Labour leader Brendan Howlin
According to Brendan Halligan, pro-democratic centre-left and centre-right political parties should all merge to stand against anti-democratic populists, authoritarians and nativists.
Brendan is wrong, in his own terms.
Ireland’s mainstream political parties already co-operate, in formal coalitions, in local government and in the operation of the Dáil and Seanad. We can work together to defend democratic values and oppose extremism without any logical requirement to merge.
There are significant differences between Ireland’s centrist parties. In every government it has joined, Labour has protected wages, social protection and State industries to the best of its ability. And we have had to fight to do so against others in government.
A single Irish centrist party, dominated by the centre-right, would have given us a lower minimum wage, lower welfare payments, widespread privatisation and a weaker economic recovery as a result.
Labour has also uniquely championed marriage equality and women’s reproductive rights, long before other parties caught up with social change on these matters.
It matters to have multiple parties. As we can see in Westminster and elsewhere, backbenchers in one big party have a lot less influence than minority parties in coalition.
Brendan rightly points to the importance of institutions in cementing democratic gains.
But he overlooks the fact that proportional representation has been institutionalised in Ireland, and the most extreme examples of populism in the western world have occurred in countries operating under less proportional referendums and voting systems, such as the disproportional electoral system that gave Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP party in Hungary two-thirds of the seats (67 per cent) with just under half of the votes (49 per cent).
As long as we maintain proportional representation, Ireland’s people are better served by having a choice of government coalitions, each of which offers real policy differences. If choice was reduced to a national centrist party versus extremists, this would weaken Irish democracy.
In such a scenario, it is inevitable that people would eventually grow disaffected with the centrist monolith and vote for change, even if that meant electing Ireland’s answer to Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán or Boris Johnson.
As long as there are multiple parties, there will be greater freedom of speech, greater diversity of policy ideas and stronger democracy as a result.
Brendan Howlin, TD
Leader of the Labour Party,
Leinster House,
Kildare Street,
Dublin 2.
Brendan Howlin: Why Halligan is wrong about merging parties (The Irish Times letters page)
Who is this clown?
God yeah! The Labour party. Remember them?
I prefer not to be reminded of them. I get fierce angry altogether.
Unlike when I think of, say, Renua. They always give me a great laugh. Even the song and dance about naming the party was hilarious.
Sit down Howlin. Part of the political doo da that has brought this country and its people to their knees. What has this cretin ever achieved during his time on the gravy train other then an inflated pension, bank account, and an ego bigger then most. He has been an incompetent failure during his whole time in office and if he had any sense of decency he would go and hang his head in shame for what he and his ilk have done.
time to Drain the swamp in Dail Eireann. The mainstream political doo da like him are in for the biggest shock of their lives at the next election.
Avoid getting angry and even by voting for the soon-to-arrive populist private interest hate baiters like declan ganley(again)
Stick to honest, decent, hard working local independents.
:-J
^This.
@Joe. I will only vote for real Independents. the current Independent Alliance need to be removed
Trust my experience, turn off the media nonsense being beamed 24/7/365 into your head, forget the breaking news, spin, lies and propaganda…
Just do your best to seek out a decent, honest hard-working politically active candidate who want to help your local community.
Ignore the left vs right noise, vote for the local independent and wait for the next election and you’ll see some positive change for your community and for everyone else. At least an independendant will be more accountable and more motivated and more likely to take action with some common sense decision-making.
The ff/fg/n-lab party are not going anywhere soon but they don’t need more help from the majority of people who are intentionally coerced, misinformed, politically naive and in many cases just plain willfully ignorant and compliant.
:-J
Knew there was a reason I vote Labour.
He’s absolutely spot on with this.
…QED…
Good auld workers rights original and traditional recipe Labour?…
OR
The new Irish neo-labour facsimile of blairite british politics from twenty years ago… and also Germany from a decade or so before that…?
:-J
Labour cling on to the marriage equality referendum so desperately. Gilmore described it as the ‘human rights issue of our times’ it wasn’t.
Identity politics is all they have.
Howlin, when public expenditure minister made sure to look after his clientele in the public service, they repaid that by not voting for them in the subsequent election.
Labour need to remember their raison d’etre, they ignore the squeezed non public service and think throwing money at welfare is the answer to everything when it exacerbates the problems
Aodan O’Riordan will probably be their next leader so you’ll see the identity politics taken to another level.
A single Irish centrist party, dominated by the centre-right, would have given us a lower minimum wage, lower welfare payments, widespread privatisation and a weaker economic recovery as a result.
We have had over the past two years a Government led by a centre-right party.
In that time, the minimium wage has gone up twice.
Social welfare payments have gone up by €10 a week.
There has been no privatization.
Unemployment is now at 5.1%.
…and Dublin is one of the dearest capitals in Europe to live in. Highest ever homeless figures. House prices higher than 2007.
no eircode on yer address der howlers
In the face of this political parties of the centre must unite around their shared European values, he said.
What exactly are the shared European values?
People do not want more federalisation, people are fast becoming sceptical of the EUssr. It’s funny how he labels populists as undemocratic, the political structure of the European Union is one of the most undemocratic entities in the world.
Also how he uses the term “nativist”, is this the new dismissive code word for nationalism?
Nativism or nationalism is a dirty word to leftists, they don’t want people to identify by nationality as they would rather a world without borders and want rid of the nation state. That’s divisive and ‘unhelpful’.
They are however, happy to encourage people to identify by sexuality and religion and don’t envision any problems with that at all. Despite all evidence to the contrary.
This is the politician who said if he had known the price of a meal he had with John O’Donoghue, aka the bull, in Shanahans on the Green (€293 & paid for by the tax payer – 2007) he “would have relished it more”
An odious individual.
Does Labour do what it says on the label? Pairti na nOibri – ca bhfuil na hOibri ag obair?
The neo-labour party are proven to be just as irresponsible as the it’s fine to fail / fine gall solution illusion of a binary choice polemic.
neo-labour do not represent workers rights anymore, they represent a third option for the politically naive and ignorant to get behind in the hope of getting access to what goes on behind closed doors between Ireland, the EU bearocracy and then above and beyond into private global corporate financial markets that dictate most decisions from the top down.
Our neo-labour party have become an irish version of the tory wannabe blair-ites from twenty years ago and all for a seat at the freak show and a bigger slice of power. The so-called left and independants have already replaced them in every value but name.. -just in case you haven’t noticed.
The only people working towards a democracy and tackling issues directly as active politicians are independents and what are foolishly so-called the looney left.
If all three partys for private interests join together as the one same whole they already are then real politics and democracy will improve. nay, might actually exist for once.
Vote for local independent candidates until this happens or enjoy living in the past backing a scam party system where nothing much gets a chance to improve the way it could and already should.
Be an active citizen and always vote.
:-J
“Let’s save democracy by reducing the choices available”
Good plan Bren
We need a party that does nationalism properly – not another populist lefty party like labour or social dems that (like the centre-right) undervalue the things that make Irish society intrinsic and sustainable. They consistently go about dysfunctional policy making – importing populist,half-baked ideas from abroad and playing the phony social justice card. May as well invite the English back as a superior master.