Forgiveness & the Irish Cerberus.
If you’re not Irish and have just caught glimpses of our politics from international publications you’d be forgiven for thinking the recent deal proposed for the formation of government by the economically right wing party Fine Gael (pronounced Finn Gail) and the right leaning populist party Fianna Fail (Fee-ann-na Fall), propped up by the Green Party, was some sort of historical cease-fire between staunch enemies. You’d be forgiven, but you’d still be wrong. In reality they have little difference between each other. They’re akin to Coca Cola and Pepsi; they have more to benefit from by appearing to be rivals than actually attacking each other and risk losing ground.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the two parties have struggled to form an uneasy agreement for the pass five month due largely to Covid-19 and the lockdown. You’d be forgiven, but it wasn’t that; they were fighting between each other long before that.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Green party, who are making up the remaining seats needed for any government to form, have never gotten in bed with a dominant party and compromised their policies, all in the hope of getting what their single-issue party wants. You’d be forgiven, but I’m sure 2007 would like a word with you.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Irish people wanted this coalition as a result of the 2020 election. It’s starting to get hard to forgive you, considering the last election showed a surge for Sinn Fein (Shin Vein), the left leaning Republican party at the expense of Fine Gael. In fact it was only because Sinn Fein foolishly didn’t run enough candidates that Fine Gael held on to the seats that they did in areas where their were no SF contenders. This proposed three party coalition is less a will of the people and more an exercise in the technicalities of proportional representation and seat quotas.
You’d be forgiven for assuming Fine Gael, the austerity mad party, Fianna Fail, the Celtic Tiger boom-and-bust mantra party, and the Greens, the one trick pony party, inspired a lot of hope and support from their own members and voters. By now you probably know where this is going.
As a small English speaking country it’s easy to conflate our culture and politics with that of the United State or United Kingdom. It’s forgiveable. But it doesn’t change the truth, which is that we could very well have one of the most contradictory, erratic, and divided governments in Irish history; a three headed Cerberus, all looking it three different directions as we face a post-corona virus future, somehow all promising their old trademark tricks; austerity, populism, and environmentalism.
All I can say is God forgive us.
