Fergus Finlay: Three words for Labour on government formation — Don’t. Don’t. Don’t
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Most of what I want to say today is about my own party. Labour faced an uphill battle in the election just over, still haunted by recent history. But they surmounted those challenges and did much better than most people expected. Ivana Bacik provided great leadership throughout, and especially as the campaign went on — her interview on the RTÉ News in the last week of the campaign was one of the best I’ve ever heard.
And Marie Sherlock of Labour has done the entire country an enormous service by fighting off Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch. Hero of the Year in my book, that’s Marie Sherlock.
But before I talk any more about Labour, there are several things to celebrate about the election that haven’t really been mentioned enough. That doesn’t include the low turnout, which is something to really worry about.
This was a peaceful and by and large respectful election. If you were writing about it a year ago, one of the things you’d be most worried about was the element of hate. There has been a huge build-up of far-right sentiment, especially on social media, in Ireland, and we all know the amount of anti-immigrant sentiment that has fuelled bitterness and alienation. Not a single one of the so-called “leaders” of all that vicious stuff featured anywhere as the count unfolded. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the people of Ireland sent a very strong message to the far right in this election. That might just make us unique in Europe and our increasingly unstable world.
Throughout the campaign and the counting, the fortunes of Sinn Féin were reported on and analysed till everyone was blue in the face. However, once the seats began to be filled and the conversation turned to government formation, suddenly Sinn Féin seemed to disappear from the conversation.
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Across the media, it seems, everyone has accepted the right of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to simply exclude Sinn Féin from any consideration. They did that the last time too, and I wrote then it was an insult to the democratic outcome. I feel that even more strongly now.
You know I’m not a Sinn Féin supporter or voter. And in the end, they had a very poor election. When the main opposition party drops a fifth of its national vote, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say they face an existential crisis now. They weren’t in government, they had nothing to defend, and still they end up with nothing to show — the only reason they may have made seat gains is because their candidate strategy was so appalling the last time.
But still they have a mandate. Not a mandate to govern, but a mandate to be consulted and involved in negotiation.
On the other hand, Labour struggled to be heard throughout the entire campaign. The party ran great candidates, had honest and decent leadership, and projected strong values throughout. But they were often ignored.
Suddenly, as the votes started to be totted up, everyone wanted to talk about Labour. The Greens are dead, long live Labour, was the subliminal message from FF and FG. We’re probably going to need a third leg on this stool of ours, was the word, and who better to provide it than the Labour Party. Old friends, after all, might be best.
Advice for Labour
I don’t have any right to expect the Labour leadership to listen to me. I’ve been active and involved in every election campaign since, believe it or not, 1981. But this time I struggled with bulging discs in my back, and I made little or no contribution as a result. But if they were prepared to listen to an ordinary member, who has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years, I would like to say only three words to them directly about any possible role in government formation. Don’t. Don’t. And don’t.
In your hearts you all understand this. FG and FF don’t need you — they can make up the numbers in all sorts of ways. But they’d like you. That’s because they think of you as responsible, nationally minded, committed to stability and the long haul. Those are qualities they admire for only one reason. You’ll guarantee them a full term and make life easier for them.
And if there is a huge economic downturn, and they have to reverse engines and start making hard decisions, you know who will be blamed. You will — because you failed to stop them. You’ll work hard (because Labour always does) to mitigate the worst decisions, but nobody will know about your unstinting behind the scenes work. Because it’s behind the scenes.
Every time Labour was called into government in the past, there were pressing reasons to say yes. Sometimes government formation was simply impossible without Labour’s participation.
But in the 80s, 90s, and after the crash, there were terrible messes to be cleaned up. Labour cleaned them up, and as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Labour was duly punished
There is no reason to say yes now, even though Labour won’t escape without getting lectures on how it has a national duty to prop up Simon or Micheál. I can’t tell you how much I used to hate those Irish Times editorials telling Labour to know its place. They always read as if they were written by people who believed Labour voters didn’t know how to hold a teacup properly.
But there is another much more important reason to say no.
Labour and the Social Democrats, whatever about personality differences, share more or less identical values — a commitment to fight against inequality, determination to ensure accountability and responsiveness in much better public services, a recognition of the vital role the state must play. Both parties are committed to honest and transparent politics. Labour was the bigger of the two, but it isn’t now. That ought not to matter. Between them they have a chance to do something really historic, something that could resonate throughout Europe and the world. They have a chance to begin rebuilding the social democratic project.
Throughout its history social democracy has led campaigns for fairness and equality for working people, for people who live on the margins, for groups of people who have been discriminated against. It was social democracy that founded the welfare state, led the fight for equal pay and rights for women, built the whole idea of social capital within communities, and insisted on the right of workers to join trade unions and be represented.
Social democracy now can and must lead the fight for a right to affordable and decent housing, for reformed and accountable public services, for dignity and a social contract with older, infirm, and disabled people. Economic and social campaigns. For rights and responsibilities.
But only if they work together. Only if they respect each other as equals. It’s a fantastic five-year opportunity. Holly Cairns and Ivana Bacik can build, first a meaningful and effective opposition, and then an inspiring government platform. There’ll be many contests ahead, and they need to find a way to agree to take them on together. I can’t imagine anything more exciting than that.