19 June 2003 Edition
Left turn needed
As part of an ongoing debate in these pages about the nature of the republican vision, JUSTIN MORAN argues that Sinn Féin should be concentrating on getting working class voters to the polls and radicalising that support
One of the questions asked in the aftermath of the last General Election was answered to some extent at Labour's recent party conference. Faced with Sinn Féin winning their support in working class areas and the Greens taking the soft radical middle class vote that is Labour's natural habitat, commentators wondered whether Labour would go back into the working class trenches and try to outflank Sinn Féin on the left, or try to recapture the Green vote and capitalise on Fine Gael's misfortune.
In his leader's address, Rabbitte spoke specifically of targeting middle class areas for support. The party's new found backing for private businesses running public services in certain circumstances indicates it is going to go to the right, scoop up disillusioned Fine Gael voters and try to attract Greens by posing as radical and being angry.
During the 2002 election campaign a journalist, on reading the Sinn Féin manifesto, asked Gerry Adams if the party was placing itself to the left of Labour, to which Adams replied, half in jest, that doing so wouldn't be hard. When the only other major leftish political party is Labour, being ideologically on the left is remarkably easy, without any particular effort.
But we're not making it easy on ourselves. We must critically assess our General Election manifesto and realise that it didn't add up. The numbers didn't make sense. We pulled our punches; instead of arguing for redistribution of wealth, for massive tax increases for the better off and business, we called for a review of the tax breaks - worthwhile in and of itself, but not exactly radical.
A Sinn Féin strategist told me that if we argued for putting up taxes we'd lose votes, as the media would portray us as willing to tax everyone. This is simply not true. The success of the Scottish Socialist Party has shown it is possible for a party to argue higher taxes for the rich and lower taxes for working class people and profit from it.
It makes sense, and frankly, the media is as much part of the establishment as Fianna Fáil. We could call for each political correspondent to be given his weight in gold, quite a bit in John Drennan's case, and most of them would still hate us. Fair enough, believe me guys, it's mutual.
But the real hope of some Sinn Féin strategists in the election was to win middle class votes. The breakdown of results from the election campaign shows that middle class votes, of whatever preference, were rare sights in Sinn Féin stacks. It is not in their class interest to vote for us and the stigma affixed to the party by anti-republican elements in the media counts for something. And even if neither of the foregoing were true, they have plenty of other parties to choose from in casting their vote that are more likely to cater to their concerns.
The Irish middle and upper classes have an array of choice for people to look after their class interests. In the South, middle class voters can vote for an array of candidates from the PDs, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens without going against their class interests, which any socialist can tell you is the primary political motivator. The middle ground is quite crowded.
Economically, it does not make sense for middle class people to vote Sinn Féin and the idea of attracting middle class voters in large numbers is a forlorn one, except for those who vote for us because of the candidate or work on the ground rather than our policies. The belief that we can win acres of middle class support is possibly given credence within the party because of the success in doing just that in the Six Counties. The difference is that in Northern politics, a nationalist has two choices, Sinn Féin and the SDLP, and with the importance of the constitutional issue we can make gains in middle class areas. That's just not true in the South.
We need to go back to basics, to being the voice of the Irish working class and those progressive elements in the middle class who have been convinced by our arguments. Too many parties in Ireland claim to be concerned for all the people while actually being really only concerned about working class people at election time. They try to be all things to all people. We need to clearly say that we are working for the poor, the disadvantaged and the working class.
Some might argue we need to maximise our vote and the way to do this is to get into middle class areas. Plausible, but I'm not arguing we abandon the idea of getting middle class support, merely that we be sure of one simple thing - we cannot change our policies and principles to attract middle class voters, we must convince them of the validity of our policies. So, no more pulling punches on taxation policy.
One element of the vote we have succeeded in bringing out is first time voters, both young people and those disillusioned with the political process. Turnout in areas where the party is strong has increased, often dramatically, in working class areas.
Take the South Inner City constituency where Aengus Ó Snodaigh was elected as a Sinn Féin TD last time out. The impact that Sinn Féin has had though organising and radicalising working class communities has been staggering. In the previous local elections and in the first Nice referendum, turnout in the Cherry Orchard area would have averaged between 8% and 15%, one of the lowest in the state. In last year's general election, that figure rose to 30%, with Sinn Féin taking between 60% and 85% in the ballot boxes. In Ballyfermot as a whole, turnout rose from 30% to 50%, with Sinn Féin topping the pollin at least one-third of boxes opened.
In short, rather than change the party to attract middle class voters who have much more attractive options than Sinn Féin, the party would be better off spending its time concentrating on getting working class voters to the polls and radicalising that support.
And to radicalise them, we need a radical political agenda. Reading through our various policy documents, especially the recently approved and excellent education document, the thought comes that we have excellent ideas about how to spend money. We're just a little shy of saying from where we will get it.
So where do we go from here? Well, we can begin by taking steps to address the party's drift, both in policy and in rhetoric, to the centre. First off, we need to push the Ard Chomhairle to ensure the Ard Fheis motion from Dublin Sinn Féin - calling for a new policy document setting out our alternative socialist economic agenda for Ireland to be presented at the next Ard Fheis - is acted on. Simply passing a motion at an Ard Fheis calling on the party leadership to do something, is no guarantee it will be done.
Next, we need to look at our attitude to the trade union movement. We need to accept that the leadership of the trade union movement and the Labour Party are by and large one and the same. ICTU and SIPTU officials might not all have Labour membership cards in their pockets but it is clear where their sympathies lie. We're not going to win them over. Let's accept it and move on.
So do we ignore the trade union movement? Absolutely not; we cannot ignore the largest mass organisation of the Irish working class and we can and must work with the trade union leadership. The revitalisation of the Trade Union Department is one of the most important things this party is currently doing, even if we're not aware of it. Peace Process impasses come and go but comrades, trade unions are forever.
But we need to take a socialist perspective on it. We need to push for greater democratisation of the trade union movement and specifically, we need, as a matter of principle, to oppose the Social Partnership process, which has done more to damage the Irish trade union movement and less to advance Irish workers than anything William Martin Murphy could have hoped for.
Our failure to pass a motion doing just that at the Ard Fheis was a setback for socialist thinking in Sinn Féin.
Ográ Shinn Féin has a part to play as well in this. Let them formulate their own policy discussion documents. Give them their independence and if every now and again they embarrass the party leadership, what harm?
We also need to get the theory right. We need to clearly, very, very clearly, say we are a socialist political party. We need to define exactly what that is. This is not a call for having interminable debates on the multitude of interpretations one can make of the writings of a bunch of dead Russian political theorists, but a call for us to assess exactly who we are. What is Sinn Féin's policy on State ownership? What is our policy on the democratisation of industry? And don't even get me started on the right of women to control their own bodies, something we're still opposed to. Well done there, comrades.
Are we socialists? If so, let's start saying we are, instead of using an array of rhetorical gymnastics to avoid using the 's' word. We don't want an Irish socialist republic anymore, we want an Ireland of equals. Ask, and you'll be told an 'Ireland of equals' is code for an Irish socialist republic. Fair enough... why do we need a code again? Why do we describe ourselves as a republican labour party and not as a republican socialist party? More code? A cunning plan to attract Labour number twos? If our party leadership finds it difficult to say the word 'socialist', would someone explain to me how we plan to implement socialist policies when, not if, we are in power?
And this brings us neatly to Our party's future role in the PFI/public-private partnership agenda on this island. In the Six Counties, it was foisted on our ministers, but now, in the 26 Counties, the battle has been joined again.
In the North, the Brits weren't allowing us any alternative, but now, we need to vigorously make the case against PFI. We should be howling at the moon.
So back to my original question. Who are our voters? Are they socialists? Are we socialists? Are you a socialist? If not, what are we? Another anaemic social democrat party with a lingering cordite-induced odour of revolution? Democratic Left with a nationalist edge? Where are we going? How are we going to get there? What is it exactly we're going to build post-Partition?
Simple questions, complex answers. It's past time to find them.
One of the questions asked in the aftermath of the last General Election was answered to some extent at Labour's recent party conference. Faced with Sinn Féin winning their support in working class areas and the Greens taking the soft radical middle class vote that is Labour's natural habitat, commentators wondered whether Labour would go back into the working class trenches and try to outflank Sinn Féin on the left, or try to recapture the Green vote and capitalise on Fine Gael's misfortune.
In his leader's address, Rabbitte spoke specifically of targeting middle class areas for support. The party's new found backing for private businesses running public services in certain circumstances indicates it is going to go to the right, scoop up disillusioned Fine Gael voters and try to attract Greens by posing as radical and being angry.
During the 2002 election campaign a journalist, on reading the Sinn Féin manifesto, asked Gerry Adams if the party was placing itself to the left of Labour, to which Adams replied, half in jest, that doing so wouldn't be hard. When the only other major leftish political party is Labour, being ideologically on the left is remarkably easy, without any particular effort.
But we're not making it easy on ourselves. We must critically assess our General Election manifesto and realise that it didn't add up. The numbers didn't make sense. We pulled our punches; instead of arguing for redistribution of wealth, for massive tax increases for the better off and business, we called for a review of the tax breaks - worthwhile in and of itself, but not exactly radical.
A Sinn Féin strategist told me that if we argued for putting up taxes we'd lose votes, as the media would portray us as willing to tax everyone. This is simply not true. The success of the Scottish Socialist Party has shown it is possible for a party to argue higher taxes for the rich and lower taxes for working class people and profit from it.
It makes sense, and frankly, the media is as much part of the establishment as Fianna Fáil. We could call for each political correspondent to be given his weight in gold, quite a bit in John Drennan's case, and most of them would still hate us. Fair enough, believe me guys, it's mutual.
Middle class cul-de-sac
But the real hope of some Sinn Féin strategists in the election was to win middle class votes. The breakdown of results from the election campaign shows that middle class votes, of whatever preference, were rare sights in Sinn Féin stacks. It is not in their class interest to vote for us and the stigma affixed to the party by anti-republican elements in the media counts for something. And even if neither of the foregoing were true, they have plenty of other parties to choose from in casting their vote that are more likely to cater to their concerns.
The Irish middle and upper classes have an array of choice for people to look after their class interests. In the South, middle class voters can vote for an array of candidates from the PDs, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens without going against their class interests, which any socialist can tell you is the primary political motivator. The middle ground is quite crowded.
Economically, it does not make sense for middle class people to vote Sinn Féin and the idea of attracting middle class voters in large numbers is a forlorn one, except for those who vote for us because of the candidate or work on the ground rather than our policies. The belief that we can win acres of middle class support is possibly given credence within the party because of the success in doing just that in the Six Counties. The difference is that in Northern politics, a nationalist has two choices, Sinn Féin and the SDLP, and with the importance of the constitutional issue we can make gains in middle class areas. That's just not true in the South.
We need to go back to basics, to being the voice of the Irish working class and those progressive elements in the middle class who have been convinced by our arguments. Too many parties in Ireland claim to be concerned for all the people while actually being really only concerned about working class people at election time. They try to be all things to all people. We need to clearly say that we are working for the poor, the disadvantaged and the working class.
Some might argue we need to maximise our vote and the way to do this is to get into middle class areas. Plausible, but I'm not arguing we abandon the idea of getting middle class support, merely that we be sure of one simple thing - we cannot change our policies and principles to attract middle class voters, we must convince them of the validity of our policies. So, no more pulling punches on taxation policy.
Increased political strength
One element of the vote we have succeeded in bringing out is first time voters, both young people and those disillusioned with the political process. Turnout in areas where the party is strong has increased, often dramatically, in working class areas.
Take the South Inner City constituency where Aengus Ó Snodaigh was elected as a Sinn Féin TD last time out. The impact that Sinn Féin has had though organising and radicalising working class communities has been staggering. In the previous local elections and in the first Nice referendum, turnout in the Cherry Orchard area would have averaged between 8% and 15%, one of the lowest in the state. In last year's general election, that figure rose to 30%, with Sinn Féin taking between 60% and 85% in the ballot boxes. In Ballyfermot as a whole, turnout rose from 30% to 50%, with Sinn Féin topping the pollin at least one-third of boxes opened.
In short, rather than change the party to attract middle class voters who have much more attractive options than Sinn Féin, the party would be better off spending its time concentrating on getting working class voters to the polls and radicalising that support.
Radical political agenda
And to radicalise them, we need a radical political agenda. Reading through our various policy documents, especially the recently approved and excellent education document, the thought comes that we have excellent ideas about how to spend money. We're just a little shy of saying from where we will get it.
So where do we go from here? Well, we can begin by taking steps to address the party's drift, both in policy and in rhetoric, to the centre. First off, we need to push the Ard Chomhairle to ensure the Ard Fheis motion from Dublin Sinn Féin - calling for a new policy document setting out our alternative socialist economic agenda for Ireland to be presented at the next Ard Fheis - is acted on. Simply passing a motion at an Ard Fheis calling on the party leadership to do something, is no guarantee it will be done.
Trade unions
Next, we need to look at our attitude to the trade union movement. We need to accept that the leadership of the trade union movement and the Labour Party are by and large one and the same. ICTU and SIPTU officials might not all have Labour membership cards in their pockets but it is clear where their sympathies lie. We're not going to win them over. Let's accept it and move on.
So do we ignore the trade union movement? Absolutely not; we cannot ignore the largest mass organisation of the Irish working class and we can and must work with the trade union leadership. The revitalisation of the Trade Union Department is one of the most important things this party is currently doing, even if we're not aware of it. Peace Process impasses come and go but comrades, trade unions are forever.
But we need to take a socialist perspective on it. We need to push for greater democratisation of the trade union movement and specifically, we need, as a matter of principle, to oppose the Social Partnership process, which has done more to damage the Irish trade union movement and less to advance Irish workers than anything William Martin Murphy could have hoped for.
Our failure to pass a motion doing just that at the Ard Fheis was a setback for socialist thinking in Sinn Féin.
Ográ Shinn Féin has a part to play as well in this. Let them formulate their own policy discussion documents. Give them their independence and if every now and again they embarrass the party leadership, what harm?
We are socialists
We also need to get the theory right. We need to clearly, very, very clearly, say we are a socialist political party. We need to define exactly what that is. This is not a call for having interminable debates on the multitude of interpretations one can make of the writings of a bunch of dead Russian political theorists, but a call for us to assess exactly who we are. What is Sinn Féin's policy on State ownership? What is our policy on the democratisation of industry? And don't even get me started on the right of women to control their own bodies, something we're still opposed to. Well done there, comrades.
Are we socialists? If so, let's start saying we are, instead of using an array of rhetorical gymnastics to avoid using the 's' word. We don't want an Irish socialist republic anymore, we want an Ireland of equals. Ask, and you'll be told an 'Ireland of equals' is code for an Irish socialist republic. Fair enough... why do we need a code again? Why do we describe ourselves as a republican labour party and not as a republican socialist party? More code? A cunning plan to attract Labour number twos? If our party leadership finds it difficult to say the word 'socialist', would someone explain to me how we plan to implement socialist policies when, not if, we are in power?
And this brings us neatly to Our party's future role in the PFI/public-private partnership agenda on this island. In the Six Counties, it was foisted on our ministers, but now, in the 26 Counties, the battle has been joined again.
In the North, the Brits weren't allowing us any alternative, but now, we need to vigorously make the case against PFI. We should be howling at the moon.
So back to my original question. Who are our voters? Are they socialists? Are we socialists? Are you a socialist? If not, what are we? Another anaemic social democrat party with a lingering cordite-induced odour of revolution? Democratic Left with a nationalist edge? Where are we going? How are we going to get there? What is it exactly we're going to build post-Partition?
Simple questions, complex answers. It's past time to find them.