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Irish Citizens Alliance - Green Party for slow learners?
Read more about: Coalition, Democracy, Green Party, Irish Politics
This caught my eye on politics.ie - it seems that Vincent Salafia and TaraWatch plan to form a new “party of protest” to contest seats at the next general election. The proposed name of the party is the Irish Citizens Alliance (or “Irish Citizen’s Alliance” although I assume that the Alliance is supposed to represent more than one Irish citizen).
The necessity for such a party is established as follows:
The idea for the party stems from the experiences of many citizens and citizen’s groups in recent times, which have been unable to find satisfactory support in either the Government or the Opposition parties. There has been an increased perception that parties are reluctant to offend each other by taking stands on any controversial issues that might exclude them from coalition Government.
All perfectly commendable. If your issues are not being represented by the mainstream parties, then setting up your own party or campaigning group is a logical step, and indeed rather courageous. Veterans of “mass immigration” discussions on politics.ie may wish that some of the participants had the gumption to set up their own party, rather than endlessly whine that the existing parties don’t represent their views (not to mention those of the silent majority).
But what are the controversial issues this new party wants to promote? What are the issues the other parties fear to speak of in case it might reduce their chances of getting their feet under the cabinet table? Decriminalisation of heroin? Mandatory medical testing of immigrants? Outlawing the Irish language? Paving over the Shannon?
In fact, the list of issues specified is rather more familiar. It’s a bit long, so I will quote selectively:
- Re-route the M3 away from Tara
- An end to plans for the Corrib gas pipeline
- Enforcement of international human rights laws at Irish airports
- Massive investment in heath and education services
- Reversal of decentralisation
- Re-evaluation of privatization of national services, such as transport, health, education, and prison services.
- Increased public housing and revitalization of first-time buyer scheme.
- Ban GM agriculture and promotion of organic farming through grant system, with a view to creating an ‘organic island’.
As a discerning reader of Ireland’s premier political web log, you will already have identified these as policies held by at least one opposition party, the Greens. The points above would no doubt be phrased a little differently in the Green Party’s manifesto, and there are some I haven’t quoted which might not be Green Party policy or key Green issues (e.g. “Introduction of statutory provisions to limit waste of public money and overspending on public projects ” — sounds nice, but probably something you’d expect Fine Gael to run with in the first instance). However there doesn’t appear to be anything you could identify as a fundamental ideological difference between the putative Citizens Alliance and the Green Party.
Given that the agenda they seek to push already forms part of the policy programme of an established political party, why do Salafia and his “citizens groups” not just throw their lot in with the Greens? It’s not uncommon to come across individuals or groups who share the environmental agenda of the Greens, but can’t bring themselves to join that party, usually because they find themselves to the right of the Greens on non-environmental issues. Colm Mac Eochaidh, for example, is a committed environmentalist and yet remains in Fine Gael, a party whose environmental policy is specifically designed to face in every possible direction at once. On RTÉ’s Questions and Answers some years back he stated that this was because he didn’t agree with the Green Party’s economic policies. Kathy Sinnott recently set about creating an “Irish Environmental Forum” to unite groups campaigning on environmental issues. Sinnott is a bit of an enigma, but leaving aside questions of political ambition, I suspect that she does not share the Green Party’s social liberalism.
However Salafia’s group does not appear to be another bunch of “conservative Greens” — they call for “re-evaluation of privatization of national services, such as transport, health, education, and prison services” and “increased public housing,” so you could probably say they are on the soft left. It seems that the issue that divides them from the established Green Party is the latter’s apparent willingness to join a coalition government:
Well, naturally, the Green Party would approve of a lot of what we are talking about. But the Green party will have to go into coalition with Fine Gael and Labour - or someother concoction. What will happen to these issues then, is the question.
We will not go into coalition. We will put forward a clear, solid, concrete set of proposals as our platform. If we are elected, we will implement them.
So it’s political naiveté then. The author (who I’ll assume is Salafia) seems genuinely convinced that his policies are “clearly favored by the majority of people in Ireland”, and that this majority, if given the choice, will sweep away the established system of political parties in favour of this new option. To date the Green Party has only managed to attract an 8% level of support for remarkably similar policies, and Salafia doesn’t provide any material reason why his new party should fare any better.
There is the possibility that Salafia has it in for the Greens for some reason, or that his party is intended as a ginger group to force the Greens to come out more strongly on the issues in his programme. The Green Party’s perceived move into the mainstream has certainly produced a number of disaffected Greens who were happier on the further margins. However I lean towards the interpretation that Salafia genuinely believes that his initiative is new and different enough to attract a level of support exponentially larger than has been given to the party promoting these issues in the past.
He’s wrong, of course, but in a sense he is starting out on the same journey of discovery that the Greens have been undertaking over the past 25 years. No doubt the founders of the Greens at one point believed that the policies and ideas they were trying to promote were so “common-sense” (a phrase used by Salafia) that they merely had to be put before the electorate to gain the nation’s sweeping endorsement. Other Greens would have been of the opinion that sullying themselves in the murky business of electoral politics at all represented a compromise, and that the movement should remain one purely dedicated to campaigning and protest.
The bulk of the Green movement moved beyond the latter viewpoint fairly early on, and it appears Salafia has also ditched this false notion of the purity of non-electoral politics. However he has yet to learn the hard lessons endured by idealistic Greens over the course of several false dawns and repeated crushing electoral defeats at the hands of parties we all assumed had sacrificed the trust of the Irish electorate. It takes a lot more to get elected than idealism, bright ideas and faith in the electorate’s better nature. It is also a mistake to overestimate the public’s appetite for change.
Am I just being a big old cynic? Yes, I am a big old cynic. However, I’m not trying to suggest that Salafia’s idealism is misplaced. I don’t believe that the 8% or so of the Irish electorate who have been convinced to support the Green Party’s message represents a limit for the growth of this movement. The issues the party highlights move further into the mainstream every day, and the perceived objections which prevent certain environmentally-minded voters from supporting the party get fuzzier also. I don’t expect the Greens will ever be the mass national movement Salafia hopes to build (two seats in every constituency!), but I do believe it will build a more substantial wedge to push the Green philosophy towards the top of the national agenda.
And in case any readers are still wondering (or, indeed, still reading), yes as well as being a cynic I am also a Green.
I gathered you were a green
Good post I would be more of the notion that ego is invoulved here. But look at Irish politics. Only the PD’s greens Sinn Fein and Labour (to a lesser extent to the other three. Would a left wing party in Europe advocate a 12.5% corporation tax) could be said to have a clear ideological message.
Fine gael seem to have gone from social democracy under garreth fitz to conservatism under Kenny due to the prevailing wind and Fianna fail well what are they. yet Fine Gael and Fianna Fail command nearly 70% of the vote.
People in this country vote for managers and personalities not policies. Unless this guy is Bono he will struggle to pull in any votes.
Or even, possibly, Irish Citizens’ Alliance? That’d be the grammatically correct title.
It is quite wrong to think that FF and FG voters don’t vote on policy/ideological grounds. FF voters know precisely what FF stands for, they approve and they want more of it. Unpleasant but true!
TARAWATCH STATEMENT
Saturday, 8 July 2006
TaraWatch, the group campaigning to save the Tara archaeological complex, has made a decision shelve plans to join other protesting groups in setting up a political to run in the 2007 general election, after a strong show of support from Opposition parties.
The idea of forming a new party was mooted at a TaraWatch protest outside Leinster House on Thursday by Vincent Salafia, who stated that TaraWatch was considering doing so, if the mainstream parties did not make Tara an election issue. However, he also stated that it was still preferable that the mainstream parties would take this issue clearly on board from the upcoming election.
Ciaran Cuffe TD of the Green Party said at the demonstration:
“Carving a motorway through the Tara landscape would be an act of sacrilege. The Green Party believes that safety improvements on the existing road would be a better option”.
Shortly after the protest, Sinn Fein TD Senn Crowe issued a strongly word press release in which he stated:
“The Tara/Skryne valley is part of our heritage, part of our history and part of what we are and plans for its destruction are nothing less than Government sponsored vandalism.
“Sinn Fein will continue to oppose the routing of the M3 through the Tara/Skryne valley and will take that opposition down every avenue remaining open to us.”
TaraWatch received news the Labour Party MEP Proinsias de Rossa will meet the EU Petitions Committee on Monday 10th of July, and that Tara and the M3 motorway is on the agenda.
Also present at the protest were Tony Gregory TD and Senator David Norris, who have offered their full support.
TaraWatch Political Affairs Officer, Siobhan Rice said:
“We are delighted to see this clear showing of support and look forward to engaging the in meaningful, constructive discussions Opposition parties, including Fine Gael, over the summer. We hope to find a solution that can best to protect our heritage and deliver badly needed relief for the commuters of Meath.”
“Mr Salafia has indicated that he may be willing to withdraw his Supreme Court Appeal if the matter is handed over to consultants for an independent third party assessment, which could be performed in a few short months.
“While the option still remains open to form a party, we are optimistic that we can work with existing parties to find a solution.
ENDS
==
Irish Examiner
06/07/2006 - 11:45:01 AM
Tara protesters may contest next election
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=27717040&p=z77y7y44&n=27717224&x=
Campaigners blocking the M3 motorway near Tara in Co Meath may form a political protest party to run at the next general election, it emerged today.
The High Court ruled in March that the route did not impinge on the ancient Hill of Tara site but TaraWatch is currently appealing this decision to the Supreme Court.
TaraWatch supporters today held a demonstration outside the Dáil to protest at the passage of the Strategic Infrastructure Bill through parliament on Tuesday.
TaraWatch spokesman Vincent Salafia, who already faces a €600,000 bill over failed legal challenges, vowed to form a political party to fight the issue at the next general election.
“If the mainstream political parties don’t bite on the issue, then we will have to form our own political grouping,” said Mr Salafia.
“There is a lot of support for our campaign on the ground and there will be a lot of votes on the doorsteps come general election time.
“We believe that 70% of people want the M3 rerouted away from Tara but the Government isn’t listening to them.”
“If we cannot stop the motorway in the courts, we will try to stop it in the Dáil.”
TDs Tony Gregory (Independent), Sean Crowe (Sinn Féin) and Ciaran Cuffe (Green Party) attended today’s demonstration, which was themed ’For the Children.’
Deputy Crowe said: “The Tara/Skryne valley is part of our heritage, part of our history and part of what we are and plans for its destruction are nothing less than government-sponsored vandalism.
“The case has been made time and again by those campaigning against the proposed route of the M3 that there are viable and realistic alternatives where both infrastructure and heritage can be accommodated. Sinn Féin is calling for the M3 to be constructed on that viable, alternative route.
“We are also calling for the Tara/Skryne to be developed as a sustainable tourist site. What people don’t realize is that approximately 100,000 people visit the site annually at present.
“The financial prospects for the County, if the site is developed as a tourist attraction, are colossal.”
Mr Salafia added: “The Government has worked hard at avoiding, rather than finding a solution to the problem of their own creation.
“This issue is a test for Opposition parties to show that they have vision and can solve problems.”
Mr Salafia claimed the successful passage through the Dáil of the Strategic Infrastructure Bill, which fast-tracks major infrastructure projects, will limit the ability of citizens to challenge planning decisions in court.
“The Government and its developer cronies are wrecking our children’s environment and cultural inheritance. They are also stripping away their legal and civil rights to object.
A candle-lit walk will be held later this month along the route of the motorway from Rathnew to Tara.
TaraWatch is also currently compiling an album of songs to raise funds and promote awareness of the campaign.
Entitled ‘Tara of the Kings’, it will feature musicians Paddy Casey and Ronan O Snodaigh.
The title track is taken from a poem written by Co Armagh poet Paul Muldoon.
Here is a press release on behalf of the new umbrella group Campaign to Save Tara. It is accompanied by links to various recent photographs and articles at the end. Please use the photographs. If higher resolutions are required please to not hesitate to mail me. We have higher resolutions available.
For background, I am a senior lecturer in the School of Celtic Studies, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. I teach early Irish literature and history. Tara is at the very heart of this subject matter.
I can be contacted at muireann@indigo.ie or muireann@savetara.com
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin 087-9249510
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PRESS RELEASE for immediate release
CAMPAIGN TO SAVE TARA
ST. PATRICK AND TARA - No Place for Heritage and Tradition in the New
Ireland
Legend records that St. Patrick lit his Pascal Fire on the Hill of Slane, just as the pagan fire was to be lit on Tara. The druids at Tara warn the king, Loegaire son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, that unless they put out the fire it will outlive their pagan fire forever. Loegaire is feasting in the banqueting hall when Patrick enters and confronts the ‘great, fierce, pagan emperor of the barbarians reigning in Tara, which was the capital of the Irish’. In one version of the story Loegaire refuses baptism and insists on being buried in pagan fashion – that is upright and fully armed in the ramparts of Tara facing his hereditary enemy, the king of Leinster. This is the landscape targeted by the proposed M3 motorway.
Irish Ministers will travel the world this weekend, presenting shamrocks to Mr Bush and marketing the bright, shiny new Emerald Isle in cities far and wide; from New York to Toronto, Savannah to Rome, London to Japan. A new found concern for the environment, and the traditional focus on a green and unspoilt landscape, is central to the marketing effort.
Meanwhile back at home … the contracts for the M3 motorway have been signed. The present route for this motorway is destined to destroy Tara’s landscape; the Gabhra Valley, between the Hills of Tara and Skryne. The proposed road itself is a four lane, tolled motorway that cuts a swathe through the richest archaeological landscape in Europe. A huge interchange is planned within 1500m of the top of the Hill, and cultural and environmental activists predict the motorway will inevitably be followed by all kinds of commercial and ancillary development. The Green and Emerald Isle is quickly becoming the Concrete Isle.
During the preparatory archaeological excavations 38 sites have been uncovered in the Valley. The archaeological richness of the Valley has proved to be such that the sites have been expanded and now back onto one another, forming one large archaeological dig-site in this section of the proposed route. At least 13 contained burials and dozens of ancient corpses are being dug from their resting places and placed in warehouses for future examination. Such is the fate of the ancestors in the new Ireland.
Future tourists are sure to be confused by what they encounter in Co. Meath and indeed throughout the country, particularly the most scenic areas. Rampant development, much of it facilitated by corrupt officials has been a by-product of Ireland’s breakneck economic expansion over the last decade.
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, Campaign to Save Tara, said today: “The Irish diaspora abroad have an opportunity over the next week to impress upon the Irish Government that this decision affects all of us; that Tara belongs to Irish people all over the world, it is part of our cultural and national identity.”
She added: “We call on everyone who cares about the heritage of Ireland to take this chance to express their personal abhorrence in whatever way they can on St. Patrick’s Day. And if you happen to meet one of our smiling politicians at your St Patrick’s Day celebrations tell them exactly what you think of their plans to destroy Tara. Our campaign is calling on the Government to abandon this cultural vandalism, and instead seek UNESCO World Heritage Status for the Tara Complex. It is only by doing this that Tara can be preserved for this and future generations.”
M. Ni Bhrolcháin, The Campaign to Save Tara
http://www.savetara.com
Links to photographs: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81489&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment186612
and the sites and the finds: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81168