Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Posts Tagged ‘extreme-right

“5 Takeaways from the Elections” by Paul Murphy and Diarmaid Flood, Rupture Magazine

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This is a recommended article. It is part of a very important discussion.

Link :
5 takeaways from the elections

With the final tallies counted and remaining seats filled, People Before Profits (PBP) Dublin South West and RISE members Diarmuid Flood and Paul Murphy review the deeply polarised Local and European Elections and outline five key takeaways.

For the second election in a row, dramatic political changes took place in the course of the local and European elections. Sinn Féin started the year polling around 30% and yet ended up with less than 12% nationally in the local Elections. Independents and Others started the year with around 15%, but won close to 25% on June 6th. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both hit 23%, coming from the high teens and around 20% respectively. In many ways, these appear to be the opposite political trends to what we saw in the General Election of 2020. Back then, Sinn Féin grew dramatically as hope for an end to 100 years of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael rule propelled them to be the biggest party in vote share for the first time ever. Volatility is clearly in the air.

However, what we saw in the five weeks of the election campaign did not come from nowhere. The election catalysed and accelerated existing processes. In the absence of major progressive social struggles, with the exception of the Palestine solidarity movement, the political terrain has undoubtedly shifted rightwards. Ireland has caught up with most of the rest of Europe and the Global North, with the emergence of a reactionary social movement in opposition to asylum seekers and the growth of a racist, climate denialist, anti-LGBTQ, and sexist far-right.

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Ireland : Government and opposition ‘giving in to far-right playbook’ – Hope and Courage Collective Speaks Out

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Source : https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/government-and-opposition-giving-in-to-far-right-playbook-1632880.html

Government and opposition politicians are “giving in to the far-right playbook”, while anti-immigration demonstrations have become more aggressive since the Dublin riots, according to the director of the Hope and Courage Collective.

The Hope and Courage Collective, previously the Far Right Observatory, is a national civil society organisation “that works with community groups, advocacy groups, trade unions, activists and academics to stop hate organising in our communities and workplaces”.

The group works to “support communities and civil society to stay grounded, caring and resilient in the face of far-right hate, bigotry and extremism”.

Speaking at a recent Joint Policing Committee, Garda Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis said there has been a fall in anti-immigrant protests in Dublin. However, she noted the level of aggression at demonstrations has increased.

Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement at the Hope and Courage Collective Niamh McDonald told BreakingNews.ie that the group has noticed this trend, adding that anti-immigration demonstrations have become more organised.

Changed Racist Tactics – Blockades Outside Buildings Housing Immigrants

“We have noticed a change since the Dublin riots. It’s a change in the dynamics of the activity around these protests. We would concur that there is a drop in the numbers of people coming out, but the tactics have changed. We see the likes of blockades or encampments outside centres that have been copied across the country since January.

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USA President Genocide Joe Biden

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What public figure do you disagree with the most?

Genocide Joe Biden has the blood of thousands of innocent Gazans on his hands.

“Vote Left” Transfer Pact in June 2024 Irish Elections? – A Positive People Before Profit Initiative

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People Before Profit is proposing a “Vote Left” transfer pact to operate in the June 2024 Local and European Elections, 26 Counties

Presenting this positive initiative Paul Murphy TD said

He was fully aware that there would be different perspectives and, but People Before Profit “sees this as just the start of a process to form a left alternative.”

Paul Murphy TD
PBP TD’s Richard Boyd-Barrett, Paul Murphy, and Brid Smith

Link :

PBP Vote Left Transfer Pact Proposal

A useful detailed discussion is taking place on the Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog

(Link : The Cedar Lounge Revolution)

A correspondent, IrishElectionLiterature, opened the discussion on a positive note :

Link :

Vote left, Transfer left, Then What?

In the article below, important points from the discussion are highlighted.

This is a serious matter, especially in a context where it is necessary to confront and defeat the extreme racist right.


Colm Breathnach offers a very good template :

Just a personal thing, but here’s my own general set of rules when it comes to voting where a Proportional Representation system is in operation (obviously First Pat The Post system is much more challenging in terms of decisions):

  1. Start with the furthest left and keep voting until you reach the border of what you consider to be the left (for me, that’s social democratic or social liberal parties). Of course that border can shift – the Irish Greens were once inside my border of “left”, now they are definitely outside.
  2. Exclude candidates who consistently hold reactionary positions regardless of their ostensible politics – favour genocide, homophobic etc etc. So the Daly’s of the world don’t feature or let’s say a centre left candidate who justified Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
  3. Adjust to take account of specific concerns which one might deem important for progress to radical transformation of society. So for example you may alter your ranking to the take into account the candidates position on climate change or Irish unity etc.

Colm continues :

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