THE results of the general election in the South give us all much to think about. Less so on a practical level – unless Fine Gael decide that they want some time out, which is not impossible, it will be more of the same old same old in Leinster House.
Fianna Fáil trashed the economy in 2008 and put it into hoc with the International Monetary Fund. The Labour Party oversaw an associated austerity programme that put thousands of families to the wall and the ambulance term 'white van ghost' became common as working men taking their own lives became so prevalent. Yet here we are with a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach in the wings and the Labour Party in an elected position to potentially be a part of a new government. Maybe it is bizarre, but they gained a fourth and fifth chance from the electorate – well, some of them. The returns are not those of the Labour Party of Dick Spring or even a shade of the Fianna Fáil of Seán Lemass, but the smiles and glibness of Ivana Bacik and Mícheál Martin would never betray their diminished status. Whatever this represents, it is not change.
Outside of Leinster House autocracy, though, the political plates keep shifting. The electorate keeps sending messages to the political class, if they will only listen. They want to trust those they vote for. They want to vote for people who have their back. Just like Trump in America, the electorate are not always that interested if candidates are not paragons of virtue, but they need to speak their language, engage with their fears, hopes and needs, and have their back.
Why did people vote for Michael Lowry again in Tipperary? He is barred from standing for Fine Gael after the Moriarty Tribunal found that he “beyond doubt” was a tax evader who assisted Denis O’Brien to get a mobile phone licence while Minister for Communications. But as far as the people of Tipp go he is their man and he works hard for them.
Why did 1,000 new voters join the register when Gerry Hutch declared his candidacy in Dublin Central, one of Ireland’s most deprived constituencies, when Mr Hutch has been associated with gangland criminality of the most serious nature for decades? You can gasp in horror all you want, but Dublin Central has voted for Taoisigh in the past yet has remained deliberately neglected and torn apart for the entirety of the state’s existence. Any development in the area, such as the international financial services centre, has only served to compound the isolation of communities, as profiteers gouge out all community coherence. Is the well-spoken man in a suit who overtly despises your community so much better than the shady man in the runners who comes from your community? At least 3,000 people in that area think not.
Tipperary and Dublin Central are not crazy abjurations of societal norms. Nearly half of the electorate thought so little of and didn’t trust what was on offer that they stayed home.
Many have spent the past five years hoping for a Sinn Féin government that would bring change. Some had arrogantly expected it. For those promising real change, the next five years will mean turning that hope into trust, and arrogance into humble service. No-one is owed a vote. But some will earn it.
