First there was the election two years ago of a woman as the President of Ireland.
And not only was Mary Robinson a woman, but she could also be labelled something of a liberal, perhaps even a feminist, from a relatively minor political party, Labour. To top it off, her main contender was a highly-popular member of Ireland’s largest party, Fianna Fail, which had never in the history of the Irish Republic lost a Presidential election.
But this year saw yet another major shock to Irish politics with a huge boost in power to the Labour party, which more than doubled its number of seats in the Dail, and the big slump in support for the two perennially strongest political parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
While some analysts saw the election as an “end to Civil War politics,” that is, an end to the monopoly on government enjoyed by the two parties to emerge from Ireland’s Civil War era, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, others saw the result as a simple dissatisfaction with those parties performance.
The result threw the country’s political scheme into such disarray that at press time, three weeks after the November 25 election, it is still not one hundred percent sure which of the parties will join to form a coalition to run the new goverment. [In Ireland’s parliamentary system of government, it is necessary for a party to have more than half of the available 166 seats to have the majority needed to run the government. When there is no one party which holds the majority, as there is following this election, it is then necessary for two or more parties to pool their seats to form a coalition].
It seems highly likely, however, that Labour will join with Fianna Fail to form a new government, from which it appears as if Fianna Fail’s Albert Reynolds will be reinstated as Taoiseach. Which is no mean feat in itself, as recently it was thought that Reynolds would be booted from power following his party’s disappointing showing at the polls.
Reynolds himself deliberately sought to hold this election, even though surveys proved repcatedly that it was the last thing the Irish people wanted. Although most could hardly be described as being totally comfortable with the previous government. which was run by a Fianna Fail coalition with the Progressive Democrats party, the people did not want the instability or the expense incurred with a new election.
However, Reynolds called the election, as is the right of any Taoiseach, because he though the saw an opportunity to gain more seats for the party, hopefully enough to form a majority and get rid of the party’s meddling partner, the PDs. However, he guessed wrong.
Fianna Fail lost 10 seats, down from 77 to 67, in its worst showing since 1927.
Fine Gael also lost 10 seats, down from 55 to 45. Labour more than doubied its power by going from 16 to 33 seats.
Labour’s highly charismatic leader, Dick Spring, now held the power of kingmaker.
A former standout on the Gaelic football field, the young, well-spoken County Kerry man shopped around his party’s 33 seats to the highest bidder. He knew that both of the main parties needed his seats to go into power, and he was set to give them to whoever would offer him the most concessions in a partnership.
Although for some time it seemed Spring would enter into a so-called “rainbow coalition,” involving Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats, who won 10 seats, up from six, it’s now virtually a done deal that he will hitch on to Reynolds.
The present Labour party, under Spring’s tutelage, has largely abandoned its initially strong socialist attitudes. It is now a much more mainstream, middle-of-the-road party, no more radical than what would be considered the more “progressive” wings of either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.
Although Fianna Fail would be thought to be more conservative than Labour on social issues, the party showed that it was prepared to concede at least some of its economic views to Labour. A partial halt to Reynolds’ previous vow to increase privatization of state-owned businesses such as Aer Lingus, as well as the installation of policies which would increasingly favor workers and small farmers, are just some of the concessions which Fianna Fail says they are prepared to make in order to attract the support of Labour and thus stay in power. Michal Noonan, an official of Fine Gael, derided the joint policy statements by Reynolds and Spring as saying that they “promise everything except free passes for all citizens to the All-Ireland football final.”
Indeed, if nothing else, the election of 1992 showed that, if some things do change, others remain the same, particularly Fianna Fail’s uncannily strong sense of survival. Reynolds’ concessions to Spring proved that the one overwhelming principle which Fianna Fail has revered over all others down through the years is to stay in power, at all costs.
An Indian in the Dail
The election of 1992 was a watershed episode in Irish politics in more ways than one.
Not only did the perennial leaders, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, suffer huge blows at the expense of a booming Labor party, but the country was witness to the first-ever election of an Indian to the Dail [Irish parliament].
Dr. Moosajee Bhanjec, a South African-born Indian, was elected to the Dail as a member of the Labor party from County Clare.
Ironically, that constituency is the same one which for many years sent another non-Irish-born person to the Dail, Eamon de Valera, who was a native of New York City.
Bhanjee is a psychiatrist in a Clare hospital, and he is married to an Irish woman. Analysts credit some of his success to the rise in popularity of the Labour party, at the expense of the popularity of the perennial leaders, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Also, his speaking out on environmental and farming issues did well for him in the largely-rural population of Clare.
No doubt, his sense of humor during the campaign also did well for him. One slogan from his campaign was “Put an Indian among the Cowboys,” referring to the so-called “cowboys” of Fianna Fail. After the results came in, the new Dail’s darkest-skinned member joked to a TV reporter that election day “92 “was a black day for Fianna Fail.”
Women Make Gains
In the recent election the women of Ireland made their greatest political gains ever, gaining 20 seats of the total 265 contested. The Labour Party, which previously had no women in Parliament, elected five. One of them, Eithne FitzGerald, interviewed by James F. Clarity for the New York Times said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. Absolutely wonderful. It is the biggest breakthough since 1918. With the other women, all strong women, we will revolutionize the parliamentary party.”
“The jump to the Big 20 represents a huge psychological leap for women in one of the most male-dominated professions,” wrote Mary Cumins, the women’s affairs specialist for The Irish Times.
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