Post-election 2016 - Village Magazine

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Michael Smith

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DESIGN  PRODUCTION

Eoghan Carroll

EDITORIAL BOARD

Niall Crowley, Joan Fitzpatrick,

Bride Rosney, Michael Smith

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Niall Crowley, John Gormley

PRINTERS

Boylans, Drogheda,

Co Louth

VILLAGE IS PUBLISHED BY:

Ormond Quay Publishing

6 Ormond Quay Upper,

Dublin 7

Issue 43

March 2016

Post-election 2016

hegeneralelectionwastediousandit’snot

really clear what message it purveys. The

electorateseemedjadedandthepoliticians

deliverednomemorablenewpolicies,apart

fromRenua’sutterlyregressiveattaxpro-

posal. Villagebelievesthatelectionsshouldbeall

aboutideas,ideology,policy(andhowbesttoimple-

ment them). In these terms the election and its

participantswereatwo-out-of-tenfailure.

Commentatorsfromtheequallyidea-freemediahave

interpretedtheresultsinheterogeneousways.Every

sortoftheoryandcleveralitywasdeployedtodescribe

thedrearilyandprecariouslyhungDail:atriumphof

democracy,atriumphofsocialdemocracy,theendof

thecivilwar,theend/beginningofthebeginning/end

ofthecivilwar.Theperennialsmartviewthattheelec-

toratehasfailedthepartiesgotseveraloutings.Ifthe

second-ratesageshadbeenabletotheywouldhave

lovedtointerpretitasatriumphofangrywhitemen.

Theycouldn’t.

Somesawitasavictoryforthesmallpartiesand

independents. But the Social Democrats did not

increase,Renuawaswipedout,theGreensgainedonly

twoseatsinaneraofclimate-apoca-

lypse. The People Before Profit/

Anti-Austerity Alliance nished up

withonlyonemoreseatthantheyhad

beforetheelection,andDirectDemoc-

racydidnotgure.Beforetheelection

theseweretheonlysmallparties.

Thetruthisthatthiselectionwasa

triumphoftheinterchangeableFF/FG

(FG/FF)duopoly,thoughitstrajectory

has been definitively defined as

downward.

Ideology is whatpoliticalparties

applywhentheyrunoutofpolicies.Sincemostofthe

parties’manifestosareshortandtheeventstowhich

policiesmustbeappliedareunpredictableitisreason-

abletoexpectthatyourcandidatewillhaveanideology

toguideher.Villageforexamplefavoursanagendaof

equalityofoutcome,sustainabilityandaccountability.

Theideologyiscomprehensive,itprovidesasolution

foranysituation,andatemplateagainstwhichpolicy

formulationcanbebenchmarked.Candidatesshouldn’t

havetoreectVillage’sideology,butthey’dbebetter

havingsomesortofone.

Neithercivil-warpartyhasanideology.Itisimpos-

sibletoknowwhattheywilldoonceelected.

How,therefore,couldanyonewhodoesnotliveunder

a stone be enthusiastic about a government of FF

andFG?

FFisaconservativepartythatbelievesinsolittlethat

itsurrendereditsentireethostoacultureofprovincial-

ismandcronyism,lasttimeitwasingovernment.It

believesinnomorenowso,thoughitistoutingacen-

tre-leftagendathereiseverydangeritwillreturnto

populism, short-termism and promoting the only

agendaitunderstands–theinterestsofthepeopleits

representativesactuallyknow–acronyistpopulism

that always nishesupfavouring thosewho shout

loudest.

ItisnaïvetothinkofFFasMicheálMartinandwhen

itisthemovementithasalwaysknownitselftobe,of

EamonOCuív,ofBarryCowen,ofPat‘theCope’Gal-

lagher;andtensofmarginallymorepresentablesons

and daughters of best-forgotten FF dynasts. Kevin

O’Keeffe,sonofNedO’Keeffe,anyone?

FGisaconservativepartycurrentlydressedupasa

ChristianDemocratparty.Theethosisexibleenough

thatunderGarretFitzGeralditwasineffectSocialDem-

ocrat.Initslatestincarnationithasbeenrightofcentre,

at a time when most people want fairness and an

improvementinservices.Itfailedtodeliveranagenda

of accountability and its representatives seem to

believeinlittlebeyondsoundmoney,‘Europe’andlaw

andorder.HavingonceappearedtobepurerthanFFit

isnowtaintedbytheMoriartyTribunalreportandaper-

ceivedongoingproximitytoDenisO’Brien,Ireland’s

richestman,aswellasbyitslargenumberoflow-grade

CountyCouncillors,whosecorruption

recordisahairsbreadthfromasbadas

FF’s.

Though essentially conservative,

bothFFandFGcontainsomesocialdem-

ocratsandliberalsintheirmidst.These

aberrationsandthosewhovoteforthem

aredelayingthedayarealSocialDemo-

craticpartywithcoherentleft-of-centre

platformcanbecomeaforcethatcould

anchoragovernment.

Ontheotherhanditisclearthatmore

peoplethanisdesirablevotedFGin2011

togetFFoutandthenFFin2016togetFGout.These

peopleneedtoacknowledgethattheyareforcesfor

conservativism.Theincarnationofthisisthedanger-

ouslyarticulateÉamonDunphywhoapparentlyvoted

FFin2016becausehereallybelievesinPeopleBefore

Prot(orSinnFéin.Itisn’tclear).Anyonewhothinks

thatFFwasthesolutiontoourproblemsin2016ispart

oftheproblem.

Sowhatnext?

FF and FG should merge as a conservative party

thoughevencoalitionisforthemomentsomewayoff.

FFistacticallysharperthanFGandFGisinretreatsoit

islikelyFFwilltantaliseFGtoweakenanddemoralise

itduringthisDáil.Neverthelessthe(non-)ideological

compatibilityofthepartieshasbeenexposedandwill

generateitsownmomentum.

WhileallowingthismomentumitsspacetheLeftof

allhuesmustusethelogicofthemomentumagainst

FFandFG,andsocialdemocratsmustcolonisesome

ofthespacethedinosaurpartieshaveoccupiedfor

tragicallylong.

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