Can the Irish Field an Alternative?

Ireland’s politics are a tricky thing. While there used to be a fierce rivalry between the two largest parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the two have collapsed in popularity and begun holding on to each other as a mutual life raft. The public conversation in Ireland tends to move from one consensus to another without much real debate. In the abortion referendum for instance, most of those who led the government’s campaign to overturn Ireland’s constitutional amendment forbidding abortion had gotten their start in politics running as pro-life candidates committed to pro-life agendas. They simply announced themselves on the other side with the expectation that the public would accept it with a shrug — which the public did.

So Ireland has been an exception to European politics over the last ten years in that it has not generated a populist, anti-mass immigration party. Although it has had several social referenda related to its constitution, none of the major parties, and vanishingly few independent TD’s, ever represent the 30 to 40 percent of the public who took sides against progressives. The media obsessively stirs up fear that a “far right” is rising in Ireland. And although there have been massive demonstrations opposing the government’s current immigration and asylum policies, and even arson committed to prevent the government from setting up its IPAS centers for housing migrants and refugees, the launch of every ideologically right-wing party has been a botch, ruined by extremism and crankery. A true sign of disconnect happened in the last referendum which was meant to change the supposedly misogynistic clauses of the constitution which oblige the Irish state to, as far as possible, make home life for a mother possible. The government was overwhelmingly for it, the people rejected it.

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Immigration

Ireland

Ireland’s politics are a tricky thing. While there used to be a fierce rivalry between the two largest parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the two have collapsed in popularity and begun holding on to each other as a mutual life raft. The public conversation in Ireland tends to move from one consensus to another without much real debate. In the abortion referendum for instance, most of those who led the government’s campaign to overturn Ireland’s constitutional amendment forbidding abortion had gotten their start in politics running as pro-life candidates committed to pro-life agendas. They simply announced themselves on the other side with the expectation that the public would accept it with a shrug — which the public did.

So Ireland has been an exception to European politics over the last ten years in that it has not generated a populist, anti-mass immigration party. Although it has had several social referenda related to its constitution, none of the major parties, and vanishingly few independent TD’s, ever represent the 30 to 40 percent of the public who took sides against progressives. The media obsessively stirs up fear that a “far right” is rising in Ireland. And although there have been massive demonstrations opposing the government’s current immigration and asylum policies, and even arson committed to prevent the government from setting up its IPAS centers for housing migrants and refugees, the launch of every ideologically right-wing party has been a botch, ruined by extremism and crankery. A true sign of disconnect happened in the last referendum which was meant to change the supposedly misogynistic clauses of the constitution which oblige the Irish state to, as far as possible, make home life for a mother possible. The government was overwhelmingly for it, the people rejected it.