Sir, – It is a predictable feature of elections that as soon as trends become clear the process of mythmaking by political commentators and spin doctors begins. The current myth being promulgated in Ireland is that the centre held and, in the process, saw off the far right and far left (“Centre holds as Coalition parties show resilience: general election speculation mounts after Sinn Féin suffers poor results”, News, June 10th).
The truth is somewhat more nuanced.
The centre may have held but the centre itself moved, and it did so very much in the direction of the far right. Through a suddenly flurry of activity it brought in new, and mean-spirited, policies on immigration, it acted to clear away the tents that people who came here to avoid war and poverty were living in, cut their financial supports, and had a number of well-publicised deportations, exactly the kinds of things that far-right parties were looking for and, the concession of which, effectively speaking neutralised them.
The issue of immigration poses more complex problems for the left. They would tend to be more liberal and sympathetic on immigration but those who vote for them tend not to be, hence the collapse in their vote, mainly in working-class areas. How they will bridge this dilemma is going to be the defining issue in left-wing politics and will not easily be resolved. It will continue to be a confounding issue for Sinn Féin. – Yours, etc,
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CIARAN McCULLAGH,
Bishopstown,
Cork.
A chara, – Might Sinn Féin have increased their share of the vote in the local elections if they promised not to take up any of their seats? – Is mise,
DERMOT O’ROURKE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Taking an opportunity can sometimes look like opportunism; that is not the way Fine Gael operates. – Yours, etc,
Senator BARRY WARD,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – I was delighted that Helen Ogbu was elected as a city councillor last weekend in the east ward electoral area, Galway’s first person of colour to be elected to city hall. In one way it’s surprising that it took so long for something like this to happen considering the high foreign-born population of the city, according to recent census results, approximately 20 per cent. Galway City East is the most culturally diverse area of Galway.
It was a good result too in the face of anti-immigrant sentiment emanating from certain quarters. As we all know a number of parties ran candidates on an anti-immigrant platform, but all of these candidates were rejected in the three city wards. In fact, nationally only a handful of anti-immigrant candidates were elected.
What this means is that those that shout the loudest do not always represent the views of ordinary citizens.
I saw some horrendous racist comments posted on Helen Ogbu’s Facebook profile a number of weeks ago and another person may have been tempted to quit the race. Social media can be a pit where often people spew out their hatred in the hope of intimidating people, but the democratic process that we have all witnessed and some of us took part in tells the real story. In general, Irish people are very tolerant and have little time for far-right racist agitators. – Yours, etc,
TOMMY RODDY,
Galway.
Sir, – The rise of single-issue Independents in Irish politics is worth watching, particularly those elected on a platform built with social-media outrage and anger. How, I wonder, will these newly elected warriors cope in the boring bureaucratic drudgery of a normal council chamber? Longer-term attendance and participation will be interesting to track for those elected on a loud, populist agenda. – Yours, etc,
NUALA MAHER,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Best of luck to the 949 individuals elected across 31 local authorities due to be announced this week.
The first thing that these individuals are likely to discover is the lack of power available to effect the changes promised in their campaigns. “Councillors have access to 3 per cent of overall Irish tax revenue raised at local level, compared with an average of 15 per cent elsewhere in Europe” (“Overworked and underfunded: Irish local government is hollow”, Paul Gillespie, Opinion & Analysis, April 13th) and effectively preside over a hollowed out local government framework whose functions have been largely centralised, privatised and outsourced.
The second thing that newly elected individuals are likely to discover is how overworked they are – the councillors elected in the 31 authorities will represent 4,935 citizens per councillor, compared with approximately 600 in Belgium or Spain.
Tired, under-resourced councillors are particularly bad news for local areas categorised as deprived that require local knowledge and powers to apply effective remedial solutions – areas like Dublin’s Liberties will continue to fall further behind under the current system.
Let’s support our newly elected councillors by calling for a radical relocalisation of an expanding State, rather than lambasting them for not delivering things they do not have the power, funds or time (and probably shouldn’t have promised) to deliver. – Yours, etc,
AUSTIN CAMPBELL,
CEO,
Robert Emmet Community
Development Project and
South Inner City Community
Development Association,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – I find the coverage of the European elections in Ireland quite bizarre. The elections matter for one reason: they determine the relative strength of the different political groups in the European Parliament, which in turn shapes what policies will be passed by the EU in the next five years. However, the Irish media focuses almost exclusively on the outcome in three constituencies, returning a combined total of 14 out of 720 MEPs.
In this respect, the national media is significantly more parochial than local media is in the context of Dáil elections, when every local newspaper and radio station gives significant coverage of the national picture as well as the result in their local constituency.
The Irish Times is better than most Irish media in giving the broader context, but for the most part people who are interested in finding out about the European Parliament elections are forced to look to the international press. – Yours, etc,
Dr RORY COSTELLO,
Associate Professor,
Department of Politics,
University of Limerick.
Sir, – Trying to manipulate a very long ballot paper in the confines of a tiny triangular voting booth is virtually impossible, particularly when you have two ballot papers!
I had to forgo my normal practice of voting down the entire ballot paper as it was impossible to easily see what my last preference was. – Yours, etc,
DONALD HOEY,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – You carry a piece with the alarming headline “‘They are looking for an alternative’: right and left extremes to gain in Belgian elections” (Politics, June 7th). The party referred to as “far-left” is the Workers’ Party of Belgium. And what is the disturbing evidence he produces for the extremism of this party?
Why, these fanatics want “a wealth tax of 2 per cent on people with assets of more than €5 million”.
In the eyes of most mainstream Irish political journalists, it is astonishingly easy to be far-left these days. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN HANNEY,
Shantalla,
Galway.
Sir, – Given the results for Sinn Féin, could the party’s posters of Mary Lou McDonald with the caption “Change starts here” be read in a way that wasn’t intended, and possibly a next step for the party? – Yours, etc,
RORY J WHELAN,
Drogheda,
Co Meath.
Sir, – I still hadn’t forgiven RTÉ for dropping Sunday Miscellany to broadcast a rugby match when they did it again in favour of Elections 2024. – Yours, etc,
MATTIE LENNON,
Blessington,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Do the results of the local elections mean that the TikTok Taoiseach is counting down to an election? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
Sir, – It seems political commentators have various categories for the “swerve to the right” in European elections.
We now have centre right, populist right, hard right. Am I right? – Yours, etc,
MIKE MORAN,
Dublin 3.