Ireland has always been a left-leaning nation. From the Jacobin roots of Irish Republicanism to its more recent aversion to anything religiously Catholic. It is no surprise to hear an Irish politician expressing leftist views on anything from economics to social policy. The story of the Irish Republic, according to many, is the story of Jim Larkin’s Lockout and James Connolly’s Citizens Army.
The problem with Irish Conservatism, as discussed last week, is the absence of a party combining vision, commitment, and infrastructure. The problem with the Irish Left, on the other hand, is an inability to distinguish one party from another while still having distinct parties. 10 party leaders squeezed into the RTÉ studio for the debate on Monday night but most of them stayed silent for most of the evening. This was partly due to low levels of debating skill, but more importantly, it’s difficult to debate an opponent when you share 90% of your anti-current government, socialist policies.
Legacy Left Parties
Sinn Féin is the oldest and most well-known left-wing party in Ireland. Founded in 1905 it has passed through countless iterations of Irish Nationalism. But its left-wing stance on all issues, economic and social, has remained consistent. Self-described as “left-wing populist”, its more recent positioning is really another rebrand. The party focuses mostly on welfare and social change. This has led to a dramatic rise in popularity over the last decade.
The Labour Party was founded in 1912 and follows the same “workers first” philosophy of its international movement. Currently a small party, it had an effective term in government with Fine Gael. It achieved many left-wing social change objectives like legalising same-sex unions and abortion.
The Rise of the new Left
More recently, other small left-wing parties have appeared.
People Before Profit has been branded as ‘Trotskyite’ in its approach. Focused on the overthrow of capitalism, this party collaborates with others that have overlapping objectives. At the same time, they attack other left-wing parties like Labour for being insufficiently left-wing. It’s notable too that members have split to form other left-wing groups like the Independent Left and Right 2 Change.
The Social Democrats position themselves as either more socialist Labour or a pro-EU People Before Profit. Given that Irexit is not and likely never will be a serious issue in Irish politics, one must wonder what the real difference between these parties is.
Diagnosis
The problem in left-wing Irish politics is that it is in conflict with the very nature of socialism itself: a unified movement. Along the left of the political spectrum, there is more natural consensus than there is on the right. For example, the pro-worker policies of Labour are, in fact, quite compatible with the anti-capitalist stance of People Before Profit. On the flip side, a Friedmanite suggestion to privatise public parks to reduce government spending is not compatible with a more moderate right-wing policy to provide tax reliefs to startups to boost the private economy. In other words, it makes sense for there to be multiple parties on the right arguing over policy. The left is full of parties aiming for the same goal, just to varying degrees.
In recent years, there has been a growing call for a broad alliance of the left to overthrow the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael duopoly of the last century. The general willingness to even follow Sinn Féin into government is promising to the cause.
This is far from a Fourth International Workingmen’s Association, though. The lazy, unsubstantiated policies put forward by the party leaders are the best explanation for their lack of success. It’s hard to believe any party’s platform when they are focused on meaningless buzzwords like ‘equality’, ‘supports’, and ‘diversity’ with nothing to back them up. Are these leaders truly behind their cause when they prioritise their brand of socialism over the good of the movement? It’s like they don’t understand the whole point.
So what’s the solution? “Workers of the world unite”. Marx had a point.
Marx in the 21st Century
But it need not be merely a coalition like a ‘government of the left’. Even an electoral affiliation like People Before Profit has with the Solidarity Party is not enough. The original socialist movement called for a blend of all parties into one to achieve a common aim. Merging into a single socialist party is the only way to capture a united, coherent movement. Instantly, this new party would be bigger than Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – possibly even combined. They would have a realistic chance to implement their policies and effect change and usher in a new era of single party majority governments.
This would have effects beyond a meaningful shift to the left in Irish politics. The entire system of political alignment in the country would be redrawn. Where a single left-wing party dominates the Oireachtas, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would have to embrace the inevitable and combine forces. Small parties like Aontú – naturally excluded for its pro-life genesis – would still exist but with a lot less significance.
But critically, with all that power to wield, this new majority government would need to be certain that its socialist policies would make Ireland a better place. It’s anyone’s guess if that’s why they haven’t tried it.
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