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International No 9 March/April 1987
further instability
In the 17 February election in the South of Ireland, Fianna Fail failed to win an overall majority. BRIAN PELAN explains the problems facing the left, and in particular Sinn Fein, in trying to provide an alternative. THE GENERAL ELECTION in the South of Ireland on February 17 was called against a background of rising unemployment and the collapse of the Fine Gael/Labour government led by Garret FitzGerald on January 20.
The four Labour ministers resigned their seats in the cabinet after they had been outvoted 11-4 by the Fine Gael ministers on the 1987 budget. The Labour Party tried to explain their quitting office as an act of conscience over a harsh budget aimed at further penalising the Irish working class for an economic mess created by right wing policies. In fact, Labour deserted because the ship was sinking; indeed the collapse was signalled months in advance as both government parties had suffered defections in the Dail, and could no longer command a majority. Rollay
After the votes were counted on 17 February, Fianna Fail under the leadership of Charles Haughey were the largest party but had failed to gain an overall majority. Fine Gael suffered badly, but part of this was due to the emergence of the Progressive
Headed by Des O'Malley, former cabinet minister in Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats are similar to Fine Gael with a programme based on Thatcher's precept of putting the boot into the working class.
So while the various bourgeois parties failed to gain an overwhelming endorsement, the shift to the right, coupled with the lack of an effective anti-imperialist opposition, is
The last four years have seen unemployment rise to 250,000 — at 20 per cent of the insured workforce, it is the highest in the EEC. Emigration now stands between 70100,000 per annum, as young people leave Ireland in droves. Another figure which highlights the worsening economic situation is a national debt of IR£24.3 billion — 148 per cent of GNP.
A recent report exposes the fact that in 1984, nearly 30 per cent of the adult population in the South of Ireland was receiving some form of social welfare. About one sixth of all households are fully reliant on social welfare payments as their only source of income.
The report also found that the political environment shows a gradual shift to the right, with a growth in support for a move away from state interventionism and the welfare state. The 1987 draft budget which sparked the election had included proposals for cutbacks in unemployment benefit and International No 9 March/April 1987
IRELAND Irish election heralds
MAN POWNI WHO NEXT Derry City — only the ending of partition can bring lasting peace assistance, charges for previously free hospital services, s slashing of public sector budgets, and the privatisation of industries currently owned by the state.
The main focus of attention for anti-imperialists in this election was the participation of Sinn Fein, for while the major parties support attacks on the living standards of the working class, and Fianna Fail has already indicated that its budget will be similar to Fine Gael's proposals, Sinn Fein has a record of opposition to British imperialism. Its programme is based on a reunification of Ireland and the subsequent dismantling of the six county sectarian state, with all the implications this has for British and Irish capitalism
Sinn Fein's overall performance, however, was weak and in many constituencies its vote
The explanation given by the leadership of Sinn Fein for the poor poll was that Sinn Fein was not seen by the electorate as a credible alternative to any of the established parties or to the many independents and parties of the left against whom it was competing for rural and urban working-class
They also cited the isolation imposed by the sixty-five years of abstentionism and the fact of state censorship. Section 31 of the Irish Broadcasting Act forbids interviews
with Sinn Fein on RTE television and radio. The main message given is that Sinn Fein can only win seats in the next election by thorough constituency and community work, through agitation and involvement in the peoples' struggles.
During the election Peoples Democracy (the Irish section of the Fourth International) called for a number one vote for Sinn Fein because it was the only anti-imperialist party standing in this election and because it was the only group to advance real solutions based on the needs of working class people. It recognised that Sinn Fein's poor vote was directly relåted to the absence of a mass struggle in Ireland
The last time anti-imperialist candidates were elected was during the 1981 Hunger Strike campaign. A major swing towards Sinn Fein during this election was always unlikely as both the Anglo-Irish deal and the austerity offensive were not opposed with mass mobilisations.
Also the failure of Sinn Fein to become a central part of the recent campaigns against the pro-abortion forces during the antiamendment struggle and the fight to overturn the ban on divorce, meant that it had not created allies in the women's movement or among those forces which had supported those struggles.
The key for Sinn Fein and indeed the entire anti-imperialist movement is to become involved in the workers' movement in the South and to link that with the struggle against the loyalist state in the North. The fight and the demand for an united Ireland remains the most revolutionary challenge not only to the continued rule of British imperialism, but also the rule of the Southern capitalist class. That is why the national question remains at the heart of the struggle for socialism.
So while Fianna Fail starts its manoeuvering for power and Fine Gael exchange nods and winks with the Progressive Democrats and dream of the days of a coalition of interests with no impediments, the Irish working class is still in good shape. Its ability to combat austerity has not been broken. Indeed it is in the industrial arena that the decisive struggles have yet to take place.
What we can forecast is that Fianna Fail will be unable to form a government for any stable period and the economic chaos will worsen. It is up to Sinn Fein and all the forces that oppose capitalist rule in Ireland to unite around a programme of effective opposition to austerity. The stakes are high and half measures will not be good enough. E