By European standards Ireland records some fairly low voter turnouts. The most recent North East Ireland(NEI) assembly and Irish general elections both had around a 63% turnout. If the non-voting majority united under one banner in either jurisdiction they’d represent the largest political force.
Historically speaking, two seismic political events on our island were accompanied with a record level of political participation. In 1933, just over a year after the UK parliament could no longer legislate for their ‘dominions’, Ireland achieved her record turnout for a general election. Subsequent elections maintained similar levels which illustrates how democratic empowerment can mobilise the electorate.
Similarly, following on from the GFA, the Northern statelet recorded its highest level of political participation in the inaugural Assembly election. In short, major political breakthroughs can instil a renewed enthusiasm and a sense that voting actually matters.
Unfortunately, these levels of enthusiasm have significantly dwindled in both constituent parts of Ireland. More democratic countries such as Denmark are able to engage over 80% of their electorate in every election of the past few decades. Presumably, the high levels of democracy in this small Scandinavian country act as a bulwark against the type of political apathy afflicting Ireland.
I would posit two frustrations as the primary fuel powering this under-involvement i.e. the North is a dysfunctional basket case and the South hasn’t produced a govt. without either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil in almost a century.
The power-sharing agreement in the North provides an essential safeguard against a return to a single party proto-fascist unionist govt. However, it also allows parties steeped in these supremacist views to hold a veto. DUP’s recently ended abstention from govt. – in protest to a non-devolved matter – doesn’t invite political engagement. Northern elections are now little more than a poll on constitutional preference.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil(FF/FG) continue to be seen as two cheeks of the same arse. Non-FF/FG voters may gain some encouragement from their combined vote percentage continuing to decline, and the last Government formation relied on an additional coalition partner i.e. Greens. Yet, these architects of the housing crisis continue to enter govt. in some capacity.
A United Ireland could simultaneously solve both these problems whilst stimulating indolent members of the electorate. FF/FG’s combined vote share was 43% in the last election, if however this was an island wide election – with negligible levels of Northern support for these parties – then this percentage would drop to under 31%. In other words, Irish reunification improves the likelihood of being able to form a Govt. coalition without FF/FG.
The reunification of Ireland will also remove DUP’s capability of paralysing our institutions – which they’re ready to utilise even during a cost of living crisis.
Democracy – no matter how flawed – is historically rare. Only about twenty-two of the worlds shrinking number democracies have survived for longer than half a century. Sage advice from figures such as slave abolitionist, Wendell Phillips, remind us that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. The Republic for all its flaws – and its recent attacks on freedom of Speech should concern all democrats -has produced a functional, secular and pluralist mode of governance. In contrast, the Northern statelet was never intended to be a fair system rooted in ethos of equality and unsurprisingly continues to remain a catastrophic failure hostile to democratic principles.
If the exciting prospect of reunification instils some form of political optimism then we must seize this opportunity. We should be visionary and look to become a stronger democracy like we see in places such as Switzerland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Many reliable forecasts predict an all island economy will yield enormous benefits. Yet the democratic dividend offered by a United Ireland is perhaps the most exciting prospect.
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