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WHEN DUBLIN MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin was elected in the European elections last year, he said it was time for people on the centre left “to realise what we can achieve together”.
“I think the idea of being in competition with each other and trying to take each other out and take seats off each other, it doesn’t wash anymore,” he told reporters at the count centre in the RDS.
Fast forward a year or so, and we have seen the left unite in dramatic fashion during the speaking rights row and also successfully get Catherine Connolly elected as president of Ireland through a unified campaign.
The left have said this isn’t a flash in the pan and there is more of this to come.
But how will it work in reality and are we already seeing cracks in the unified front?
Kicking off the National Labour Party Conference in Limerick today, the first gathering of party members since they nearly doubled the number of TDs in the Dáil, party leader Ivana Bacik said the project of a united left will go beyond the presidential election and “goes into the next general election that we fight”.
“We campaign as distinct parties, but we unite where there’s a common purpose,” she said.
Following the presidential election, there has been much talk about the Galway by-election to fill Connolly’s seat in the Dáil and whether the left would again unite under one candidate.
However, today at the morning press conference, Bacik announced that Labour will be contesting the by-election with its own candidate, Counsellor Helen Ogbu.
Though Bacik said she sees the Galway by-election as another opportunity for the left-wing parties to come together again under common causes, she said:
“Of course we’ll contest the by-election. I expect other parties will too. But what I think we’re going to see is a sense of commonality, of calls of common purpose and common values. And that’s what we saw throughout the presidential campaign, parties contesting, uniting behind the same candidate, but articulating and carrying out the campaign in accordance with our own identity.”
Throughout the last general election campaign, Bacik said she articulated the need for a common ‘Left Platform’, that distinct parties, could come together to negotiate a program for government from a position of strength.
“That is my fervent ambition for the next general election too,” she said.
Asked about the left platform project working out and if that means doing business with Sinn Féin and whether that is acceptable to the party, Bacik appeared to demote Sinn Féin on their list of prioritisation to work with.
“We’ve been clear that we have major differences with all three of the bigger parties. So our project to build a common Left Platform involves working first with those parties that share our vision, our values, and in particular with the Green Party and the Social Democrats.”
While the left can unite under common issues, like the Occupied Territories Bill, there are other issues where there are stark differences.
If the left is build the numbers to rival Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, pushing Sinn Féin down the list of those you’ll do business with, could prove costly.
Last year, Bacik hit out at Sinn Féin and said that she has “difficulties” describing it as a left-wing party. She also called it a “populist” party.
One issue of difference, for instance, is the banning of fox-hunting, which was raised by People Before Profit last week.
Earlier this year, Sinn Féin voted against an Opposition Bill seeking to ban fox hunting. So, how will this new united left handle such differences?
Bacik said there are “significant differences” with each of the three bigger parties, with Fianna Fáil, clearly with Fine Gael, clearly with Sinn Féin, clear policy differences, clear ideological differences.
“We’re a party of the centre left… I’m really focused on the future. So what I believe we need to do, as I’ve consistently said, is to work with the other parties in the centre left, to share our vision and our values… And that for us means working with the Social Democrats, working with the Green Party, of course, where there is common cause, as there is on the Occupied Territories Bill.
“We’ll work with other parties in opposition too, but fundamentally, this is about building a strong centre left so that we can see going into the next general election, a clear program for change that can not only influence but lead policy in the next government. Because that’s what we need.”
What does a veteran Labour party member think of this new collegiality among the left?
Former Tánaiste Joan Burton, who was at today’s conference, welcomed it, telling The Journal that there is a need for collective agreement on positive ideas.
She said it is “too early to decide on partnerships” with other parties, stating it will depend on the election outcomes.
Burton said it really all comes down to a “numbers game” post-election.
“I would say that in order to maximize the broad left vote, let’s call it that, I think that you would have to have quite a bit of mutual respect [between parties],” she said.
When asked what the “unique flavour” Labour brings to the left mix, Bacik said it is the party’s track record of delivering change.
“We’re a party that’s never been about shouting from sidelines, about sitting back, about about critical critiquing. We are a party of the constructive left,” she said, adding:
“We are uniquely placed to lead a centre-left movement for change.”
So is Labour in a position to do so? Is it on an upward trend?
Limerick TD Conor Sheehan tells The Journal that he believes it is.
“I think Ivana has turned the dial for us. I think she turned the dial during the by-election. I think with her by-election, people saw that, you know, there’s life in the Labour Party, yes,” he said.
“I think in the general election and the European elections in particular, I think the results speak for themselves. I think we’re entering a new phase, and I say a new phase, because for many years, the mood and atmosphere around the Labour Party was a bit gloomy, like it was a bit sombre,” said Sheehan.
“We had two elections where we declined significantly and then declined again. But when we went from seven to 11, the difference that makes,” the TD said hopefully.
Can the party nearly double their seats again? We’ll have to wait a few more years to see if that comes to pass.
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