Cllr Seamus Ryan: The Longest Campaign Ever?

The general election campaign certainly seems to have begun in earnest this weekend, with the Soldiers of Destiny holding their Ard Fheis in Dublin. Most commentators were surprised at the level and viciousness of the attacks on the opposition by the Fianna Fail party faithful at this Ard Fheis. The Labour Party came in for stinging criticism from Ministers O’Donoghue and O’Dea, who were quite vociferous in their defence of Bertie and in their condemnation of Pat Rabbitte in particular. The Labour Party must be doing something right to attract the wrath of two government Ministers and a Taoiseach all in the one day!

The other extraordinary outburst this week came from the Tanaiste Michael McDowell. I’m referring, of course, to the Tanaiste’s ridiculous statement that “the weak and vulnerable in our society are better off with the PDs than Labour.” Maybe I’m the only one, but I can’t see those on the margins in our society rushing to join the PDs following McDowells new found interest in their welfare. This outburst from McDowell is up there with Bertie’s declaration that he is a socialist as being possibly the two most ridiculous statements ever uttered by senior politicians in this country. After nearly ten years of the Progressive Democrats in government, the “weak and vulnerable” that the Tanaiste refers to continue to be victims of the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Irish society needs to become a fairer society where the fruits of our economy are distributed evenly amongst all sectors and not just a society where the backers and supporters of the Progressive Democrats continue to flourish.

McDowell went on to say that “while media attention will naturally focus on the major parties, the identity of the smaller party in government is often more important in influencing the direction of a government.” This is where I agree with the Tanaiste.

The smaller party in government can play an important role in the direction a society takes. However, recent events have shown that the Progressive Democrats are nothing more than a bit player in this current government. If people want to continue to see policies that reinforce our increasingly high levels of child poverty or the promotion of private health care over public health care or indeed the continued growth of materialism and consumerism, then the PDs should continue to have a role in government. However I have greater faith in the Irish public than this.

I believe that Irish people want to see a society where the gap between rich and poor is eradicated and where poverty in Ireland no longer exists. These aims will not be achieved with Bertie the Socialist or Michael the Guardian of the Poor. The Labour Party itself faces a major challenge in this election in convincing the electorate that there is a better way, a more inclusive way where the very people Michael McDowell referred to in his speech benefit from our economic success.

This challenge must not be underestimated as to date, according to the last three polls, we are failing to get this message across. I believe the blurring of the lines of distinction between Labour and Fine Gael is not helping our chances. The Labour Party is a party that is different in many ways from Fine Gael and we must promote Labour Party principles and Labour Party policies as the central plank to any alternative government with Fine Gael. There will be those who will try and deflect us from doing just that.

There will be those who would prefer to see us to prop up a Fianna Fail-led administration. The Labour Party are not there to prop up any administration but are ready to be the driving force in an alternative to this jaded government.