From top: Bernie Sanders in 2016; Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin at the Fianna Fáil party conference at Citywest Hotel Dublin on Saturday night; Bryan Wall
Where is the Irish Bernie Sanders? This is a question that should be on all of our minds. It should be the question. Where is the change that is so badly needed in Irish society going to come from? And where is our equivalent of a political outsider with massive widespread support and appeal?
They won’t be found in the mainstream political parties, including the more left-leaning ones. Labour are traitors and the Social Democrats are dead on arrival. People before Profit and the Socialist Party have the self-defeating tendency, like many parties of the left, to put ideology above moral consistency.
Instead of actually joining with people who engage in political activism and campaigning day in, day out, they insist on entryism at all costs.
If this means denigrating and undermining campaigns that, if successful, would genuinely leave us in a better position for the foreseeable future, then so be it. I have seen it first-hand. They paint themselves as the victims whilst victimising everyone who doesn’t adhere to their vanguardism.
As for the “big two”, expect nothing but more of the same. Crumbs for the many and lavish meals for the few. Micheál Martin can pontificate as much as he likes about Fine Gael and Leo Varadkar.
But Leo Varadkar is in the position he is in because of Fianna Fáil and Martin’s leadership of the party.
The latter’s criticisms of the government, then, are hollow; an attempt at differentiating one right-wing party from another slightly more right-wing party.
During their Ard Fheis this past weekend, Martin was clear to point out the failings of Fine Gael. He decried their “out of touch and arrogant government.”
Fine Gael, he said, are “incapable of delivering”. Its minister “are passionate about using public money to promote themselves.” Fine Gael, he went on, “simply don’t understand the pressures which people are facing every day”.
You would think then that Fianna Fáil would be on the other side of the Dáil given Martin’s comments. Alas no. “Ireland faces a genuinely historic threat from Brexit”, according to him.
This means Ireland “has to have a government in place if we are to have any chance of limit its damage.” It is for this reason Fianna Fáil “took the step of extending the confidence and supply agreement.”
According to Martin:
It’s a difficult decision for us, but it’s the right decision. And it reinforces the fact that Fianna Fáil is putting the national interest first.
At least that’s what he’d like us all to believe. Brexit is just an excuse for Fianna Fáil to stay in a holding pattern. Current polling does not favour them. And do not underestimate the lure the Taoiseach’s office has for Micheál Martin.
So with all of this in mind, where indeed would an Irish Bernie Sanders come from in the first place?
Sanders should be seen as a uniquely American phenomenon. His policies, if he ran over here, would likely place him somewhere towards the centre of the political spectrum. In America, however, he is as a radical.
This is indicative of the insanity of American politics. Our own version of Sanders would need to bypass the standard party system and not be beholden to any party’s whip. In fact, any change in Ireland must instead come at a grassroots level.
Sanders is as close to grassroots as many in America are willing to go. We, on the other hand, can and should go much further.
But this will not be easy. We have an establishment which abhors change in the form of greater democracy and openness. Any move to make for ourselves a more democratic and equal country is see as radical.
For these same people the most radical thing they are capable of is wearing brightly coloured socks. Politics for them is propaganda wing of business interests.
The scandal surrounding the bill for the children’s hospital is indicative of this. It must be built, no matter the cost.
Why? Because if it doesn’t it might not go over well with a company which has a record of acquiring government contracts and then bleeding the taxpayer dry.
These are the same reasons we were given for the bank guarantee and bailout. The banks have to be bailed out. Why? Because if we don’t it might annoy some of the government’s friends who have a lot to lose if their debts aren’t soaked up by the taxpayer.
Everybody knows what happened as a result. Massive cutbacks, the immiseration of the country, and a massive transfer of wealth.
And now, with the children’s hospital, it has been reported that already cutbacks in other areas of the health service will have to be made because of the ludicrous bill for the hospital. The government line is: Our friends have to be paid, so you have to suffer. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
The parties of the right have nothing to offer the mass of people except false promises. To the wealthy they owe their success, and return the favour in the ways expected and well-known in Irish society. As for the far right, they offer nothing but hatred mixed with ignorance of history.
It is not that they should be ignored. But the more immediate threat are the men in suits, not the men who parrot 4chan conspiracy theories. The latter only understand and fear violence. The former, more than anything, fear a truly democratic society which would hold them to account.
So, the Irish Bernie Sanders isn’t any person in particular. It is more of a movement that wants to create a better and more equal society. One where politics is not a facade to cover up the transfer of wealth from the masses to the few. We can each of us be our own version of Sanders in the sense of challenging the establishment.
That is the only way that any progress will be made in Irish society. Martin and Varadkar will continue their game of political will-they-or-won’t-they.
For anyone else who actually cares about creating a better society, they will be doing something productive. They’ll be organising, dissenting, and generally causing a ruckus. We’ll be all the better for it.
Bryan Wall is an independent journalist based in Cork. His column appears here every Monday. Read more of his work here
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I really want to read one of these but when you call Sanders a political outsider, considering he first ran for the Senate in the 70’s, signs arent good.
“Where is the Irish Bernie Sanders?”
Isn’t that Joe Higgins the socialist ex-MEP, TD? I suppose Michael Higgins was supposed to be but he’s not.
I wonder though, where is the Irish Donald Trump? I’m surprised it’s taking him (or her) so long to make an entrance.
Peter Casey
A populist? Outside the political mainstream? Agitating for change? Yeah, I guess Peter Casey fits the bill.
“Outside the political mainstream”, “business tycoon”, bit of mild race-baiting, and also lives in America – very much cut from the same cloth.
Bernie was a firebrand once upon a time but he’s been in the system too long. Jill Stein never sold out.
Jill Stein sold out to the Russians
b parrots rachel maddow
…and paid for the Clinton recount – if she had any integrity she would have hung back.
“Labour are traitors and the Social Democrats are dead on arrival. People before Profit and the Socialist Party have the self-defeating tendency, like many parties of the left, to put ideology above moral consistency.”
i’ve a feeling if Bernie was Irish, bryan wall would find fault with him too
I had a real problem with the “Labour are traitors” remark – its lazy and wrong. Fine if you’re appalled by their action in Government – they were decimated in the subsequent election so obviously lots of people did. But traitors? Try not to be so hackneyed and lazy next time.
First off it’s an opinion piece, so calling Labour “traitors’ is not wrong. Secondly have you such a short memory that you’ve forgotten the crap labour have pulled-tantamount to a betrayal , which is the definition of a traitor. Quinn’s pledge to have no college fees which he reversed on, Burtons screwing of Irish women’s pensions, cutting child benefit, taking medical cards away from seriously ill people to mention a few. The only thing lazy and hackneyed is your comment above, riddled with smug condescension.
“riddled with smug condescension”
Impressive lack of awareness there.
How’d you figure that??
It is more of a movement that wants to create a better and more equal society.
Young Adult writers.
Almost every political party in ireland is in the centre / centre left. People get a thatcherite vibe off leo but he’s just as left as the rest of them. There is nobody in the Irish political sphere actually looking out for the employed tax payer , Peter Casey probably fits this bill as the only person in Irish politics who can be described as ‘right wing’ in any way (excluding the topic of abortion which has little to no bearing on the spectrum)
That’s because Irish politicians adhered to the ism of ‘getelectedism’ which basically means whatever it takes.
Left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, if it gets your bum in the Dail, its all fair game.
The minute he appears, he will be destroyed.
If we can somehow fix the law an order issues (white collar) and insist on more transparency from Government , especially in their dealings with private sector , we wont need a Bernie ….
Well
I would say there’s a bit
And in most of us
A good bit
Of Bernie Sanders in all Paddies
I’d flesh that out but tbh I’m not a….
Obviously it’s just me. But;
That second paragraph feels like a homage to a tweet
I’m confident makes a regular appearance in most Broadsheeters timelines
How’s that for an example of “moral consistency”
I’m reminded now of that scene in ‘The West Wing’ when CJ is going on about the cow made of butter
Ha! Lazy Bernie is Brian’s crush.
28 years in the senate and he’s only had three bills passed. 2 of those were vane in nature – renaming small Vermont post offices in honour of cronies.
What a body of work!
You sure pick em Brian!
Ha! Lazy Bernie is Bryan’s crush.
28 years in the senate and he’s only had three bills passed. 2 of those were vain in nature – renaming small Vermont post offices in honour of cronies.
What a body of work!
You sure pick em Bryan!
Please God Make Brian Stop.
This. Every week another embarrassment. Also he doesn’t reply to the comments unlike Dan,Taft and Derek who are well able to state their case and defend their contributions. At the least It makes for good debate.
This Brian chap however just dumps his screed here and washes his hands of it when he gets called out on his multiple mistakes.
I’m sure this is how the great Fintan O’Toole got his wings too…and this is what he does today. Lofty views that have no empirical application. Yet to critique this type of leftist disposition somehow makes you right wing but these guys like things in black or white – you become deplorable to them, lose all right to be treated fairly and decently. People are waking up.
Gotcha!
Have ya now Witty
Took a bit longer than usual
But shur’
That’s to be expected since I’d never
And I mean
Never
Like support Meath Never
Be seen with the kinda company you’d be more familiar to
Thanks to you Carmudgeon
Inspired
Genius almost
I think we all owe you one
Oh yeah
Forgot
Fintan O’Toole…
Hahahaha
Seriously lolling here
Best laugh I’ve had in weeks
Irish Politics is corrupt, insular and depressing. The Government never works out well and just hop from crisis to crisis.
Why do so many Irish consistently emigrate? Generation after generation
It’s stagnated and atrophied. The only lively, vaguely energised part of Irish politics is that dealing with Brexit. Every other part might as well be in a coma.
Manages to mention nearly all parties bar the biggest party in the state which has not been in government. Maybe Sinn Féin isn’t your thing but if you claim to want change and don’t even consider them then you are fooling yourself.
I know this isn’t the point of this article but they’re all too old! Pelosi, Saunders? Biden’s name is in there too. They’re all older than my parents, who get fussed if they have to drive into a multi-storey car-park.
Bernie “I’m gonna tear down the establishment oh wait I lost the nomination whoops, now all your donations go to the establishment P.S. vote for the establishment” Sanders?
Surely Kernel Sanders, Bodger?