The outcome of the presidential election with the victory of the independent left candidate
Catherine Connolly is to be strongly welcomed. Connolly captured the mood of the people
with her message of a new, a different “Republic”. She presented a positive vision of a
different Ireland, an Ireland of equality, of justice and a united sovereign Ireland, which
resonated with thousands of our people, particularly with young people. She also used her
campaign to use, promote and encourage the use of Gaeilge, which many young people
enthusiastically grasped.
Over the course of her campaign, she highlighted and strongly emphasised the importance
of retaining Irish neutrality and the Triple Lock. This stood in stark contrast to the
establishment, which had placed the removal of the Triple Lock and living up to our
“European responsibilities” as central to its election strategy. Anti-communism was
attempted as an issue by some elements in some sections of the media, both print and on
social media.
Her message was totally distinct and different from the political establishment and their mass
media; she also focused on grassroots organising. She secured the highest first-preference
votes of any of the previous Uachtaráin na hÉireann, winning 914,143 first-preference votes,
or 63.4% of the votes cast, defeating Humphreys, the candidate for Fine Gael and the
establishment, who secured 29.5% of the vote.
The Communist Party of Ireland supported her candidacy and encouraged our activists to be
actively involved in canvassing across working-class communities to win support. We also
worked to get a number of trade unions to endorse her candidacy.
A very significant and important sector that came out to vote for her was the working class,
and in particular, large numbers of young people.
It also needs to be stated that Catherine Connolly’s strong stand on the genocide in Gaza
and her solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people was also recognised by the Irish people.
This was in stark contrast to the inaction of the Irish government and its complicity with the
Zionist genocide by its unwillingness to take any serious action against the Zionist state, at
the same time allowing US military to use Shannon Airport and the Irish airspace to transport
weapons for use in the genocide.
While Connolly’s election is a very important and significant victory for the left and
democratic forces, there is still a lot of work to be done before a left government can be
secured. Some 213,738 (12.9%) people spoiled their votes, plus over half the electorate did
not vote. It is clear that the combined vote for Connolly, the spoiled votes, and the non-voting
electorate represents significant opposition to the establishment.
Many of those who spoiled their vote came from working-class communities where poverty,
precarious employment, and low pay are endemic, and where public services like health and
education are crumbling. These are communities where the housing crisis is having the
greatest impact.
They are communities that the far-right, racist, and criminal forces have been attempting to
build political support in or to control. Many of these communities, which experience deep
social deprivation, are expressing deep unease due to the additional pressure placed on the
limited public services that they rely upon by the growing number of migrants and asylum
seekers. It is a competition for scarce community resources.
The narrative being pushed by reactionary forces within these communities is that, in
general, their communities are being denied services because migrants and refugees
receive better services and treatment from the state than what they and their families receive
from that same state. They experience neglect and are ignored by the political institutions
that they are told to believe in, look to, and respect. They are told that Ireland is one of the
richest countries in the world, yet they can’t get medical treatment when they need it, nor the
many services they and their families require. The right has sown fear and confusion and
exploited those fears.
Many are concerned by what they perceive as very different cultural values, either real or
imaginary, from their own. For too long, the working class has been spoken down to rather
than listened to. The economic system of capitalism is at the heart and source of our
problems.
The left needs to engage more with the class and to listen to its concerns, including
addressing those concerns regarding immigration and asylum, rather than lecture it, if it is to
build the forces to secure a left-led government.
The future success of a left government depends upon its links with the working class and
the mobilisation of the working class if we genuinely want to bring about fundamental
economic, social, and political change to secure and advance the interests of working
people. Capitalism will not be voted out of existence. Now is the time to celebrate, but also to
plan for the future.
