The Irish presidential election betrays a divided country, where many feel left behind
The Republic of Ireland’s establishment likes to project the image of a prosperous, modern state, at ease with itself and in touch with its conscience. In the aftermath of the EU referendum, liberals in the UK also embraced the idea that our neighbour was tolerant, rich and stable, supposedly in contrast to right-wing, increasingly impoverished Brexit Britain. The problem with this notion was that it was based on Irish conceit and British self-loathing, rather than reality.
As if to demonstrate that, as anti-immigrant riots continued to set Dublin alight, the Republic chose an anti-capitalist, anti-NATO, pro-Hamas politician to be its next president. In Friday’s election, Catherine Connolly defeated Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, who effectively became the candidate of Ireland’s coalition government after the Fianna Fail candidate withdrew from campaigning. Not only that, she won by a landslide. Connolly took 63.4 per cent of the vote, to Humphreys’ 29.5 per cent, while an unprecedented number of voters spoiled their ballots as a protest and the turnout was only 45.9 per cent. These results reflected widespread disgust with the political establishment, unhappiness with the country’s economic model and an old-fashioned streak of Irish nationalist self-pity.
Connolly prospered because of frustration with the government rather than genuine enthusiasm
The incoming president, who was supported by Sinn Fein and a range of other left-wing and republican parties, despite being officially independent, will be at odds immediately with the government. Her post carries few political powers — it is supposed to be largely ceremonial — but she will be the face that the Republic presents to the world and the commander and chief of its armed forces (such as they are). An increasingly apparent constitutional contradiction was already exposed by her predecessor, Michael D. Higgins, who pursued a personal agenda, particularly in foreign policy, seemingly independent from the government.
Irish politics, far from projecting an image of stability and success, then, betrays a divided, confused country, where many people feel left behind. This election can only compound the confusion. The Republic’s economic model, which relies on offering a tax haven to international corporations, generates prosperity on spreadsheets, but people’s actual spending power is on a par with Northern Ireland and below the UK average. The result, compounded by republicans’ traditional goal of a socialist republic, is the success of sub-student-union leftists like Connolly. Her views on economics were last week described by the journalist Kevin Myers as a “fusion of the thoughts of Adrian Mole and Greta Thunberg”.
Connolly was the anti-establishment candidate and she prospered because of frustration with the government parties of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, rather than genuine enthusiasm for her message. In the run up to the election, some polls suggested that almost half the electorate felt they were not represented by either Connolly or Humphreys. The huge number of spoiled votes and the low turnout confirmed this disillusionment. In the Republic’s parliament, FF and FG maintain power, but they are faced by a rancorous collection of far-left populists and right-wing misfits.
The country’s growing anti-immigration movement was not represented at this election, due to a restrictive nomination process. Nor does it have a coherent presence in the Dail, where its complaints are voiced instead by an eccentric group of independents. This raises the likelihood that, rather than being channelled into a political party which articulates concerns about migration, like Reform UK, the outlet for these sentiments will continue to be street violence. In this election, the disillusioned left voted for Connolly, the right spoiled their votes.
We should not expect this fractious picture to affect Dublin’s air of smug sanctimony, its bloviating about supposed economic success or its habit of delivering high-minded lectures to Britain. Some things are constant. Neither will it pause the nationalist campaign to claim that the Republic is ready to absorb Northern Ireland, which, it alleges, would be incomparably better off under Dublin’s authority. Ireland’s latest far-left president, though, should stand as a warning to gullible Brits never to believe the lies the Irish tell us about their country, much less their claims about Britain.
