence that the left - for yes it is the left's fault - have been unable to coalesce.
Consider the way this is framed. Naive is the kindest word one might use. Too kind:
So why do they still dominate? Easy answer: because they're in Government. And why is that? Because the forces of the left in Irish politics have preferred to remain divided, have been wary of the responsibility of power and unwilling to make the compromises that forming a government require. They have left government to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, content to whine on the sidelines, content in the knowledge that nobody ever lost their seat by being too critical of any government.
Not a word about the marginal nature of the left post-independence, or indeed the reality of a small industrial base and all that that entailed in terms of focal points for the development of the left. Not a word about the structural divide in Irish politics - in this state - between the issue of the nature of the state and more economic centred critiques on the left. Not a word about a profoundly conservative social context which in tandem with the state decried left parties and policies for many decades. Not a word about Fianna Fáil appropriating certain aspects of social democracy, albeit in the rawest form, in order to build its support in the working class. And many other factors. Not least two right of centre parties whose programmes have been often indistinguishable finally having to deal with one another because they are so reduced. Of course they would, in extremis. And if they survive as government next time that's because they're so small they must cling together.
For Leahy all that is irrelevant, it's all about tactical positioning.
See how left-wing parties skedaddled from the prospect of power – and with it, compromise, and responsibility – after the last two elections. Yes, it would have meant doing a deal with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. But in return, they would have got enough power to hold the powerful to account, if they wanted.
And exhibit A:
Only one left-wing party stood up – the Greens. They have been rewarded with the greenest Government ever. Have they got everything they wanted? Nope. But if their mood at last weekend's conference is anything to go by, they have got enough to make the experience worthwhile. Might they lose all their seats? Maybe. I suspect not. But even if they do, they'll come back and have another go. Because they have learned that if you want to achieve your political objectives, you have to get into government.
Now even on its own terms this is an absurd argument. Only a week or two ago on foot of another such article - that one by Marc Coleman - I mentioned that political vehicles are having to drive past the smoking hulk of a Labour Party that did its duty, 'stood up', 'compromised' and… was subsequently eviscerated by the portion of the electorate who supported them, moving that support to Sinn Féin and others. It would be a foolish party of the left who didn't note that particular lesson.
But there are other problems with his analysis. For a start the left - he's coy about naming it, but one presumes he means…er… Labour, and Social Democrats and perhaps one or two Independents, but surely he understands ideology sufficiently to grasp that PBP and the SP are unlikely to work with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael in coalition from the get go. Or perhaps he doesn't, but even looking at the handful of left Independents, two by my count - and the Social Democrats - were not even in the running at the last two elections. This isn't me opining at random. I've talked to people involved in the negotiations - the very clear sense at the last election was that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil wanted the Green Party, and no surprise. It wasn't going to make shapes economically in the way, say the Social Democrats might. And at the previous election the number of SDs and LP returned (even should that latter party have wanted to) were far too low to be a factor given the number of non-left Independents.
Which makes his complaint about 'whining' and lack of willingness to take responsibility seem madly askew the actual historical record.
But again, he's not interested in ideology or even just policy. Would Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have wanted a Social Democrat contingent (smaller by the by than the GP one thereby leaving the government, five or so votes less) that wanted a state led house building programme, that wanted to push Slaintécare? That seems hugely unlikely given their aversion to any state intervention in the market.
Fundamentally his argument boils down to this:
You'd wonder what it would take for politicians on the left to stand up and articulate a set of common values that could form the basis for a governing bloc.
In a way, it's no wonder Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are still in Government, despite the halving of their support. They're the ones who really want it.
But it's not that simple as well he knows. Would Fine Gael 'really want' government with Sinn Féin? Clearly not. They've ruled it out. Does Fianna Fáil? So far it seems not. So those parties, even in their reduced state have limits as to who they will deal with. As do parties of the left. He talks about Labour and the Social Democrats and others on the left merging. But let's turn that around. Why don't Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil merge? Combine their respective strengths? Easier said than done isn't it?
For him to pretend - given that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were able to coalesce this last time that that means they are ruthless pragmatists who will deal with anyone is a nonsense, in fact it's making a virtue of necessity that has, at least so far, worked to those parties favour. But that's not a given as matters move forward. Still, we can expect a lot more of this sort of stuff as the election draws closer.
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