The Changing Times
Better Ireland, A Movement For Equal Prosperity
Opposition parties need to partner and work like never before, there is no time to waste
The events of the last 2 weeks at home and abroad have reset the political landscape like the upturning of a monopoly board. The game pieces that have been flung through the air include the last vestiges of International law and any moral responsibility that was once held by governments.
America is now a fascist state. This is a tough idea to accept, especially from an Irish perspective where America has been put up on a pedestal for generations, first as a destination for thousands of emigrants to prosper, and then as the source of fuel to Ireland’s economic fire in the form of FDI. Ireland has been awarded handsomely for aligning closely with American culture, values, economics, and foreign policy. Those days are over, something the failed government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will never admit to.
The fascist regime in America has openly invaded Venezuela and kidnapped its leader in order to extort control over its oil reserves. Trump is threatening to take Greenland “the easy way" or "the hard way”, and as a result, we are on the verge of the disintegration of NATO from the inside. Meanwhile within the U.S., the regime’s incarnation of the Black and Tans are murdering people in the street for no other reason but to intimidate, backed by support from the White House.
While American fascism wages war against its own people in the streets, it also continues to poison the internet as well. The fascist billionaire that owns X turned the social media platform into a CSAM (and other illegal content) generator, allowing disgusting people to generate disgusting images on demand and at scale for all to see.
There was a time when the moral responsibility of Western governments would have emboldened them to act against such illegal and criminal behaviour. Those days appear to be over as well.
The learned apathy of governments towards action in the face of an ongoing genocide has now spread to all other areas of injustice perpetrated by the super-powers and their close friends. Granted, governments can still issue weak statements of condemnation, but action is nowhere to be seen.
The Irish flavour of this was evident this week when the CSAM generator start spewing out thousands of sexualised images per hour. In a show of moral and ethical bankruptcy, when asked if the government should stop using X, the Taoiseach both-sided the issue, while government Ministers contradicted each other over the responsibilities of the company that created the CSAM generator. So tied is this failed Irish government to the vested interests of America FDI and big tech, that they can’t or won’t take action to enact the law against the largest breach of harmful content law in the history of the State.
This failed government has shown us who they are time and time and time again. They will always choose neoliberal policies of profit extraction, rentier capitalism, and the interests of corporations and international finance over what is best for the people of the country.
Meanwhile, the fascist bile produced across the Atlantic is seeping its way into Ireland. Chaos monkey in chief Steve Bannon wants to create an Irish MAGA under an Irish Trump. Far right agitators came together yesterday with the U.S Ambassador to Ireland at a conference led by Eddie Hobbs to promote collaboration between Irish racists and their MAGA brethren state-side in order to “shut the Dáil down”, among other things.
The threat of encroaching fascism from America, with an Irish government incapable of saying no, should be sounding alarm bells for everyone who considers themselves a decent person. It should also be lighting a fire under the parties of the opposition.
Much more than the next election is now at stake, however, that election must still be won. In order to do that, voters need a viable alternative to the perceived safety of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Pointing out the failures of the successive governments is not enough and didn’t work last time around.
A concerted and multifaceted campaign is needed to convince voters that a left alliance is real, is consistent, and is united in its passion to not only save the country from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but to save it from fascism. This campaign needs to start now.
This campaign needs to form an umbrella over the motivations and goals of every opposition party, becoming a vehicle for partnership, collaboration, and compromise, in the national interest. It needs to override any party political machinations of indignation or ego, however well-intentioned. It needs to be an alliance that puts everything else on hold, and dispels the view that the only thing the left is good at is splitting and in-fighting.
This campaign needs to demonstrate to voters that the country’s economic reliance on American FDI and neoliberal policies is no longer sustainable from an economic, climate, and democratic standpoint. It needs to offer alternatives that are both detailed and emotive, and demonstrate the vast opportunities for prosperity and climate responsibility available in a transition to a green economy.
This campaign needs to build on Catherine Connolly’s Presidential campaign values of integrity, peace, neutrality, promotion of Gaeilge, and social justice. It needs to combine these with a vision of equal prosperity that more voters understand and want.
This campaign needs to teach, motivate, and excite people about the economic and cultural possibilities that a united Ireland can bring. It needs to start preparing for it now.
This campaign needs to start publishing plans and enacting them, to fix the crises of the country through willing local organisation and action, co-operatives and business networks, and continued pressure at local government and in the Dáil. It needs to work around the failed government as well as hold them to account.
This campaign needs to show what a better Ireland is, so by election time, it’s a done deal.
This campaign needs to become a movement, and needs to start now.
There is no time to waste.
This Is A Failed Government
With a Taoiseach that can’t see the wood from the trees
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin, when asked if it’s appropriate for the Irish government to continue to use X given Grok is facilitating the generation of thousands of sexualised, nonconsensual, and illegal images of women and children per hour, said that "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and that should be taken into account "before jumping to conclusions".
It strikes me that Micheál Martin becomes so tetchy when his decisions are questioned, be that about the speaking rights fiasco or Jim Gavin, that his default reaction is now to deny and defend. He has become so adamant in defending a position, any position, that he has lost the ability to see the wood from the trees.
85% of images generated ..
continue readingPetrol On The Stairway
“an act designed to ensure the occupants could not escape”
The justice minister [Helen McEntee] last night expressed her support for the garda commissioner’s “hands off” approach to policing far-right protests despite calls for a crackdown on extremists following the violent protests that blockaded the Dail last Wednesday.
- September 24, 2023, The Times
Petrol on the stairway.
Drew Harris, the garda commissioner, has previously said he will not allow gardai to “fall into the trap” of overreacting to the far right, particularly those who stage protests at migrant reception centres.
- September 24, 2023, The Times
Petrol on the stairway.
Since then, an analysis by Prime Time shows...
continue readingPrinciples Vs Politics
A choice in the Presidential election some don’t want to see, let alone make
Tomorrow, the people of Ireland go to the polls to elect a new Uachtarán na hÉireann. I think back to summer 2023 when Zara King and Richard Chambers pondered on The Group Chat podcast if perhaps Ryan Tubridy was leaving The Late Late Show to get ready to run for President. That worked out well.
Speaking of things working out well, or not, the Presidential election campaign has been anything but boring. It’s been controversial, a bit scandalous, politically exciting, and in the last week, tedious with a dash of disgusting.
We’ve had multiple debates and interviews across different outlets, who at times seem to think that their audience only consume one sole broadcast about the election. Hence, they saw the need to ask the same questions and cover the same topics ad nauseam. If you are one of the lucky listeners or watchers that only tuned in to one thing, then...
continue readingTaoiseach Willing to Sacrifice Ireland’s Future to Avoid Hard Work on Climate
Micheál Martin warns of polarising society while alienating most of it
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin can’t be arsed with doing the hard work of effective climate action, judging by his comments at the opening of Stripe’s new Dublin offices on Wednesday:
“I don’t think we can mitigate for climate change, … This might be controversial, because I believe in addressing climate change. But if we get into a position where we’re going to challenge every single thing, saying it’s against the climate, we’re going to divide society fairly fast and we’ll then get a negative reaction against good, progressive policies that seek to address climate and very serious issues.”.
Let’s try to unravel this mess of circular half-truths. Firstly, ....
continue readingHandbags & False Idols
The threat to democracy is real, but it is not Maria Steen failing to secure a nomination
Before last week, I was blissful in my ignorance to the fact that a handbag can cost upwards of €20,000. Since last Wednesday, we’ve all found out about Maria Steen’s presidential election nomination campaign coming to an end, capped off with a photograph of her on Kildare St holding a very expensive handbag. Apparently the handbag that’s worth more than my car was intended to act as some kind of gotcha for the left. I only know all of this because of the extensive coverage in the press of this non-politician’s failure to meet the nomination bar and how that is somehow a threat to democracy.
I shed no tears for the fact that an anti-abortion, anti-feminist, Trump supporter wasn’t popular enough to convince 20 Oireachtas members or 4 councils to nominate her onto the presidential election ballot. The nomination bar is ....
continue readingHow Do They Ignore The Horror?
Politicians can see the genocide, but still choose the economy
It’s hard. We see new death and destruction everyday on social media, and even the daily sanitised footage on the news is as bad as the worst of footage from wars. I saw a huge aid palette crush people the other day in Gaza as it fell at speed from the sky. The video had played before I could decide to shield myself from its horror. Then I remembered that I have that privilege. I can choose to shield myself, to not watch, to try to put it to the back of my mind, to ignore it. How do I justify doing that, when I see Bisan Owda posting a video pleading with us to do something, to not forget them, before it's too late. I can’t justify it. I have to share, I have to speak out, for the sake of my own humanity, for the sake of theirs.
Yesterday, The Journal published an interview with new first time Fianna Fáil TD Martin Daly of Roscommon-Galway, as part of a new series showcasing newly elected TDs. Presumably, the idea is to give ....
continue readingWhat Are We Doing Here & Where Are We Going?
The majority of us are not immoral opportunists
A recent trip back to the old sod coincided with very warm weather last week. We all know how beautiful Ireland is when the sun shines, and my heart was warmed by the many Palestine flags I saw flying from buildings and from homes in the sunshine. This hope was short-lived as photos of the boat of refugees effigy on top of a huge bonfire pyre in Northern Ireland began to circulate. Accompanying this physical manifestation of hate and ignorance on the pyre were Palestine flags, pictures of Kneecap, and placards that read “K.A.T.” (Kill All Taigs). It's difficult to imagine the hate needed within a person to be so racist and twisted as to first conceive of this idea as a bonfire “topper”, and then to acquire mannequins representing people of colour, fit them with life jackets, and post a sign with the thinnest, lamest veil of an excuse for racism saying “veterans before immigrants”. That isn't culture, it's inequality and deprivation wrapped in hate and racism, delivered in a package of staggering ignorance of history and of current events.
Later in the week, word spread that the planned GAA Palestine tour of Ireland could not proceed because the Department of Justice denied visas to the Palestinian adults and children to enter the country. I don’t mind admitting that I shed a tear at the news. It’s easy to take the GAA for granted, and for some, giving out about the GAA is a national sport on par with hurling or football. Despite this, the GAA as a community organisation can be a powerful force for good. We saw this during ....
continue readingWhen The Tide Goes Out & The Flood Comes In
Blinkered reliance on the private market is failing so many in Ireland
“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked” is the famous quote by Warren Buffet that describes overleverage in finance. It is becoming increasingly evident that the Irish State's blinkering prioritisation of the private market and the overreliance on multinational FDI is creating large areas of economic risk and social fragility. Readers of the excellent books The Invisible Doctrine or The Road to Freedom will recognise these policies as neoliberalism, and they will leave the country in trouble when the water recedes.
The keystone ingredient in the polycrisis coming to the boil in Ireland is housing. Successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil governments have chosen to follow neoliberal doctrine by turning the housing sector into a fully for-profit endeavour for the private market to feast on. This prioritisation of landlords and institutional investors over renters and over the progression of people across all age brackets and stages of life has spread like rot through the economy and is eating away at the very foundations of the country. Even worse, the government continues to double down on ....
continue readingClimate Action Ambition Needs To Smash Current Boundaries
Frank conversations will empower better options
Yesterday, the Irish Academy of Engineering released a detailed report analysing Ireland’s energy transition needs between now and 2050. The report compares the projected supply need with the planned net-zero energy targets and finds the progress of the Irish government wanting. No surprise there. Then, faced with boundaries they call “realities of engineering, finance, & project delivery”, the surprise comes when the IAE turn to the only “proven fuel” for back-up generation they say Ireland will need to bridge the gap now and beyond 2050; pollutant fossil fuel gas. There are two fundamental problems with this recommendation.
Firstly, if there is a fire, you don’t throw petrol on it in an attempt to quench said fire. Building infrastructure to lock the country into years of even more fossil fuel gas use and emissions does exactly that. No more new fossil fuels, it’s a simple requirement.
Secondly, the first order problem-solving deployed by the group of engineers(!) demonstrates that they have not engaged in any meaningful way with...
continue readingCometh The Hour, Cometh The Slíbhín
Appeasing a bully should not be State policy
After what they did to Zelenskyy, my gut reaction was relief. Micheál Martin conjured decades of Fianna Fáil slíbhínism and plámásed like only he could, and was rewarded by Trump saying he doesn’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland. But was the juice worth the squeeze?
Anyone who has experienced or observed bullying will quickly identify the 3 roles involved in a bullying scenario, the bully, the victim, and the coward. The bully thrives on performance and derives power from the appeasement offered by the coward. They then use this power to ...
continue readingVote For Climate & Progressive Values, Both Are At Stake
The orange wave of hate from the West is coming
On Friday, Ireland goes to the polls, and the decision on who to vote for is a difficult and multi-faceted one. Gone are the days of party majorities, or even parties that you can easily tell apart.
Were you to rely on party manifestos to tell the difference, then you enter into an even more confusing minefield of comparison tables full of green ticks and red crosses. If you tuned into the debates on RTÉ to inform yourself, then ...
continue readingClimate Delay Is The Greatest Act Of Economic Self Harm, Not The Airport Cap
RTÉ sacrifice Climate Change at the altar of aviation
Last night on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon, a large section of the programme was dedicated to discussing the Dublin Airport passenger cap. Airline executive Conor McCarthy and travel journalist Eoghan Corry argued with fellow panellists Senator Róisín Garvey of the Green Party, and Mayor of Limerick John Moran.
The stage was set with Conor McCarthy commenting that the cap is "The greatest act of economic self harm since the foundation of the state".
In other news, fox denounces hen house fence...
continue readingThe Weekend Fine Gael Went Full Tory
Simon Harris Lies By Blaming Immigrants For His Homelessness Failure
In an interview with Hugh O’Connell in The Sunday Times, Taoiseach Simon Harris took Fine Gael into full Tory mode in preparation for the next election.
Like any good neoliberal conservative worth their market dependant salt, he attempted to frame his anti-immigrant posturing as being something the people understand. All too often we’ve heard numerous Tory racist diatribes in the UK start with “the public wants…” from the likes of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Priti Patel, and now we have the Taoiseach aping these questionable role models by saying:
“People understand the fact that homelessness numbers are heavily impacted by the fact we are seeing many people seek protection in our country, seek asylum in our country and many people come from abroad hoping to have a new future in Ireland and immigration, it has many, many pluses, but it has had a challenge there.”
If anyone wants to take a few minutes to find the Department of Housing’s own Homeless Quarterly Progress Report Quarter 2 2024, they will see in the table on page 8 and the graph on page 9, that while people leaving Direct Provision are included in the homeless numbers, people seeking international protection are not included in the homeless numbers.
President Michael D. Higgins has already weighed in by saying ....
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