‘The Failures of Eamonn McCann: Why He Lost’ by Donal Lavery

At the 2016 Assembly Election, I was disappointed that some people were gullible enough to give their endorsement to two People Before Profit candidates. I sat with my head in my hands for a while, in frustration that Gerry Carroll and Eamonn McCann would now be salaried by the public purse to propagate their usual misleading rhetoric and dogma – of half truth, mistruth and sometimes basic untruth. It was a difficult time for republicanism – the DUP won 38 seats and People Before Profit had capitalised on the welfare reform agenda imposed on us by Westminster. But how the mighty have fallen! How the tables have turned!

I never could have guessed during that black hour that within a matter of months people would exercise their democratic right to politically execute Mr. McCann and send him back to the Marxist wilderness where he belongs. And nor could I have guessed that his political soulmate, Mr. Carroll, would lose thousands of first preference votes at the 2017 ballot after topping the poll in 2016. They entered the election with the belief that the untried Mr. Collins would be accompanying them to Stormont on the back of Gerry’s support and concluded it with their tails between their legs – only one survived the political jungle.

But the question is why? What made the people of Foyle see past the facade and end Mr. McCann’s short but irritating political career? After all, he and Bernadette Devlin were two household names in Irish politics for decades, ending up on the Trotskyite far-left of the spectrum. Given his role in the Civil Rights Movement, Mr. McCann should have walked it in Foyle, particularly when there were four other candidates who were transfer-friendly; Yet he ended up being sacked in favour of a lone DUP candidate in his heartland. It was a striking result and big blow to the Trotskyite obscurantists.

I don’t have the capacity on a blog like this to write an essay on the reasons for his downfall, but I will try to summarise why Derry’s far-left Brexiteer fell on his own sword. The big thing that cannot be glossed over is Brexit – the majority of people in the North wished to remain in the EU but McCann continues to ignore their expressed wishes, which is all the more insensitive in a border area like Foyle which depends on free movement and free trade among the two EU member states. Adding to suspicions of his lack of economic foresight, his party manifesto seemed like something you would find in an appendix of Das Kapital or an old Worker’s Party leaflet. However, the biggest beast unleashed by the colourful 73 year old had to be what was easily one of the most catastrophic performances by any politician in Stephen Nolan’s studio. Under the scrutiny of Nolan and his direct style, McCann broke down like diesel in a petrol car.

Nolan questioned why Mr. McCann and his party were standing on a host of issues which only the sovereign government at Westminster can deal with, from Trident to privatisation, under the guise that an Assembly could even legislate in that way; to which McCann countered by stating that PBP were ‘a different kind of party, with a different kind of approach’. Doubtful of that ‘approach’, Nolan then asked him about how he would pay for some of the lucrative proposals put forward by People Before Profit – like ending private companies delivering nursing care – to which he responded tellingly with ‘general taxation’ and varying the levels of household rates according to income – two things which are not even within the legal remit of the Assembly (only a British government can do them). He went on to discuss his opposition to private doctors being used to tackle long NHS waiting lists, but unable to explain just how dependent we are on this facility for much needed operations (he didn’t have a clue). He told the world that he generally accepts the Bengoa Report on the NHS transformation here, when many of his party colleagues are now espousing critical opposition to it. But the worst and most damaging aspect of the questioning was when the political supremo revealed that he didn’t even know the figure for the NHS budget in the North (just over 4 Billion), despite saying it was one of the major issues on which PBP were fighting the election. After Nolan confronted him about his vague and opportunistic use of rhetoric, with no reference to cold hard facts, he simply reiterated that he was “terrible with figures and statistics”. Additionally, he reiterated his suggestions of spending money to take Moy Park farm into public ownership irrespective of cost (the entire capital spending budget) and banning cereal advertising on television. Here was a sight to behold. I was jumping with joy at the spectacle of a man who epitomises all that is wrong with People Before Profit. As I wrote previously, they have a mixture of original and sound ideas – and Mr. McCann has confirmed, beyond any reasonable doubt, that none of the original ideas are sound and none of the sound ideas are original.

Here was a man who has caused enormous ruptures at protests and vitriol against some of our MLAs, including those who evidently work much harder and intelligently  than he does, unable to answer the most basic questions on how much we spend on healthcare. Here was a man who has spent a lifetime making a political career out of tackling the inability of capitalist politicians to tackle bread and butter issues, totally unable to explain how he would pay for his manifesto promises. The most striking thing was, he admitted to Nolan it would be unlikely that People Before Profit could even deliver on their manifesto pledges at all – which raises the question of why these people are even contesting elections in the first  place.

Now I’m not altogether critical of them as a party, I’ve said I like how many young people have been motivated into politics therein. But if the election result and that interview aren’t obvious in highlighting how these young lions are being led by total donkeys, then I don’t know what is. If young people want to get involved in a real left wing party, which does know what it’s talking about and which can cost the proposals it puts forward, then they should stay fervently away from Carroll, McCann and the rest of the circus they are operating. The man is an embarrassment to himself and to his party; but I wish him all the best and a happy long retirement. Politics and economics really aren’t your forte, Eamonn!