New hope in Ireland
By Brendan Young
May 20, 2011 – Scottish Left Review via the Irish Left Review, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission – Described as a sea change by commentators, the biggest shock of Ireland’s February 25, 2011, general election was the collapse of the vote of Fianna Fáil (FF), the state’s largest party; from 41.5 per cent in 2007 to just 17.4 per cent this time. FF has governed in Ireland for 61 out of the 79 years since it was formed in 1932 and has won 14 out of the 19 general elections. Yet it now has only one TD (member of parliament) in Dublin – down from 13. Its first preference vote in Dublin was only 12.5 per cent, whereas the United Left Alliance (ULA), on its first outing, got 7.1 per cent. What stands out is the loss of support for FF among working-class voters – confirming what has already been happening in local elections.
Fine Gael’s vote rose almost 9 per cent since 2007 to 36.1 per cent, but the combined FF-FG vote was down to 53.5 per cent. This is a far cry from the days when these two parties of the right got over 80 per cent of the popular vote; and further decline from the 1990s when they got 60-65 per cent. While the vote for the right is in decline, the left vote has risen: Labour (now firmly social-liberal, but in the eyes of many voters a leftwing force) got 19.4 per cent and Sinn Féin got 9.9 per cent.
The cause of the FF collapse is the party’s very visible responsibility for the current economic crisis, which according to Patrick Honohan, governor of Ireland’s Central Bank, has led to “one of the costliest banking crises in history”. The bail-out is running at €70 billion and the state is borrowing from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to repay loans that Ireland’s speculators cannot pay – to the major banks of Germany, France and Britain.
Private debt is now state – sovereign – debt through the FF-Green government commitment in November 2008 to guarantee all bank debt – a move copper-fastened by the EU-IMF deal. And the people of Ireland have been warned that default will be punished severely. FG and Labour are committed to the EU-IMF deal, which includes large-scale privatisations (including water) and a 5.8 per cent interest rate on the €85 billion loan facility – punitively higher than the current European Central Bank base rate of 1.25 per cent. Yet the crisis has still further to go, as personal mortgage defaults rise by the month.
So while the FF defeat, along with the wipe out of its coalition partner the Greens, is punishment for its actions, support for FF will re-emerge at the next election due to the willingness of FG and Labour to drive through FF’s budget plan, as part of the EU-IMF deal. A FF revival will be tempered by being out of office however, since a significant factor in vote getting by them (and FG and some Independents) is the ability to "deliver" for the constituency by lobbying and manipulation of state spending – for the benefit of local constituencies. At the same time, mass unemployment and the deflationary wage cuts and tax rises, service cuts and privatisations that FG and Labour are planning are sure to provoke mass resistance and open a political space to the left of Labour.
Labour Party and Sinn Féin
The new Dáil (Irish parliament) will have its strongest ever group to the left of Labour: more than 20 TDs when Sinn Féin, the ULA and left-wing independents are included. The Labour Party however, has gone into coalition with FG – as it said it would before the election. Labour's program for government includes a commitment to stick to the EU-IMF bailout deal – which means cutting 25,000 public sector jobs over the next three years. And as expected, Labour got the "social" ministries and will lead the campaign of cuts in social, education and public sector jobs. This will lead to a repeat of Labour’s previous experience of coalition with the right: a short period in office followed by electoral annihilation.
While support for Sinn Féin has grown, a big breakthrough in the 26 Counties has not happened. Sinn Féin has so-far failed to capture the radicalisation and in the eyes of many are not to be trusted. For some people, Sinn Féin’s past record of military activity in the Six Counties is an issue; but for others, its willingness to go into government with Ian Paisley’s DUP (and carry out cuts, rather than resign) and an apparent willingness to go into coalition with FF or possibly FG is an issue (Sinn Féin declared itself to be "ready for government" in 2007). In constituencies where Sinn Féin and candidates of the left were both standing, the competition has been close.
So a new historical situation is emerging: a decline of mass support for the parties of the right (FF and FG); and a growth of support for the parties of the left (including Labour – perceived at present as being of the left). In contrast to many other European countries, we have not seen the emergence of far-right or explicitly racist parties – despite the presence of large numbers of migrant workers and unemployment rates of over 15 per cent. Support for Independent candidates likewise indicates a decline of trust in existing parties.
United Left Alliance
The ULA’s emergence is therefore very timely. Initiated in November 2010, it is an alliance of three groups: the Socialist Party (SP), the People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA – in which the Socialist Workers Party is the dominant organisation) and the Tipperary Unemployed Workers Action Group. These groups realised that the socioeconomic crisis was creating a political space to the left of Labour in which socialists could begin to build a small electoral base. They also had some prior success in getting socialists elected to local councils, and Joe Higgins of the SP elected as a TD and later as a member of the European Parliament (MEP).
The baseline for agreement was and remains a commitment never to go into coalition with FF or FG, either at local or national level. An electoral platform to challenge the crisis – whereby the rich rather than the poor should pay for the crisis – formed the basis for an electoral slate (see www.unitedleftalliance.org). Nineteen ULA-endorsed candidates stood in almost half the country’s constituencies in the general election, with five being elected (four in Dublin and one in South Tipperary).
Having begun as an electoral alliance, all groups agreed before the election to continue working together afterwards and to move towards forming a new workers’ party. There was, and continues to be, a debate on the tempo of this process; and on the political basis of such a new party.
Challenges for ULA
A ULA convention is to be held on June 25, 2011, where the next steps on moving the process forward will be discussed. At present the ULA is a work in progress: a series of meetings are being organised countrywide from which it is hoped branches will emerge, and on which an emergent activist organisation would be based.
My view is that a functioning organisation is needed quickly, both to begin to organise those activists who want to mobilise resistance right now and in preparation for the major struggles we think are likely to break out. While the existing program of the ULA is adequate, it needs to be broadened to deal with other areas of politics – like health care and education. On the political program, I believe a new party should take the side (and champion) the working class and any oppressed group in any conflict with the bosses and the state. In that way a new party would accumulate its program through struggles and debate, with experienced socialists having a role in elaborating policy and proposals.
More problematic in the short term is how the existing groups organise as currents in a new party. At present, popular dissatisfaction arising from the economic crisis has only been expressed electorally. There has been little mass action, largely due to the compliance of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions with the politics of the Labour Party and the absence of a significant challenge to the ICTU leadership. Meanwhile the left, while it has gained electorally, does not have the social weight to mobilise mass opposition. So the numbers engaging in struggles is relatively small, meaning that the numbers likely to join the ULA in the short term is small.
This means that the SP and SWP have a disproportionate weight in the emergent ULA. Placing the creation of a new organisation in its own right, over and above their own, is a challenge to them both because their tradition is one of recruitment to their own groups. In this context, the production of an independent publication for the ULA – to give expression to our views and an independent identity to the organisation – remains an argument to be won. In the longer term a publication, and an influx of new activists, is how the tendency towards the ULA remaining federal – an alliance of independent groups as against a more organisationally homogenous formation – can be overcome.
Other pressures on the ULA include the difficulties in getting the five TDs working together as a coherent group, with initiatives in the Dáil relating to activities outside; and the establishment of mechanisms of accountability of elected representatives to the organisation as a whole. Some of us are painfully aware of the tragic evolution of Tommy Sheridan and of the need to maintain close links between the parliamentary group and the membership. This is particularly the case in Ireland, where there is a long (and corrupting) tradition of clientism -- with pressure on TDs to keep vociferous local people happy.
The recent general election was a great step forward for the left in Ireland: the five ULA TDs get much more airtime to promote the ideas of the left (due to the speaking rules of the Dáil) than many Labour backbenchers – much to the chagrin of the latter. But it is the next election which will provide the real opportunity for an electoral breakthrough – when disaffection with Labour will be profound. In the meantime we must demonstrate to those workers who come into struggle that we can be a valuable resource in their battles – providing a platform, organisation and leadership when appropriate. This is the challenge facing the ULA. We welcome the support and solidarity of all socialists and internationalists in this challenge.
Current Internal Debates within the ULA
http://www.politics.ie/united-left-alliance/162279-current-internal-deb…
This is a discussion on Current Internal Debates within the ULA within the United Left Alliance forums, part of the Political Parties category on Politics.ie.
Internal Debates
There are currently several debates within the ULA on the formation of the ULA and the direction which it should take.The main debates centre around.
1.How broad should the ULA be ideologically.
2.If and when should the ULA become a political party rather than loose alliance
3.Whether to raise corporation tax and how much it should be raised by.
How broad should the ULA be ideologically
The SWP would favour a broader ULA which would have policies to the left of Sinn Féin and the Labour Party but not explicitly socialist whereas the Socialist Party would favour policies which are explicitly socialist.
If and when should ULA become political party
SWP would favour the alliance becoming a political party as soon as possible whereas Socialist Party would favour a more gradual approach
Whether to raise corporation tax and how much it should be raised by
SP and SWP would support a raise in corporation tax but the Tipperary Workers and Unemployed Action Group would not support a raise in corporation tax as their area relies on multinationals.
Links
United Left Alliance must argue for socialist policies | Socialist Party
http://www.socialistparty.net/comment/678-united-left-alliance-must-arg…
ULA membership drive… « The Cedar Lounge Revolution
http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/ula-membership-drive/#comme…
Build the ULA, build the fight back! | Socialist Party
http://www.socialistparty.net/component/content/article/642-build-the-u…-
United Left Alliance - What kind of party? | swp.ie
http://www.swp.ie/reviews/united-left-alliance-what-kind-party/4331
United Left Alliance “A Work in Progress” – Steps Towards a New Party « Tomás Ó Flatharta
http://tomasoflatharta.com/2011/05/20/united-left-alliance-a-work-in-pr…
Ireland: Dublin West by-election – Labour wins but now the coali
Ireland: Dublin West by-election – Labour wins but now the coalition must be broken!
Written by Fightback (Ireland) Thursday, 03 November 2011
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Last Thursday’s by election in Dublin West came down to a three horse race between Councillor Patrick Nulty of Labour who won and Councillor Ruth Coppinger of the Socialist Party who came third, while Fianna Fáil (FF) squeezed into second place after a tie for second and third place – on the basis that they had more first preference votes.
Patrick Nulty
This is the first time since 1982 that a government party have won a by election for a Dáil seat. On the same day, Michael D Higgins a veteran Labour figure won the election for President of Ireland. Labour is still polling well, despite the fact that they are in coalition with Fine Gael, and despite the fact that they are responsible for implementing the austerity measures alongside their coalition partners. If Labour were to break with the coalition and were to fight on a clear socialist programme of opposition to the austerity it is entirely possible that they could win a majority or form a Labour and Left Government.
Both Fine Gael and Labour lost a certain percentage of votes in the by election, which illustrates that despite the assertion that the government was enjoying a honeymoon period, the general political and economic conditions are undermining their support. But as the table below demonstrates, Fine Gael lost almost 3 times as many votes as Labour.
General Election February 2011
Total First Preference Votes %
By Election October 2011
First Preference Votes %
% Change
Labour
29.0
24.3
-4.7
Fianna Fáil
16.6
21.7
+5.1
Socialist Party
19.0
21.1
+2.1
Fine Gael
27.2
14.7
-12.5
Sinn Féin
6.1
8.9
+ 2.8
Green Party
1.4
5.0
+3.6
Others
0.7
4.3
+3.6
Also significant is the pattern of transfers. Labour gained almost three times as many transfers from the SP than were received by FF and Labour also
Round 5 transfers from the 3rd Place Socialist Party candidate to Labour and FG
46.7% second preference SP to Labour
17.4% second preference SP to FG
Round 4 transfers from the 4th Place Fine Gael candidate to Labour, FG and the SP
47.8% second preference FG to Labour
19.4% second preference FF to FG
8.5% second preference FG to SP
FF made a certain comeback, but that was fairly inevitable given how far they had fallen in February. Labour lost some votes, but performed very well in the transfers.
It is evident that there was also a battle on the left between Patrick Nulty and Ruth Coppinger. Both candidates identify as socialists, with Nulty having lead the opposition to Labour going into coalition with Fine Gael, while Coppinger sees Labour as a bourgeois party that simply needs to be replaced by a new party.
According to the Socialist Party, Patrick Nulty will be a prisoner on the Labour back benches, while according to Labour adding one more TD to the ULA (United Left Alliance) group of five TD’s would not have made a huge difference either.
In terms of their programme, unfortunately, neither Patrick Nulty nor Ruth Coppinger was calling for Labour to break the coalition with Fine Gael. While it’s clear where Patrick Nulty stands on this, as he led the opposition to Coalition at the Special Labour Party Conference in March, the fact that he was silent on the matter during the election campaign is very significant. Certainly Patrick Nulty will come under enormous pressure in the Dáil to toe the line and stick to party discipline.
It was also very noticeable that the Socialist Party stayed quiet on the issue of Labour’s involvement in the coalition. This is worthy of some consideration.
The ULA performed well in February’s General Election winning five seats, but Labour doubled its vote and had some 37 TD’s elected. The vast majority of people who voted Labour – including in Dublin West – are workers. The Labour Party, in spite of its policies, continues in large measure to be seen as the traditional party of the Irish working class. The fact that almost half of the SP’s second preference votes went to Labour against 17.4% which went to FF illustrates that Labour still has important roots in the working class.
Meanwhile, the ULA is reliant on a handful of well known individuals. Ruth Coppinger did well in this election, although she is a sitting councillor, she was heavily supported on the doorstep by Joe Higgins, who has a very large personal vote. Certainly the SP vote was significant, especially considering that Michael D. Higgins walked the Presidential Election on the same day.
However, we would argue that if the task of the United Left Alliance and the Socialist Party is genuinely to create a new mass workers’ party in Ireland, then the issue of the Labour Party is really not one that can be ignored. In truth the real task of Marxists on either side of the border and internationally is to win the mass of workers to the programme of the Socialist revolution. To do this, however, it is first necessary to break the hold of reformism over the working class. That means fighting to replace the reformist leadership of the Trade Unions and also of the Labour Party.
The next period is likely to see Labour coming under increasing pressure as they attempt to impose more austerity. As we explained recently:
“At Labour’s Special Conference on March 6th, which ratified the decision to enter Government as the junior partner to Fine Gael, much was made of the role that Labour would play in moderating the political programme of Fine Gael and in defending the most disadvantaged in society. The argument used against the left; who argued that Labour should lead a principled opposition to Fine Gael, was that Labour could not wait until 2016, but must make a difference now.
“The problem with that argument however, is that unless the Labour leadership were to base themselves upon a clear intransigent socialist programme which posed an alternative to capitalism the Labour leaders would be trapped by the crisis in the economy and the strictures and impositions of the Troika. Coalition with Fine Gael of course would have been impossible. The only correct strategy would have been to fight for a majority of Labour and the left.
“What’s left instead is “reformism without reforms”, with Labour playing second fiddle to Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan, but taking the responsibility for cuts and attacks on working people and the most vulnerable people in society, through their “control” of key government jobs. First and foremost in this are of course Brendan Howlin, Public Expenditure Minister and Joan Burton Social Protection Minister.
“Far from defending the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in society, the two ministers are taking the lead in what is a vicious assault on precisely the people least able to afford them.” (Fightback: Joan Burton attacks unemployed youth 18/7/2011)
Labour has fared badly in coalitions in the past, collapsing to its lowest point in 1987 after a five year coalition with FG. The objective conditions today are far worse than in the 1980’s. In the 1980’s, however, sections of Labour’s ranks moved sharply to the left in opposition to the coalition.
It is not sufficient to merely write off the Labour Party as another bourgeois party. What is necessary is a political struggle to break the coalition and to fight for a majority Labour and Left Government. However, that line is out of the question if you consider, as do the SP, that Labour is just another bourgeois party that can be ignored. In the past when the current leadership of the Socialist Party were, like ourselves, part of the Militant Tendency, Joe Higgins and others did fight for Labour to break the coalition. The perspective that they held at the time was for a big development of Labour once the mass of workers moved and a swing to the left if it went into opposition. As Joe Higgins and Ted Gannon wrote in the 100th issue of the Irish Militant in 1982:
“Labour must now move to reject the coalition strategy. In the Dail they should put forward their own nominee for Taoiseach on the Party’s socialist policies of nationalisation of the banks and major industry and ask for support from those T.D.s who support these policies. They should vote against both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s nominations for Taoiseach.
“It is clear that the members of the Labour Party and the affiliated trade unions are now more opposed to coalition than ever before. This is a major step forward. There must be no move by left-wing Party members to leave the Party. Neither should there be any move by trade unions to disaffiliate.
“The task posed is to step up the struggle in the Party to ensure that it is won back to the ideas of its founders James Connolly and Jim Larkin. The opportunity for success in this is now greater than it has been for many years.”
This article was written just after the 1982 General Election when a new coalition government had just been formed after Labour had been in Coalition with Fine Gael on two previous occasions, 1973–77 and 1981-82. Opposition had been building in the party for some time. We would argue that this article is fundamentally correct. However, now the position of the Socialist Party leaders is 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
In most of the countries in Europe there is more than one major workers’ party; usually one from the Social Democratic tradition and a Communist Party. In Ireland Labour is relatively small, while there are many left groups, including the Communist Party, the SP, SWP and other smaller groups, as well as the Left Republicans, such as The Workers Party, éirígí and the IRSP. It is quite likely that under conditions where the economy is in crisis and Labour is in coalition delivering austerity that the left could grow.
However, that is far from being an automatic process. It would require a dialogue with Labour workers and a friendly approach. The Left would need to counterpose the ideas of Marxism to those of reformism and win the confidence of workers.
When shortly after the Russian Revolution Lenin and Trotsky argued for the young new Communist Parties to enter into a United Front with the Social Democratic parties, it was to find a route to the working class and to fight for Marxist ideas. Their advice was to patiently explain their ideas.
In a later example in Wales in 1945, the Revolutionary Communist Party – the precursor of the Militant Tendency – stood a candidate against Labour when Labour was in coalition with the Tories in a national government during the World War. They called for Labour to break with the coalition and to fight for socialist policies. The RCP argued clearly for their own revolutionary ideas and for a vote for the RCP, but they also called for a Labour vote in every constituency where they weren’t standing and for Labour to adopt a socialist programme.
In the Irish electoral system that same general position can be summed up as calling for a second preference vote for Labour and for them to break the coalition and fight for socialist policies. They could even have called for a vote for the ULA and made an appeal to Patrick Nulty to fight for Labour to break the Coalition. The SP have expressly opposed giving Labour the second preference vote, while the SWP the other major player in the ULA have taken a better position. The SP position effectively builds a brick wall between themselves and Labour voters, when what is required is a dialogue.
The other key element, but the most important is the question of the ideas of the organisation. The programme of the SP in this election was a watered down version of the programme of Militant in the past – when, that is, the comrades were actually inside the Labour Party fighting against coalition and in favour of socialist policies. A Socialist alternative needs to be clear and unequivocal.
Ruth Coppinger’s election manifesto called for Democratic Public Control of the Banks and for a Socialist Ireland. But what type of democratic control of the banks? In the past Militant argued for Democratic Workers’Control of the Banks and big industry, also for a Socialist United Ireland. These are important points. In the same edition of Militant from March 1982 that we quoted earlier, John Throne called for Labour to fight for its founding aims and objectives, that is “a 32 county Socialist Workers’ Republic”. The present SP line is far less clear than this and does not clearly identify how much of the country the demand for a socialist Ireland actually applies to. Is the SP still in favour of a 32 county Socialist Workers’ Republic of Ireland?
Ruth also called for an “economic bailout that would help ordinary people in Ireland and throughout Europe”. Who would provide an economic bailout for ordinary people? Capitalism is in crisis. The only guarantee for working people is that capitalism means more austerity. Without a complete break with capitalism there is no prospect for an end to austerity for the foreseeable future. In the past Militant argued for a massive investment in a huge scheme of public works that would mop up unemployment and get the economy moving again, but it also argued that in and of itself this would be insufficient without a socialist plan of production. There is no prospect of “an economic bailout that would help ordinary people” on the basis of capitalism.
Ruth’s manifesto calls for a 1% increase in corporation tax and for an end to tax exemptions as well as a 10% wealth tax. While these are left reformist policies, in reality they don’t challenge capitalism. They are essentially reformist demands that most middle of the road Labour Party members would support.
Meanwhile over the next few years it is likely that pressure will grow within the Labour Party and the trade unions to break with the coalition. Under those conditions it is likely that the left will begin to re-emerge within the Party.
The by-election on Thursday was very significant in demonstrating that there is big potential for the left in Ireland – both in terms of the Labour vote and the vote to its left. The crisis of capitalism is creating the conditions where all classes and all political tendencies will be put to the test. The key demand for the left in Ireland must be for Labour to break the coalition and fight for a Labour and Left Government with a Socialist Programme.