I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about not blogging on the Irish election, but only a bit; unlike Maria, I’ve mostly lost touch with Irish politics. But for those who want to follow what’s happening minute to minute, “Irish Election”:http://www.irishelection.com/ is yer only man (and indeed its level of technological sophistication seems to be “impressing”:http://www.techpresident.com/node/364 the tech-politics folks in the US too).
Update: It looks as though Michael McDowell, who was Deputy Prime Minister (and more to the point, Maria’s and my uncle) has lost his seat and is “leaving public life”:http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0525/election6.html. While we had very different political positions on a host of things (he’s strongly to the right), I’m very sorry about this, and not only because of my obvious personal affection for him – he brought a level of intellectual and argumentative clarity to a political culture that has all too often been based on ambiguity and obfuscation, and did more than anyone else to hold Sinn Fein’s feet to the fire when they looked likely to enter normal party politics on the nod and the wink.
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Daragh McDowell 05.25.07 at 9:43 pm
I’m sitting here watching it man. Even his opponents on the web are giving him his dues.
Maria 05.25.07 at 9:51 pm
It’s a sickener. Goes to show what you get for calling FF on corruption, even to the extent he did.
At least SF are getting it in the teeth.
Mark 05.25.07 at 9:55 pm
You can also watch it in all its glory on RTE here
http://www.rte.ie/news/elections2007/thehub_live.html
Like Henry, my interest in Irish politics has waned over the years. It does seem that the PDs in general have had a rough day today. I wonder how much the death of Charlie Haughey had to do with this. I always viewed the PDs as a non-Haughey FF clone (I suppose based on the role of Des O’Malley.) On the other hand Bertie Ahern (and “Paddy the Plasterer”) seem to be carrying on in Charlie’s tradition.
Joe Higgins is also a big loss. He always struck me as another honest politician who stuck to his principles (easier, of course, when you know that you have no chance of being asked to join a government.)
Henry 05.25.07 at 10:18 pm
I hadn’t seen that Joe Higgins had gone – he is a loss. It’s a bad day for the PDs, but it isn’t a great day at all for the Irish left either.
BrendanH 05.25.07 at 11:00 pm
Garret FitzGerald on the radio, discussing Sinn Féin’s poor showing and more specifically Gerry Adams’ apparent lack of familiarity with the issues, opined that while British–Irish relations had improved immensely, it hadn’t quite gotten to the stage where it made sense to have a Westminster MP participate in a televised Dáil election debate.
Daragh McDowell 05.26.07 at 10:59 am
God its looking like two-party Civil War politics has returned. Its an FF/FG Dail with a smattering of Labour, with just 15 TDs outside the old parties. What’s worse, it looks like SF, despite their well deserved hammering could hold the balance, that is unless the Rabitte bolts the hatch.
DC 05.26.07 at 11:31 am
“Goes to show what you get for calling FF on corruption”
Maria, you must be joking. If FF corruption was your concern, then why give McDowell points for…propping them up? Rather his loss shows what you get for alienating most people by coming across as an arrogant, vindictive, meglomaniac ideologue.
Yes he did the state some service in giving Sinn Fein a boot up the arse. And yes he did offer much-needed intellectual clarity. But he also pulled what is hard to see as other than a nasty exploitation of xenophobia with his otherwise pointless citizenship referendum.
Daragh McDowell 05.26.07 at 11:52 am
A referendum which 80% of the people voted for, and served to bring Irish citizenship and immigration law roughly into line with Canada’s. Now I know the Canucks have an awful reputation as Hitlerite racial purists, but still…
DC 05.26.07 at 12:43 pm
Nice work Daragh! Totally refutes my accusing your namesake of Hitlerite racial purism!
DC 05.26.07 at 12:46 pm
But seriously folks, I described the referendum, which coincidentally coincided with the midterm elections, as “pointless” in so far as it made no substantial change to immigration/citizenship law whatsoever.
It was on the other hand, as you noticed, quite popular for some reason or another.
simon 05.26.07 at 1:03 pm
DC the point of the referendum was to tie up a hole in the constitution made by the Supmere court in 2002. When it ruled irish born kids could be deported if their parents were not irish.
Daragh McDowell 05.26.07 at 1:04 pm
What are you talking about? It made a significant and crucial change, in that birth on the island of Ireland (a clause in the constitution written to provide for an eventual 32 county Republic, but left a loophole open for exploitation) no longer entitled one to citizenship. How is that not significant? On what planet are you living?
DC 05.26.07 at 2:29 pm
Simon (and Daragh),
That ruling is precisely why the referendum was pointless. Because it (quite bizarrely) did indeed effectively rule that “irish born kids could be deported if their parents were not irish”.
So exactly what was the “loophole open for exploitation”? What was its significance?
ejh 05.26.07 at 4:21 pm
It does seem that the PDs in general have had a rough day today.
Marvellous news. Rarely has there been a more obnoxious and arrogant bunch of individuals in modern Irish politics. The pursuit of economics that meant more and more good things for people like them: and if you don’t like it you’re a dinosaur or a thug. The party of the people who are superior to everybody.
The party of screw-you economics in the name of modernity: and it looks like they’ve been found out. Quel dommage. I’d like to say “we will not see their like again” but unfortunately we probably will.
Daragh McDowell 05.26.07 at 4:44 pm
Hey Henry and Maria, can you tell ejh what Ireland was actually LIKE before the PDs and their ‘arrogant’ politics?
EWI 05.26.07 at 6:33 pm
Even his opponents on the web are giving him his dues.
Both barrels, one hopes :)
Goes to show what you get for calling FF on corruption, even to the extent he did.
Yes, because God knows that Fine Gael have never accepted money from anyone (the allegations against Lowry – John Bruton’s BFF – and the Cosgrave grandson both spring to mind).
Much more to the point, though, is the reminder by ‘dc’ that the PD’s supposedly superior anti-corruption morals led them into coalition with both Haughey and Ahern – nice sticking by your principles, if you can get it.
EWI 05.26.07 at 6:37 pm
DC the point of the referendum was to tie up a hole in the constitution made by the Supmere court in 2002. When it ruled irish born kids could be deported if their parents were not irish.
As you may care to note, this self-same problem originated while McDowell _himself_ was AG (1998, I think). I certainly recall the Irish Times flagging it up at the time.
DC 05.26.07 at 7:50 pm
I don’t think McDowell was AG until 1999 but in any case the “problem” (that anyone born on the island of Ireland was entitled, following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, to citizenship of the Republic of Ireland, and that heavily pregnant migrants would exploit this) was made non-existent by the Supreme Court ruling to the effect that the citizenship of the child was no bar to deporting its parents (and thus naturally the child too).
Nevertheless McDowell introduced a referendum abolishing the birth-right rule to be held similtaneously with the mid-term elections (which were expected to go badly for the government). It’s hard to see any reason why except cynical exploitation of anti-immigration sentiment.
ejh 05.27.07 at 8:36 am
Hey Henry and Maria, can you tell ejh what Ireland was actually LIKE before the PDs and their “arrogant” politics?
Ah yes, Ireland was transformed into a modern society by the PDs, wasn’t it?
astrongmaybe 05.27.07 at 8:53 am
Aside from the PDs… Does anyone think the Greens will actually go into coalition with FF? I can’t make up my mind whether its in their interests or not. I’m not that in touch with Ir. politics, but I doubt they have the weight (in numbers or in personalities) to be anything other than FF’s yesmen. I suspect they would/will end up gradually tossing out more and more of their principles as the term goes on. On the other hand… they might get a few useful things into a program of govt, and maybe, one day, even into policy. I doubt if any party will ever come out stronger from a period of coalition with FF, though. It destroyed the PDs.
MSS 05.27.07 at 11:15 pm
I know nothing about Irish politics, but I do know something about Green parties and coalitions. I would think that Green support of a minority government would be much more likely than formal sharing of cabinet responsibility.
will u. 05.28.07 at 8:05 pm
For those of us confused by the ideological orientations (or lack thereof) of the various Irish political parties, the leftish politicalcompass.org claims to pinpoint them:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/ireland
Ray 05.29.07 at 7:14 am
Yeah, the PDs are libertarians all right, of the ‘deport the immigrants, introduce sweeping new police powers, and refuse to touch abortion’ variety.
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