From top: Tanaiste Joan Burton and Taoiseach Enda Kenny during Christmas Carols at government buildings last week; Anne Marie McNally
As Labour actively distance themselves from Fine Gael ahead of a General Election the author warns: don’t get fooled again.
Anne-Marie McNally writes:
So Joan Burton’s mission for this week is to instil fear into the Irish electorate. “Go forth and terrify” she whispered to Labour minions earlier this week.
No, it’s not the terror we’ve come to expect from this FG/Lab Government – not the usual economic terror inflicted upon those on the margins of our society – the homeless, the children living in poverty, the lone parents, the women being forced to travel for reproductive choice, the older people with home help cuts and the loss of the phone allowance, the people who can’t afford private health insurance sitting in waiting rooms or lying on trolleys – no it’s not that mundane day to day terror, this is real bogeyman terror.
This is the prospect of an Enda-led Fine Gael getting its hands on the reins of power without Joan swinging out of his coat tails. Imagine. Enda let loose to go as right wing, wealth-favouring Christian Democrat as he wants on us.
It’s at this point that I stop and remind myself of the almost VERY same terror rhetoric deployed by Labour in the run-in to the 2011 General Election.
‘Don’t fall victim to a one party Fine Gael Government” howled Gilmore. “Imagine the austerity and complete lack of care for ordinary and vulnerable citizens” cried Joan. “Fine Gael need Labour to stave off an all-out attack on working class citizens” was the refrain of the campaign. People believed the hype.
Indeed for my MA Thesis I interviewed former Labour Party strategist Fergus Finlay and a current Labour TD and both agreed that the final opinion poll of the 2011 campaign which showed the possibility of a Fine Gael single party Government was the wake-up call for the electorate which caused them to listen to the Labour cries and thus return a coalition Government.
Yet despite that decision to elect Labour to ‘temper the worst excesses of a Fine Gael Government’ the electorate can legitimately ask “where have Labour been for the past 5 years?”
As the worst excesses of Fine Gael rained down- and continues to do so- upon those struggling in our society, where was Labour? Where were they as the child poverty rate doubled during their 5 year term? Where were they as cuts to lone parents – which Labour had clearly stated would not happen – happened?
Where were they when the damaging Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was enacted? And where were they when Water Charges and so many other punitive measures were being rammed through the Dáil and being inflicted on struggling families?
Let me tell you where they were – they were there, right by Fine Gael’s side, cheering them on and supporting every move they made. If they weren’t as supportive of Fine Gael behind closed doors, as they’d now have us believe, that’s their own business because it certainly didn’t manifest itself as any protection for ordinary citizens.
Labour will point to the Marriage Equality Referendum and tell you that without them, it would never have come to fruition – and that may well be the case, and certainly I commend their work on that momentous piece of legislation – but even that became a Fine Gael success as Fine Gael Minister Frances Fitzgerald basked in the media glare of the win.
Labour may have been the tail but it certainly did not manage to wag the vicious dog no matter how much it spends the next few weeks telling you it did.
It is too late now for Joan to start attacking her buddy Enda and accusing him of being capable of perpetrating heinous acts on us ordinary citizens – he already has and you and your comrades raised the pom-poms and cheered as he went about it.
We’re so often told we have a two and a half party system here in Ireland and we bounce from tweedle-dum to tweedle-dee. There comes a time when you buck the trend and stop falling for the campaign rhetoric and outright lies that suit the establishment. Spain’s just had that time. Now it’s Ireland’s time
Anne-Marie McNally is a political and media strategist working with Catherine Murphy TD and will be a candidate for the Social Democrats in the forthcoming General Election. Follow Anne-Marie on Twitter: @amomcnally
You lost me at “So”.
Your loss so.
Why would that be?
I was merely bemoaning this new trend of beginning sentences with “So”. I did read some of the article.
What new trend. As long as i can remember iv heard sentences such as “so I told…….” or “so they went …..” it’s nothing new.
One of the best songs ever recorded begins with a so
There is a new trend though, and it is the trend of bemoaning sentences beginning with “So”, rather than making a worthwhile contribution.
So what
“So here it is, Merry Christmas! Everybody’s having fun.”
Was that the one you meant Fergus?
That’s the one Repro ;)
‘…So hello Mary Lou
goodbye Moan
sweet Mary Lou I’m so..’
I’d have gone for “So this is Christmas, and what have you done” :p
Me too. Also…
*whispered*
Merry Christmas Yoko
“..you’ve lost all our trust, our faith is all gone” perhaps?
To paraphrase Spitting Image:
Brian Walden Puppet: Ms. McNally, what would you say to those who accuse you of blatant electioneering?
A McN: VOTE FOR ME!
Who would be your party of choice?
@rory: Mine? As I’ve said on here before, they’re all Peronist nightmares – even the so-called rightwing ones – but I’ll vote for the party that is (1) least likely to hole the economy below the waterline and (2) will keep Trotskyites and unreconstructed terrorists away from the levers of power.
And will reward your loyalty. Perhaps an undeserved directorship? hmm? hmmmm?
*nudge *nudge *wink *wink.
No chance. It’s not that I’m morally unimpeachable, it’s more that I have zero contacts in the professions and that’s the way I like it
It’s actually very hard to pay attention to what the gov says.
They’ve achieved a near perfect imitation of language, i’ll give them that.
The “wake up call” / swing to Labour as a buffer against FG by the electorate…. is too simplistic.. doesn’t even mention the ‘hatred’ / ‘anything but’ of FF that was in the air at the time which I’m sure was by far the biggest windfall generator for Labour.
[ Please don’t use phrases like “Let me tell you (where they were)” ….it’s usually followed by a lie or some patronising nonsense when used by politicians. ]
Merry Christams Ann!
G’wan the SocDems!
Oops…’Anne-Marie’ …sorry :)
So, Leo’s minimum alcohol pricing crap has been thrown out by the European Court
So, Ha ha!
So, happy Christmas to all!
Everything in this piece is true. It’s as simple as that.
Anybody who is resorting to whataboutery or some other technique to deflect from the points made is grasping at straws.
If I have one criticism on the piece, it would be just how obvious the points made are, but then I remember it’s the Irish electorate we’re dealing with, and it’s memory isn’t the best, so the piece is important.
its
Where were they when the damaging Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was enacted?
Labour were in Government getting it enacted. It may have escaped Ms McNally’s attention but even legislating for the X case was deeply unpopular and a FG single party government would not have done it. No chance. Fianna Fáil, the PDs and the Greens did not do it during their time in office, and there was no appetite in FG to do it. Going further than legislating for the X Case was not an option because of the Eight Amendment.
The fact that going further is on the agenda for this election is purely to do with Labour’s stance in Government. To suggest anything else is pure political posturing and is a disservice to people who generally take Ms McNally seriously.
But of course, what did the Social Democrat troika do on the Protection of Life Before Pregnancy Bill?
Oh yeah, 2 out of the 3 voted for it (Deputies Murphy and Donnelly). The other abstained. None opposed it. So, if the question was “Where were the Social Democrats when the damaging Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was enacted?” The answer would be, trying to amend it to better reflect their views, and then voting for it, because it was the only version of the Bill that would get over the line given FG’s opposition.
+1
Thank you for the vote bit. And yes true of Labour’s efforts and maybe Joan’s legacy…..
‘Admin’ deserves to be ousted out of anonymity and slapped on the back for that post title.
…this has been best year ever for titles imHo
well said Anne Marie
Ann Marie likes to lecture but if you ask her a question on Twitter she blocks you democracy my a**!
They would need to practice for the Requim, I wonder which one will they go for
since John Perry can now officially participate.
Why do broadsheet give this candidate so much coverage? Genuine question.