Tomás Ó Flatharta

I agree with Paddy Healy’s analysis

http://paddyhealy.wordpress.com/2010/11/27/analysis-of-donegal-sw-by-election/#respond

– it now appears that Donegal may not be an isolated regional example, following publication of the most recent Red C Poll placing Fianna Fáil in fourth place behind Fine Gael, Labour, and Sinn Féin.

This suggests many supporters / voters of the Labour Party and Sinn Féin may be open to the argument of rivals who are further left – the United Left Alliance – that coalition with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael should be ruled out in principle.

However, this is far from an automatic process, and will be tested out through willingness (or not) to engage in common actions on the bank bailout firestorm – in this respect the proposal to float the idea of a one day strike is a good idea – it is also a way of finding out how willing the masses are to take radical action – we still do not know how much the fear factor may impede the work of radical activists.

Another important side to this debate is the willingness (or not) of the fighting left to actively promote a strategy on other key issues.

In this respect the positions on abortion taken, respectively, by Pearse Doherty and Thomas Pringle should be a major warning.

Pearse Doherty outed himself as a lifer, and Thomas Pringle gave an evasive answer to the Pro-Life Campaign.

For more detail see :

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2010/12/01/pearse-doherty-td-sinn-fein-a-lifer/

Instead of only engaging in a tedious round of socialist denunciation this should be a signal to the United Left Alliance that it actively needs to engage on this issue.

A way forward is suggested here :

http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/the-statement-agreed-at-the-foundation-of-the-united-left-alliance-ula/