UK News

A new kind of voter for post-crisis Ireland

By Padraic Halpin

The Irish financial meltdown has turned Ireland’s politics on its head, prompting nuns to consider Marxism, plumbers to track debt markets and the Irish people to abandon the party that has ruled them for most of the last 80 years.

Ravaged by austerity and embittered by years of feckless government, voters who descended upon polling stations on Friday are unrecognisable from those who seemingly sleepwalked to the polls four years ago to re-elect a Fianna Fail party despite decades of corruption allegations.

In post-crisis Ireland, the common man is more engaged by the high interest rate imposed by Europe on the country’s EU/IMF bailout than the weekend’s football action.

“There is no way we can afford to pay back all the debt,” says Alan Pinder, a 49-year-old plumber, father of two and advocate of sovereign debt default. “We have to realise that we are broke, that we can’t afford it. It’s Europe’s problem as well.”

“This government have shamed us, the whole country is shamed by them,” he said.

While voters have second thoughts about the joys of pan-European social democracy, some are casting a jealous glance at the Arab uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia for tips on how to tame their corrupt elite.

No-one comes out well in Ireland’s political posturing

Poker, chess, chicken. Pick whichever analogy you like: there’s a high stakes game being played in Irish politics and it’s not a game their international partners much like. Since Ireland said on Sunday it would be asking for help from the EU and IMF –  little more than  two days ago, though it seems like a lifetime — the pieces of the political game have moved almost without cease. Ironically, though, the net result may be little different to what was forecast before the tumultuous events of the past 48 hours: a four-year austerity plan outlining 15 billion euros in savings, a by-election Fianna Fail are set to lose, the harshest budget on record on December 7, and an election in early 2011.

It started with the government’s bailout appeal. What should have led to a few weeks of EU/IMF negotiations was immediately overshadowed by the surprise move of the junior coalition party, the Greens, who stunned voters – and, it appears, their partners Fianna Fail themself, itself, when it announced it would not continue to be part of the government once 2011 budget measures were implemented.

Next move came from two politicians that few knew were even playing in the game: the independent lawmakers on whom the government relies for parliamentary majority. Jackie Healy-Rae and Michael Lowry threw the success of the budget – and the immediate future of the government – into doubt after saying they might not back the budget after all. This threw the ball to opposition parties Fine Gael and Labour who took it, ran with it, and demanded a snap election.

Back to Prime Minister Brian Cowen, whose poker face kept everyone guessing for several tense hours. He was to make a statement, the government reported. The Twittersphere ignited with rumours he would resign, markets wobbled. But no, Cowen stood firm and swatted the ball  back to the opposition. I’ll call an election, he said, but not before the budget is passed and implemented — effectively daring Fine Gael and Labour to vote it down and so be branded unpatriotic and self-interested in the process.

Then, stalemate. The opposistion went strangely quiet as they mulled what to do. Fine Gael disappeared into a huddle for over three hours to devise a plan. Then Fien Gael’s Enda Kenny showed his hand: ‘Bring forward the budget date’ he demanded with a flourish. Cowen stood up, paused for a few seconds, and simply said ‘No’.

There may be no more hands left to play, if you choose to view this as a high stakes poker game, or moves to make, if you’d prefer chess. The budget looks likely to go ahead on December 7, it looks likely to pass since Fine Gael have now also started trotting out the national interest line. And an election will follow in early 2011. But the net result of the last few days’ political posturing has been to add to international uncertainty about Ireland, and raise the ire of political partners, who have been at pains to stress that Ireland must get its four-year plan and budget out as planned if it wants aid. No-one has come out well, nerves are shredded, and Irish people appear fed up and frustrated by the gaming. The four-year plan may put a halt to the manoeuvres for now – expect plenty more before the year is out.