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From Socialist Worker, No. 124, 29 May 1969, p. 4.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
THE SOUTHERN PART of John Bull’s other island will go to the polls on June 18 to vote in a general election. The 16th Free State Dail was dissolved on May 21 and the new assembly will meet on July 2.
With nominations due to close on June 3, the three main parties finished the majority of the constituency conventions last weekend.
Both Tory parties, the ruling Fianna Fail and the Fine Gael, will each have about 130 candidates while Labour will increase its total by about 50 per cent to field 100.
The election will be fought under the proportional representation system. Despite some minor attempts at gerrymandering, alterations to constituency boundaries following shifts in population will mean more seats in working-class areas. This time 144 Deputies will be elected in 42 constituencies against 38 last time.
In the 1965 elections FF won 72 seats, FG 47, Labour 22, and there were three ‘independents’. Since then there has been one defection from Labour to FF and an unusually large number of by-elections, which under proportional representation tend to go to the government party. This, plus the high death rate in the ranks of Labour’s vintage Deputies has shifted the balance of parliamentary power.
The strength of the parties at dissolution was: FF 74, FG 46, Labour 18, ‘independents’ 2, with three by-elections pending.
The increase in the number of Labour candidates reflects the swing to the left which has marked Ireland, North and South, in the last five years.
Irish Labour is way to the left of what passes for a Labour Party in Britain but, despite a vague commitment to Connolly’s ideal of a Workers’ Republic, the party remains basically a reformist organisation. Party leader Brendan Corish reminds one of a younger, better looking, version of pre-64 Harold Wilson.
Corish’s problem for the last six months has been to contain the more militant socialist elements who make up a large part of the new influx of members.
The most likely outcome of the election will be a stalemate, with FF remaining the major party and Labour standing a good chance of becoming the main opposition instead of FG.
Despite this, FF has to go to the country now. The government must get the election out of the way to allow the introduction of its anti-union laws.
The key to these laws is the jailing of ‘unofficial strikers’. Each time this happened in the past the state has been forced to back down.
This time, with the economy certain to be affected by the British squeeze this winter, their field for manoeuvre is reduced and the pressure for a showdown greater.
It seems clear that FF, if returned to power, would time this showdown for the summer holiday period when, they hope, it will be difficult to organise solidarity actions. In the past it was such solidarity which forced the government to retreat.
The blame for the fact that FF was able to recover from a landslide defeat in the referendum on PR last October must be laid on the leaders of both wings of the Labour movement. An extra-parliamentary campaign then would have brought down the government, but, like the old lady, Irish labour said no.
Last updated: 15 January 2021