Brendan Howlin is not a happy man. Or at least he wasn’t last Sunday, when he was having lunch with another man at the Bar Italia in Dublin. Several protestors spotted him and began to film him on their phones and chant “Labour, traitor, out out out!” Brendan and his companion then stood, drew their phones from their pockets and began to film the protestors.
“It was quite rude” a spokesman for Howlin said later. “It was completely uncalled for”. I’m fairly sure he was referring to the protestors and not Brendan and friend.
But I’m not sure it wasn’t called for. Presumably none of the protestors was breaking the law. And presumably they were referring to the promises of the Labour Party prior to going into government with Fine Gael, and their subsequent failure to deliver on those promises. A lot of poorer people who suffered because of the failure of Brendan and the Labour Party to stand up for them, as they’d vowed they would, might think Howlin got off lightly, compared to them.
The Indo report on the protest makes clear that Mr Howlin wasn’t on any official duty at the time, seeming to imply that when a politician is taking his/her ease, protests are off-limits. I think I might beg to differ. If the person who’s munching the lunch is the same person who screwed you and your family into the wall, I don’t see why the muncher should be protected from the opinion of others. Protest is not against the law, any more than it’s against the law if you’re a politician to lie about what you will do for the electorate. Agus is mor an trua sin – And more’s the pity. Count your blessings, Brendan, and be grateful there were no lamp-posts nearby to put bad thoughts in the minds of the protestors.
Well the gentleman did not appear to be any happier on RTÉ Radio this morning. He wishes to be crowned leader of the Irish Labour Party, however, there are a number of contenders for the throne. They are, Mr Kelly, who has a penchant for power. He was of the opinion that Irish Water was not an issue for most voters in the last election, however, that is water under the bridge, Jan Ó Sullivan, the Limerick TD, Willie Penrose, Longford-Westmeath and the former Dublin Fingal TD Brendan Ryan.
Mr Howlin was quick to point out that Sinn Féin did not have a good election. The Irish Labour Party lost 30 seats in the last election. In opposition, Ms Burton was a critic of NAMA, in coalition with Fine Gael it was a case of binn béal ina thost, silence gives consent. The Irish Labour Party with 37 TD’s in the former administration remained silent as a plethora of austerity measures were visited on people who have to work for a living.
Mr Howlin and his colleagues could have left the former administration but they did not do so. Mr Howlin would suggest the party was acting in the national interest and for the good of the country. Clearly voters in the 26 counties did not share his analysis and the rest is history.
The Irish Labour Party needs to clarify its core values and political principles before it is too Late Late.
I wouldn’t agree with that really. If politicians are open to abuse at all times you would assume most of the sensible ones, or potential ones, won’t run for office. There is always some section of society that strongly disagrees with government policy.
As regards labour, I have no great sympathy for them, but entering government as a junior partner means you, at best, get to slightly influence policy, not direct it. Their promises, which were largely undeliverable anyway, were based on being elected as a majority party. It is the basis on which all parties put forward a manifesto.
Interesting thoughts, John. Do parties make it explicit that they will pursue these policies only as majority parties or is the electorate expected to work that out for themselves? As to attitudes of the public – I don’t remember RTÉ or any other media outlet making your point when the ‘concerned citizen’/wealthy CEO confronted Mary Lou McDonald at the top of Grafton Street during the election. My view would be that protest is legitimate if it is within the law. We mightn’t like it but people should be free to make their views known. Most of the time most of the public are gagged – i.e., without access to the media.
Thanks for the comment on the comment Jude. I think party manifestos come with the unwritten ‘if you give us enough votes we will….), where someone doesn’t get enough votes they can continue to pursue but can’t really be blamed for failure. At some stage they do have to make a call if they are doing more harm then good to their aspirations though. Labour always over promise however, so my sympathies are limited.
I also think there is a difference between the Mary Lou incident and this one with Howlin. Mary Lou was on a public engagement at the time, Howlin wasn’t. Where I would have a problem with the Mary Lou incident was the media coverage, she was hardly the only politician challenged during the campaign, yet it seems to be the only incident that got coverage. Also the excellent way she acquitted herself in the exchange went without comment anywhere.
Keep up the great work…
Grma, John T…
Now that the Labour Party,Esteemed Blogmeister, has been downsized to small but perfectly formed proportions there can be only one successor to the Leadership.
An obvious successor in the new dawn of this sawn-off party now that, sadly, La Yawn has gawn
Less is More.
Dolly P once famously put the tree
Back into the music called country
TD, Howlin Brendan
Of the happy endin’
Puts the bonsai into the Labour P.
Brendan and Labour betrayed their own voters, they backed cuts and austerity against people who trusted them, many of which now can’t even afford to buy the same Lunch Brendan was munching on at that restaurant.
But Brendan and his friend seem more concerned and upset over their Lunch being disturbed…..
the Irish labour party has gone the way of the scottish branch of the British labour party.
SDLP is following hard on their heels.
Different folks – different strokes with a common thread – this is what Labour says and that is what Liebour does