Big parties potholed - local government elections in the 26 counties

—————————————————— _ + It Was revea at the Chairman of Telecom Eireann, Michael Smurfit, was involved in the sale of a site for the company’s new headquarters. Telecom paid twice the value of the site to acompany in which Smurfit was involved. Also involved in the sale, and in the companies which owned the site, were National City Brokers [NCB]. They have held the consultancies for all the previous privatisations and had been offered the contract for Telecom - the biggest and most profitable of them all. Both Smurfit and the leader of NCB have been forced to resign from public posts - a process helped by a number of categorical statements by Smurfit which turned out to be untrue. Further allegations have now emerged about NCB making details of privatisation information about an Air Lingus subsidiary available to Charlie Haughey’s son and about the use of public money to improve land owned by the Taoiseach himself. Again, public money has so developed land own Gael leader Bruton y the family of Fine Undoubtedly workers resisting privatisations and cutbacks will be encouraged in their struggles by all these revelations but the major problem is leadership. They will not get it from trade union leaders themselves involved in the whole sorry mess. The obvious focus should be the left and protest councillors with a direct mandate from the June elections. So far they have been content to play the game involving themselves in purely local issues and the traditional concerns of councillors. It is however theirresponsibility to lead regroupment and mobilisation of workers against the governments austerity programme and against the trade union leadership if necessary.

KEVIN KEATING

Local Government elections Big parties potholed Deepening a trend established since the mid 1980's, the Local Government Elections of June 27 1991 in the South of Ireland were a severe setback for the longestablished big bourgeois parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Fianna Fail got 37.8% of the vote, Fine Gael 26.6% and the Progressive Democrats - Fianna Fail’s partners in government - got 4.9%, If these figures were repeated in a General election the present Fianna Fail coalition would fall far short of a majority - they would be forced to bring Fine Gael into government with them, or the Progressive Democrats could be excluded from a FF/FG alliance.

There was a very large vote for dependent or minor party candidaics - 11.9% - and significant gains for the Labour party - 10.6%. The Workers Party polled 3.7%, a slight drop. But the Dublin result was very bad news for them - thei rival on the left, the Labour party, outpolled them by 14.5% 108.7%. The Green Party got 7.4% of the Dublin vote, but failed elsewhere with the exception of Cork City.

Sinn Fein polled 2.1%,aslightrecovery compared with the June 1989 General election. However they dropped from 10 seats 107, and their supportis very regionalised - they have a small base in the Dublin Corporation arca (4.796) and in the border counties, but no real presence elsewhere. Alienation These figures illustrate a growing alienation from the traditional party structures among the voters. For the first ume since 1943 something different from the alternative between a Fianna Fail government or a Fine Gael coalition is on the horizon.

This pattern was disrupted by the 1989 General election when Fianna Fail had to go into coalition with the tiny Progressive Democrats. That episode proved traumatic for FF members used to a monolithic hold on power, more especially since the PD's were asplitfrom An Reabhloid page 7

Fr. and actually competed in the 1989 General Election as junior partners in a pact with Fine Gael!

Spokespersons for the right wing parties claim that local elections traditionally produce a bigger vote for independent candidates, and predict that many people will “return to the fold” once a General election is held. Analysts not blinded by party loyalties dispute this, For example, writing in the Irish Times of July Ist Richard Sinnott of University College Dublin said: “there is some evidence to suggest that independents are now more ideological, and where not ideological, are more alienated from the established party system”. Reflecting this, successful independent or minor party candidates have in recent mes “been more of a feature of the urban political environment”.

Protest Analysis of the results bears out the points made by Sinnott. There are several examples. In Limerick Joe Harrington of our own organisation, Peoples Democmecy, was elected on the first count, along with John Gilligan. an Independent Socialist, who topped the poll in a neighbouring ward. In both case this was areflection of massive protestagainst the Corporation’s attempts to impose a waler tax.

Service charges were a major issuc in all areas outside Dublin, where they had to be abolished in the 1980"s due to the high levels of non-payment.

in Dublin the strong vote gaineu vy ine Green Party and Independents reflected anger at abuses of the planning process by te oulgoing County opposition toa proposed Eastern by-pass motorway. In the South County area, where Roger Garland holds the Green's only Dail seat, they significantly increased their vote. This is noteworthy because Mary Harne vol the progressive democrats, and self-declared “Green” Goverment Minister, made a vicious “IRA baiting” attack on Garland after he disrupted Dail business in protesl over the extradition of Dessie Ellis to Britain.

At the same time, underlying the commadictions in the Green partys politics, Garland is alsoa member of the “New Consensus” group which regularly organises protests against Sinn Fein.

Also in Dublin Joe Higgins of “Militant”, expelled from the Labour Party for his political views, topped the pollin the Mulhuddartd:strict. Higgins was stronply identified with a joint campaign by local residents and the Irish Travellers movement against a County Council attempt to build a priniitive “halting site” (in reality an enclosed overcrowded reservation).

Throughout the 26 counties there were other electing victories reflecting discontent over variuus Cuibacks: anti-pothole candidates in Cavan (CRAG - the Cavan Roads Action Group], an anti-junket campaigner m Lengford, who was highiighting a trip by several local councillors to Budapest for a conference on Inner City Decline [Longford is a rural area with a few small towns], candidates opposed to hospital cutbacks were elected to Roscom:aon County Council New Direction ihere can be no denying the growing alienation of the electorate from established political parties. The signs of this were already apparent in the1989 election and the 1990 clection of Mary Robinson as President. The mOst important discussion is how deep it is, how long itis likely to last and what is the best way to relate to it.

For socialists who,place the National Question at the top of their agenda this is the necessary starting point.

It should be a major cause for concern that these developments have raced past the major anti-imperialist organisation of the left, Sinn Fein, Itisone thing to lose ground since the mid 1980's when no other radical forces were doing any beuter. It is quite another when other forces on the left, or currents just seen as “agin the system”, are making significant headway, The direction that has to be taken is to seek forms of united action and debate. Itis an error to dismiss these developments, either by saying nothing fundamental is changing, or by simply seeing these other forces as foes. For example, it would be the height of political sectarianism to denounce the rise of support for the Labour party in Dublin in areas were 5F has been working very hard. Labour, at the moment, is set to translate this increased support into several Dail seats

SSS

An Reabhloid page 8

“1115 po against ese the grounds that SF's own prospects will then become even bleaker than they are already. Anyone tempted along this road could usefully take a look at the infamous “Third Period” tactics imposed on the Communist parties in the late 1920's by Stalin.

Rightward Lurch Of course this does not mean expressing the slightest political confidence in the Labour Party leadership, even less in that of the Workers Party. It does mean recognising that Labour breaking its 17 year long disastrous Coalition with Fine Gael from 1970-87 was a healthy development, as was the position of opposition to any coalition with the right wing parties. The Labour leadership took this decision forreasons of selfpreservation. If they had gone any lower than the point reached in 1987 - a 6.7% share of the national vote they would have gone under. Since then they have experienced a significant revival in urban areas and, not surprisingly, different currents of opinion are emerging within the Party.

Launching a preemptive strike, the right wing party leadership successfully inserted ancw clause was in the party constitution proscribing the “Militant” tendency.

Following the purge the party leadership succeeded in geting acompletely new constitution adopted, removing all reference to the aim of a the Workers Republic, nationalisation and most of the Connolly tradition.

Further evidence of the party leadership's night wing intentions can be seen in the way fights are starting to Te become a live possibility.

The best example is the Dublin Central constituency.

Joe Costello has been working in this area for anumber of years and is one of the very few Labour Left figures to take a stand against extradition, The area is represented in the Dail by Tony Gregory and on the Corporation by Christy Burke of Sinn Fein. The electoral arithmetic puts Costello ina position to gain a Dail seat.

Now however elements in the party leadership are suggesting that Michael Conaghan instead, or as a running mate - by sheer coincidence Conaghan is a former member of Kemmy's Democratic Socialist Party [DSP], and a supporter of the “Two-Nations position. The alleged reason for suggesting Conaghan as a candidate is that part of his local authority district [the South inner city] isin the Dublin Central Dail constituency, and elements in the party leadership say this would favour him being the candidate If electoral strategy was the only concern of the Labour leadership they would hardly have expelled Joe Higgins of “Militant” who, as stated earlier, topped the poll in his district, Neither would they have expelled Helen Corish, who voted agamst the new party constitution, and was easily clected in Wexford town as an independent. Workers Party Problems These developments around the Labour Party have started to isolate the Workers Party. Over the last decade the WP have grownatthe expense of the Labour An Reabhloid page 9

party. Since the end of the Labour coalition with Fine Gael the WP have found the going a lot more difficult -they are indistinguishable from Labour on mostissues and are well to the nght of Labour left figures such as Michael D Higgins. In addition their intemal regime is still very Stalinist, The party leadership hastily dropped all friendly references to the East European regimes in the wake of their collapse without any open sign of internal resistance, but party members have been educated for years that these were socialist socieues. Some demoralisation was inevitable. They also suffered some very embarrassing defections - most notably Eamonn Smullen, Jimmy Brick and Eoghan Hams.

These people all wanted to take the WP even further to the right - Eoghan Harms until recently was the Fie Gael leader's media adviser! They revealed some very unsavoury facts about the WP's internal regime - most dramatically when Jimmy Brick publicly resigned during alive TV broadcast of the party's annual conference. The impression was created, rightly, that this party does not tolerate dissent from any quarter.

At this year’s conference there was an open clash between the Six county apparatus, which fought successfully for some old Stalinist dogmas and even engaged in a bit of “republican” rhetoric, and the leadership. There is also evidence thatthe WP’s “fundraising” arm, the Official IRA, is getting out of control.

For years this organisation has been tolerated, if not actively encouraged, by the state on both sides of the border. Elements within it have recently got involved in operations which even the slate authorities, admirers of the WP's pro-unionist political views, could not ignore. The party leadership has routinely dismissed evidence pointing in this direction for years, but new Official IRA operations keep happening. This makes it very hard for the 26 county leadership, intent on recruiting people on a very moderate social democratic basis. As a result the party leadership is apparently planning to formally establish the WP as a 26 county organisation, and leave the Northerners to fend for themselves. This won't stave off the party's problems - it will only draw attention to iis intemal contradictions. Forexample, many of the older leadership who did have very close ties with the official IRA, like ex party leader Tomas MacGiolla and former “Chief of Staff” Cathal Goulding, sympathised politically with the Eoghan Harris group! Another big loser in these elections was Fine Gael - it is now a lopsided party, fairly strong in the mural areas but sinking fastin the cities. Underits new leader John Bruton it has carved itself a much sharper nght wing image. Strategy Behind the story of political instability, and a more uncertain composition of the next Dail, lies the question of how to develop a strategy against government policies beyond the ballot box. This will become an important issue in the Council chambers because the government is threatening a new round of cutbacks.

Service charges and the road-building programme are extremely unpopular, but when it comes down to it override local authority resistance. The Eastern By- Pass in Dublin, for example, is a direct result of pressure by employers organisations who want one long motorway along the East coast of Ireland, from Larne in the North to Rosslare in the South, as “preparation for the open competition inaugurated by the European commission's 1992 programme. Aspartand parcel of this policy it was deliberately decided to pay less attention to other parts of the country - forexample Cavan. New legislation will soon establish a National Roads Authonty, an unelected body, which will take many of their few remaining powers away from the local authorities Mere election results will not change the government's repressive economic and social policies. However iney indicate very clearly that the deeper the cuts go more and more damage is being done to the traditional party structures. It is a situation where the clearest possible stand has to be taken on the left against any govemmmental alliance with the ruling class parties - FF, FG and the PDs. “New” Politics One of the ironies of the present situation is that the Labour leadership is trying to smugegle its old pro coalition policy in the back door under the general rubric of “New Politics”, There is no objection in principle to Coalition with the bourgeois parties - iL is suggested that coalition might be an option if Labour was the biggest single party. The WP is also dipping its toes in this dirty water, sometimes suggesting a preference for Fine Gael because it is more openly anunationalist than Fianna Fail. Labour personalities occasionally suggest some kind of deal with Fianna Fail on the grounds that Haughey’s style is to negotiate with the trade unions, rather than openly humiliate them in the style of the last Fine Gael/Labour coalition.

Sinn Fein dabble with their own version when they imply they could talk with Fianna Fail - such a course was suggested by party leader Gerry Adams before the last general election. The issue of how unity can be forged is crucial, if the current political developments are to go beyond formal parliamentarianism. A clear distinction has to be made with single issues, or related issues, where unity of all sorts of forces is both possible and desirable - an example being the campaign against the amendment to the 26. county constitution banning abortion. There can be no room at all for this all-embracing unity when it comes to forming a government - any deals on this level by the bourgeois parties must be opposed in principle by the left. There has to be an effort to commit elected representatives to support for struggles - otherwise the crisis will throw up all sorts of opportunist groupings and individuals limited to what exists al present. It will be interesting to see how the crisis of political legitimacy is affected by a possible referendum on articles 2 and 3 of the 26 county constitution - people interested in supporting these articles are already behind the preparation of an effective Defence Campaign.

JAMES GALLAGHER.

anne An Reabhloid page 10 ot