Urgent action items for a new Irish political movement

Urgent action items for a new Irish political movement

Introduction

Any new Irish political movement, from its inception, must engage the public with a clear and simple name and mission statement. It should represent a clear break with the past in terms of party politics, while reflecting older parts of Irish society and culture. A simple name like “New Ireland/Eire nua” will do; a clear mission statement follows.

The split between the social left and right in fine Gael in 2013 is unlikely to lead to a new party; in fact, this writer sees most of the “rebels” campaigning for gay marriage to secure their party's nomination for the 2016 general election. Given that any new party must attempt to secure a better deal on Ireland's debt, these fine Gaelers would have been inappropriate in any case. A realistic plan for securing such a deal is proposed below, and if successful would ensure a wind of public approval.

The first point made here is that, while as of 2014 many of Ireland's problems are very difficult, much of the damage done during 1997-2014 was done in plain sight and can be reversed. Then we can attack the deeper problems. A set of actions required will address particular areas of Irish society and indicate how to repair the damage.

Once consensus is reached on policy, the party should seek visibility through high-profile events like successful court actions that stop injustice and corruption. Several such have already been successful, including one in US Federal court. A consistent party line can then be explained to the public through the conventional media, and amplified by social media. Contesting of elections will require canvassers, as even the Obama 2012 campaign was forced to acknowledge that no, Facebook is not enough. The model of a party organization in every parish is probably unattainable until the 2020's; contesting every seat in 2016 is within our scope.

The invisible crimes of the Bertiestate

Before doing the above, the damage must be characterized. A first issue was the attach on Irish identity itself. Prior to 1997, the consensus was that, for example, anyone running an Irish music session in a pub, creating new music or running an international academic conference on a voluntary basis for the perceived good of the country was to be encouraged. That ethos ended in 1997 and anyone going the extra mile for Ireland was encouraged to “commit suicide” unless they complied with the part line.

A first weapon in the assault was “individualization”. Given the amount of money briefly floating around, people were encouraged to cocoon rather than socialize. As expected, given the lack of white-collar law enforcement, criminality became rampant. A second weapon was dumbing down the arts and intellectual debate, by closing elite academies, disempowering independent artists, suing academics, and ramming bad pop music (often made by people close to An Taoiseach) down people's throats through all media.

A third weapon was subtler; the assault on the idea that to be Irish is a good thing. Not only was mass immigration imposed, despite a 2004 vote showing people did not want it, but draconian legislation was introduced to prevent any assertion of Irish identity (including flying the tricolor in taxis or at parades). Indeed, the 1998 “Good Friday” agreement does away with the notion that the Irish have a national territory and introduces cross-border bodies that can take over any aspect of Irish life. Remarkably, at the same time (end 2013) that President Higgins encouraged the Irish to stick together, his government introduced the taxi legislation that specifically prohibits the Irish from helping each other economically; he is himself the patron of Doras Luimni – “protecting and promoting the rights of all migrants”.

The results of these attacks have been economic disaster and ethnic suicide. Ireland is a colony now in precisely the way it was in the 19^th century; while now as then in terms of explicit law it is not a colony, in actual fact its place in the current world order is as debtor of last resort. In the meantime, the suppression of the creative class during the years of the Bertiestate means that many of the entrepreneurs have left.

So what can be done? There seem to be insuperable constraints. For example, the governments in power 2010-2014 have agreed to an interpretation which for the first time in world history involves a sovereign paying off junior unsecured debt incurred by private banks; yet these governments were democratically elected. In fact, what they agreed to is the oldest trick in the economic hit man's arsenal; find a self-appointed elite in a country who are willing to agree that monies are owed, and then use the people and the nation's resources to pay off this “debt”.

The lack of protest can be put down to the fact that the unions and republican movement were bought off, many emigrated, that social welfare was still adequate, and that evictions were put on hold until 2014. It is likely that the result of the 26,000 expected evictions will be incendiary. That will present a massive opportunity for a new party free of stain by association with all established parties.

The “Good Friday” agreement, already a bad deal made worse by Mandelson's success in interpreting it as a set of engagements unilaterally imposed by the Irish on themselves without any reciprocity from the British, was voted in by a 97% majority. Immigration has been agreed by running referenda a second time, with threats and promises. The undoubted crimes of the banksters are subject to statutes of limitations.

It is this writer's view that all these issues need eventually to be addressed, perhaps in the context of a new republic and constitution. For the moment that's pie in the sky; let's work with what we have. Some of the constraints are imposed by dictats from within the bureaucracy with no legal basis. For example, RTE keeps saying that it cannot emulate Canada and play over a minute percentage of Irish music because of the EU. We checked with the EU commissioner, and RTE is plain wrong Competition law in Ireland breaks EU guidelines. Likewise, the tendering process for the Poolbeg developments breaks EU law.

We must continue to bring the crimes of the Ahern era to light. The native music industry was destroyed by crimes that were resolved by a US Federal court judgment and British legal case . That judgment and legal case should be publicized. The Medialab/Digital hub disasters need to be highlighted. Yet that will not be enough.

What can be done in the current legislative framework?

As we have seen, the EU can also be used in favor of the Irish as many of the interpretations of EU directives in Ireland are the result of power-grabs by bureaucrats. They can be researched and exposed as we have done in several cases.

Likewise for the unprosecuted crimes of the Ahern era. The most innocent explanation of why they remain unprosecuted is that the incoming 2011 coalition were unwilling and unready to change the senior civil servants who committed these crimes at Ahern's behest. Yet this coalition is now liable for them.

Evictions/repossessions in the USA from 2008-2013 proceeded in the absence of any legal framework. It seems to be the case that property in Ireland was similarly securitized, and that the banks lack clear title. The closing of the 2009 loophole pointed out by Judge Dunne does not apply to securitization. In 2013, the USA finally passed legislation retrospectively making legal what had been illegal evictions by the banks up to then. Eire nua should stress the securitization issue.

That is not to say that every bad investment should be protected. However, it allows an insistence that every Irish person who has paid for it at current market rates is entitled to one home, and indeed granting credit for payments already made vis a vis the current value of the home. Indeed, Irish people who still fail to reach muster can be assigned a home in one of the many ghost estates in NAMA after their overpriced house is repossessed; these can also be used to bring Irish emigrants back, in return for payment or community service/public works. neoliberalism

Secondly, as the Gathering of 2013 shows, Irish communities (and their extension in “civil society”) still work very well when the state takes a light touch or stays out altogether. In fact, the state is performing so badly in sophisticated areas like IT that alternative universities are being set up, and indeed research entities that compete well with SFI (let alone Medialab/digital hub) and do so at no cost to the taxpayer. This applies also to music, where Ireland's most successful and best music acts have all left (or never joined ) IMRO. Eire nua should point out that that brains, work and talent of the Irish are enough to guarantee success, once the corrupt state gets out of the way.

It is worth noting that neoliberalism is similarly dumbing down American culture, and that Irish software engineers could again compete with the Americans. That leads to the first plan for writing down the debt. Ireland's corporate tax regime is a source of much annoyance to the EU. Why not agree to bring the tax up to EU levels in exchange for a debt write-down? In that case, the likes of Facebook would probably leave – and good riddance. At the very least, our software engineers could hack together something better in a day. If google followed, we could prevent it crawling our state websites, freeing Irish companies to work of the same algorithms that google pilfered elsewhere in the first place.

Local government does not really exist in Ireland; there exist local authorities, laws unto themselves. They must be made subject to the will of the people by joining up the local and national levels.

These policies can be put to the public immediately. The following section looks at a more radical progression.

What can be done in the future if we encounter success with stage 1?

There are huge opportunities for a country that, like Ireland is close to its roots and engaged in modernity, particularly an Anglophone country. It has been hinted at that, since Lisbon and Nice were voted on twice, why not do so a third time and abide by the result? Similarly, there now is a constitutional anomaly in that the 1998 “Good Friday” agreement defines Irishness as being born on the island of Ireland and the 2004 referendum rejected this, this surely requires another referendum, one that reinstates the notion of a national territory.

In fact, there is an argument that those on the North-Eastern corner of the island, as well as those in the genetic diaspora, get their passports too cheaply as we Irish struggle enormously to protect the country. Why not make the referendum in the North-Eastern corner envisaged by the “Good Friday” agreement a chance for individual counties to opt out of the passport scheme. So, for example, if Co. Derry voted to stay in the UK, its residents would lose their automatic right to an Irish passport.

They then would have to earn them in test, as prospective French citizens do, tests that show that they know Irish history and culture. Similar test could be imposed on the Americans, absent any action on the 50,00 “illegal” Irish in the USA, as a useful prod to Obama's democrats. Conversely, the culturally Irish in countries like Argentina who currently do not qualify would now do so. As a parting shot on this theme of Irish pride, the referendum in the North-Eastern corner might also include Cavan,

Donegal and Monaghan to still forever the notion that the majority in Ulster are British.

The carrying capacity of the land in Ireland is more than sufficient for agricultural self-sufficiency. Most of the foreign firms in Ireland like Facebook and paypal produce non-essential services. There are many South American countries with vast oil reserves willing to trade with us in defiance of the USA and its spy services. We should not fear tough negotiations.

Finally, there is scope for a totally new constitution for Ireland, one that forever prevents the state from destroying civil society and community structures. It can also pre-empt future culture wars by removing the Catholic ethos, while reminding everyone that the state must have values. That will be a topic for discussion further down the road.

Seán O Nualláin 1/1/2014

PS The  cynicism about the sincerity of the FG "rebels" still seems well-placed despite their claim for a mass meeting on 25 Jan 2014 as reported in the media today (5 jan). There are NO policies, and the whole enterprise seems an attempt to create a bargaining-chip for the tearful reunion with FG. This seems even more true given that Lucinda is expecting  baby (congrats, Lucinda) and will be tempted to secure their future.

and now here's the rub. Lucinda used to have a glittering future and has been treated very roughly. It is possible that she has unleashed forces both outside and within herself - in the Irish body politic as in her psyche - to which Kenny will need to alert himself. His track record suggests no such sophistication, so the new party may well happen with L as prime actor after all.

PPS (4 Feb 2014) L is waiting for the moment that Timmins and others leave to rejoin FG. If she now  declares RA a new party, timmins and others will be gone like a puff of smoke. However, if they leave before she does so, she will be on the moral high ground as she declares a new party and they will not have any bragging rights.

What she is doing IMO is waiting for Mattie McGrath and other independent TD's  to commit so that timmins' disappearance will not matter and she retains a dail group. Then again, she is due sometime about April so timmins  et al may just run down the clock and wait for mother Lucinda to disappear into obscurity as they argue that gilmore was forced to re-open the Irish embassy in the vatican cos of their stance.........