The outcome of the general election in the 26 counties will do nothing to solve the multiple crises of homelessness, health provision, rising prices and precarious employment facing many urban and rural working-class communities. Nor will it deal with the continuing erosion of democracy which sees the Irish government unable and unwilling to sever economic, cultural, and political links with the genocidal Israeli state, because of pressure from the EU and the US.
The election was contested by ten political parties, but they all had the same economic programme. There was no challenge to the existing economic system, they only differed in how to manage it. These parties all accepted, to a greater or lesser degree, primacy of the capitalist market to develop the economy, build necessary infrastructure, and provide jobs, homes, heating, healthcare and childcare for the people.
The Green Party failed to learn the lessons from the Labour Party’s annihilation after its stint as a junior coalition partner with Fine Gael in 2011, and were equally punished, losing all but one of their seats. Regardless, the policies advanced by the Green Party – or any other party – are wholly insufficient to deal with the climate catastrophe the world is experiencing. Given the failure of any party, but particularly the “Green” party, to link the parasitic system of capitalism to the ever-increasing extreme weather events globally leaves us no worse off following the election. Solutions to climate breakdown cannot be realised under some form of “green capitalism”: it must be socialism or extinction!
Parties and independents from the far-right failed to make any significant gains in the elections, which is testament to the grassroots activists who have worked tirelessly to counter the dangerous propaganda spread, mostly in working class communities. We must not become complacent however, the rise of the far-right and other reactionaries in Europe and North America will continue to influence forces in Ireland who seek to cause division in our communities, ultimately distracting us from the real enemy: the capitalist ruling class.
The incumbent parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were quick to warn of a threat to Ireland in the form of a trade war once Donald Trump is returned to the White House. While the threat may indeed be real, they did not mention why Ireland is so vulnerable to US trade or foreign policy decisions. The reliance on US foreign direct investment and the corporation tax raised from same has exposed Ireland to severe economic risks if those taxes are reduced or lost. The policies of successive governments to entice FDI rather than focusing on investment in domestic industries has created the conditions which could result in another massive economic crash. As resorting to disastrous policies is the modus operandi of both FF and FG, who will presumably make up the majority of the 34th Dáil, we can expect bailouts for the bankers, developers, and speculators, along with austerity for the people.
The dominant capitalist ideology determines how people respond to the crises affecting them. A sizeable section of society, including many working-class voters, are content with the existing economic system. About 30% of jobs are dependent on US investment in the country and these workers would view any change in the economic model as a threat to their material interests. It is also in the material self-interest of a large section of voters that housing prices continue to rise. Mortgaged to the hilt, they need prices to rise. For workers with no pension, their home is their only asset for retirement, and for others, it is needed for elder care, the oxymoronic “Fair Deal” Scheme. The political establishment and the state have forged many mechanisms to control people and their capacity to buck the system. The current system suits workers who already have a home. Increased household debt has also been proven to be connected to reduced industrial militancy in the unionised working class.
The electoral system is not designed to deliver the solutions to the problems of capitalism, it is merely designed to maintain capitalist control of society. True to their nature as the social conscience of capitalism, the “left” parties failed to offer any real alternative to the existing capitalist order. Aware that, irrespective of the outcome of the election, there would be no change in their economic situation, 40% of the electorate stayed at home, leading to the lowest turnout since 1923. Neutrality, the national question, sovereignty, and economic autonomy did not feature in the election.
The task before the anti-imperialist left is the same as it was before the election: we need to challenge capitalism and articulate a socialist alternative to the capitalist economic system. This will not be done in the Dáil but in communities, unions, workplaces, colleges, schools and wherever working-class people gather and organise. Nor will the radical and economic, social, and cultural changes required be carried though within the establishment’s electoral cycle. The working-class cannot afford the luxury of waiting on politicians to “deliver” economic and national freedom. We must organise as a class to overthrow the whole stinking corpse of capitalism and its corrupt political system.
