OPINION: The real elections story is the rise of the right in Ireland

One of the first headlines in The Irish Times during the local election aftermath screamed: ‘Analysis: Coalition Parties surpass expectations as Sinn Féin’s slump becomes the story of the weekend’. The article, by Pat Leahy, proceeded – unsurprisingly – to revel with glee amidst the debris of Sinn Féin’s local-election collapse.
Now, I don’t know about you, but at a time when several right-wing extremists were still either very-much in with a shout of winning a seat, or else had been buoyed by an almost-respectable level of first-preference votes, Sinn Féin’s collapse felt somewhat less alarming than watching the right-wing wave that has swept across Europe and the US arriving on Irish shores. Very few fascist candidates were elected in the end, but some of them were hard to shake off.
Those who voted for these individuals are quick to dismiss the rest of us as ‘woke’ (never the insult they think it is), ‘politically correct’, ‘do-gooders’, ‘naïve’ and ‘traitors’. For simply being publicly opposed to the vile racism, dehumanisation and white supremacy we are now seeing in full view in everyday life, and which will, inevitably, have dire consequences.
At the time of writing, the Irish Times headline had been amended to say ‘Moderate Ireland seems to be bucking trends towards the extreme elsewhere in Europe’ with the sub-heading: ‘At less than 12 percent the Sinn Féin support collapse will be hard to reverse before a general election’. Take what you will from that editorial amendment, but the continued insistence that Sinn Féin is the story highlights a remarkable level of complacency about right-wing extremism amongst the establishment classes.
Could these classes really be so oblivious to the extreme-right-wing threat, or is it wilful, intentional ignorance? In Dublin, for example, we now have a situation where elected councillor, Hazel Chu will now have to work directly with far-right agitator Gavin Pepper, who has previously harassed her publicly. How is this acceptable?
Right-wing ideology also tends to oppose women’s rights, bodily autonomy, LGBTQI+ recognition and rights, and basically all of the social progression that we have seen in recent years in Ireland. The kind of white supremacy that is now becoming normalised in public discoursed is what led to Apartheid, the Holocaust and several other global atrocities. But at least Sinn Féin didn’t win the election, eh?
The anti-immigration agenda is strong among several Independents, too. The racism is less overt, dressed up in the respectability of concern for Irish citizens and public services. But as they say, if it walks, swims and quacks like a duck, it probably is one.
While Mayo did not elect any out-and-out fascists, we cannot afford to be complacent. Some failed local candidates have alleged electoral interference and rigging. There is outrage that migrants were – gasp! – seen voting on election day. It has clearly come as a surprise – if not to these people, then definitely to their followers – that for the last 20 years, anyone who is ordinarily resident in the State is entitled to vote in local elections without needing to be a citizen. This is something for which the Irish public actually voted, in the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution in 1999, but why let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory or a bit of racist rabble-rousing?
It would be something if these pound shop Trumps were at least capable of some original excuses. Others, hilariously, are surprised that votes they were promised failed to materialise. (It’s probably not corruption, lads. It’s probably just that people don’t actually like you.)
For those of us leaning left, it is hard not to be reactionary and angry. It is really upsetting to see people in your community openly demonising other human beings based on their skin colour, and harder still to see it becoming socially acceptable. A false equivalence is often drawn between extreme left and right, but it is still possible to identify some common ground. Dissatisfaction with government policy often boils down to similar issues. Most people, for example, can agree that in a wealthy country like Ireland, we want, need and deserve better public services, housing, health and infrastructure. Ultimately, directing our anger at each other and at vulnerable immigrants only lets the government off the hook, and maintains the political status quo.
And that is the real story of the election. Not Sinn Féin’s implosion, which can be very easily explained – the journalist Fintan O’Toole points out that for so long, Sinn Féin acted as a buffer between the democratic political system and reactionary radicalism, walking the line between nationalism and socialism. They can no longer do that, so the far right has stepped in. And as a country, we have held the doors wide open. It is long past time that our elected representatives – local and national – took a firmer, louder stance against racism, rather than pandering to it.
And of course, female representation at local level remains abysmally low, with women making up only a quarter of all councillors and with Mayo County Council among the lowest in the country. Representation from minority groups remains basically non-existent.
Ultimately, however, there are two things for which to be a small bit grateful. While this election proved fruitless for those of us desiring a shift away from Civil War politics, it’s sometimes a case of ‘better the devil you know’. Better the status quo than a bunch of self-interested fascists. Also (and unhappily for said fascists), a record number of candidates from migrant backgrounds were elected this time around, rising from 56 in 2019 to over 100 this time, something that will stick in right-wing extremists’ craws, and proves that – for now at least – Ireland remains inclusive, open-minded and kind.