“Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.” – Atifete Jahjaga
Given the fragmentation of the Democratic Unionist Party in the North of Ireland, who have been routinely subject to allegations of corruption and malfeasance in public office, the political ‘wind’ is changing direction in Ireland, enormously. At the last Irish General Election in the South, Sinn Fein came second only to Fianna Fáil by one seat, outmanoeuvring Fine Gael. This was largely due to the housing crisis and over a decade of austerity budgets by the two and a half party system of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour. People, understandably, are fed up with the mess those parties have created and the state of public services as a result of their actions in government. Young people especially are growing up to become a “lost generation” with dwindling scope for vocational development.
Offering a centre-left economic agenda of reform, the historical “pariah” that was Sinn Fein is becoming more and more a party of government – with figures like Mary Lou McDonald, Pearse Doherty, Matt Carthy and Eoin O’Broin, at the helm. The irony of course is that they are seeking to take the reins of power in a statelet they wished never existed – in the South – while being permanently in power in the North until that statelet is dismantled. If this was a metaphorical “game of cards” you would credit them as being astute poker players.
But actually, the exercise of power is less about the luck of poker and more like the shrewdness of chess. One has to ask, in tackling ‘Globalisation’, where does a small country like Ireland rank in the overall scheme of things in the European Union, for example? The answer to that is we are irrelevant to the big decisions but the big decisions are very much relevant to us. Economic and Monetary Union under the fiscal treaties of Maastricht and Lisbon have cemented in law the limitations a national government must work within – including with regards to public spending. Former Irish Ambassador to Canada and lecturer at Yale University, Dr. Ray Bassett, has been reiterating this point constantly – despite being sidelined by sections of the Irish media and europhile academics in our universities. Here’s a principled man, who has the figures and knows the constraints of office, having risen from a humble background with outstanding success, and despite being a lecturer at one of the global centres of thought in America, he is undermined by the Irish ‘establishment’ for telling people the truth about the flaws in our current power structures. More than anything, it emphasises the fear and contempt some elements within the established order have for democratic standards.
Now, there are some in Sinn Fein who would wish to “nationalise” the commanding heights of the Irish economy. Other, more realistic figures, understand that is unlikely to happen but that public services and industries can be better regulated and maintained through equitable regulation, over out and out public ownership. Despite the cries of “economic illiteracy” from Fine Gael, that is hardly a ‘radical’ policy when it was the standard government agenda of British Conservative governments up until 1974 (before Margaret Thatcher’s rise to prominence). It was the Tories who nationalised Rolls Royce, after all. State intervention in the economy is not centred around one party as all of them are interventionists of one kind or other, to one sector or other. It is the nature and amount of intervention that is really at stake. Who gets what and why, in a nutshell.
Ireland, North and South, is facing a massive housing crisis of epic proportions and with devastating consequences for those who are young or those who require a house for them and their family. “Slum Landlords” are back, from the ‘Famine era’, and some such “gombeens” even occupy positions in the political parties themselves (directly or in the back rooms). Jobs wise, there are huge discrepancies in the opportunities available to current generations, as a “job for life” is becoming ever more rare. The health services headquartered in Belfast and Dublin are falling to pieces, as we struggle to entice our doctors and nurses to stay working in Ireland instead of becoming a key export to Australia or Britain. Inequalities in salary is institutionalised in many sectors, all of which has culminated in a mass discontent in society.
People are turning to Sinn Fein and the smaller left-wing parties not out of choice but out of necessity. There needs to be a government in Ireland which is the trade union for the whole of Ireland; that is serious about constitutional change and addressing the enormous challenges of inequality which neoliberalism has imposed on us. The biggest dilemma of all though is yet to fully sink in – what happens when Sinn Fein do win election to government in Dublin?
As it presently stands, Mary Lou McDonald would be appointed Taoiseach by the President and would then form a cabinet. She would need to enact a commission to oversee the composition of a new Irish constitution that would safeguard the rights of Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist people, while embracing the principles of the 1798 revolution in the wording to honour Wolfe Tone. As Taoiseach, she would need a very able Finance Minister who can liaise with all sectors of the economy and make decisions within the public interest, wrestling with various interest groups.
I have no doubt at all that she is capable of leading this change, given her tenacity. The most salient lingering doubt is actually about who and what would thwart her attempts at such reform? By far, the largest stumbling block will be the financial restrictions placed on Ireland by European Law under the fiscal treaties. In layman’s terms, it means her Finance Minister will have to go “cap in hand” to Berlin and Brussels to ask for the right to spend more money on badly needed public services. Why? Because we presently operate a currency dominated by German interests for the benefit of German interests. This is not sustainable or sane at all.
As a nation, which really has struggled perhaps more than any other, to establish a meaningful and pluralist democracy on this island, the hindrance of having to ask someone else’s government what you can do in your country is an appalling disfigurement of ‘democracy’. I do not care tuppence where anyone is from, unlike the racists in UKIP and other British right-wing fronts. My concern is who exercises power and how they do so. I want the Finance Minister in a reunified Ireland to be able to tax and spend according to our needs as a population, rather than due to the dictations of German ‘capital’. Let me be very clear, no government in Berlin is going to permit a government in Dublin to go on a massive spending spree to address serious public need using the “joint credit card” that is the euro currency – administered by a European Central Bank (which we also do not elect and cannot remove) and when interest rates are at the mercy of market forces.
So, the ultimate dilemma of all facing Sinn Fein and the Left in Ireland is what they do to address this after they win power nationally and reunify the island into one diverse nation. The current approach of relying on the European Union to enforce Brexit ‘articles’ will not last and a confrontation with Brussels over the spending constraints is certainly going to happen. What I hope above all, is that Ms McDonald has the courage of her convictions to either renegotiate the deficit spending limit (currently 3% of GDP – legally) for European Union member states in alliance with other progressive governments, or embrace the alternative of a Norwegian model outside the EU. One of the happiest countries on Earth, the Norwegians enjoy the highest living standards and have retained more sovereignty over their own affairs (despite being in the EU Single Market). The Scandinavian nations are a model for human development and are our natural direction of travel as an island in Western Europe. And I hope to God for an Irish government and population steely enough to direct us there. People need to begin having this discussion now and work out where Ireland really stands in European and world affairs – including if we, as sons and daughters of Ireland, believe ourselves to be ‘good’ enough to govern ourselves (or be governed by French and German ‘commissars’). Make no mistake, every aspect of you and your children’s livelihoods will depend on that singular approach to European fiscal reform – with the demand that we can spend as we require, based on our country’s needs. This will be the real battleground of Irish democracy and the most important of all.
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