Labour and the Irish Times MRBI Poll

In the run up to the 1992 general election I almost choked on my food at a dinner party in a very fashionable part of Dublin as some of the other guests sang the praises of Dick Spring. It was not that I did not share their opinions but rather that people like them would never have even in their wildest dreams consider voting for the Labour Party previously. But consider the context. We were emerging from the deep recession f the eighties. Fianna Fáil and the PD’s had slashed and burned their way through the social services of the country for the previous few years. Interest rates were rocketing and it seemed like everyone was at the pin of their collar. Well everyone except Charlie Haughey.

Labour did well at the subsequent election and in retrospect did well in government. Ruairí Quinn was by all accounts perhaps the best minister of Finance the country ever had. However in the 1997 election the Labour Party was once again punished for going into a coalition although in fairness this was partly due to going into government initially with Fianna Fáil which, it is clear now, was a major strategic mistake.

So you can forgive me now the rue smile when I heard the results of the Irish Times poll this morning and I am sure that there were similar smiles amongst the Labour Party themselves. My guess is that those dinner party guests will be once again considering voting Labour although this time they seem to be joined by many more non traditional Labour voters. I just wonder why they are now supporting the Labour Party and what they expect the Labour Party to do.

Eamon Gilmore has been playing a brilliant game and he is supported by some of the most competent people in Irish politics. However if and when they come to government they will have their traditional task of undoing years of Fianna Fáil economic incompetence and this will involve hard and unpopular decisions. Irish voters are intent on punishing Fianna Fáil for decimating the economy, putting tens of thousands on the dole and cutting the incomes of tens of thousands of others but if they want a real transformation in the economy to a more fair and stable society it is not enough to vote Labour out of revenge.

This is where the Labour party must like DeValera look into its heart. The vision of Irish society shared by traditional Labour supporters is not one that can be achieved by a few years in office every generation or so. It is not one that can be achieved by tweaking a few aspects of the economy here and there. It is a long term project. Now that the Labour Party has the ear of a significant section of the Irish electorate it must shrug off the role of a protest party that has been assigned to it when the economy goes skew ways. Eamon Gilmore, Joan Burton et al must begin to talk more loudly about that broad left wing vision of a fairer more equal society. It is all very well, indeed it is correct, to attack the plutocracy and their political puppets that has pillaged the economy for its own benefit for the last thirteen years but should Eamon Gilmore be Taoiseach or Tanáiste after that election and he remains in office for a full five years that plutocracy or more correctly that kleptocracy will still be there. It will take more than five years to dislodge them. That is why it is essential now for the Labour Party to consolidate its support not merely as a tactic for the next election but as a strategy that will take it to the centre of Irish politics.

What should that strategy be? Well part of it is organisation and recruitment in every town, village and suburb in Ireland. That I believe is under way but more importantly it is to articulate that strategic vision of a fairer and more equal Ireland and local organisation is an important way of doing this as there is such an anti left wing bias in the media. It must also mobilise all the 21st century channels of communication social networks, Twitter, blogging etc. It is interesting that in the Irish Times MRBI poll Labour support was not great amongst younger voters. The critical strategy might be to hang on to their courage and finally force that coalition of the two civil war parties but that would mean postponing a crack of government for five years but it could mean within our lifetime a Labour government

The election of Mary Robinson and the Labour Party success of the early 90’s were described as historic but the subsequent years have put them into perspective and they now appear not to be as historic and mould breaking as they first appeared although no one can deny the changes in Irish society that flowed from them but hardly of any of them were economic. There is another once in a life time opportunity for Labour and indeed the broad left to make its mark. It should not be squandered for short term electoral gain.