r/theIrishleft • u/padraigd Eco-socialism • 2d ago

Soc Dems leader Holly Cairns rules out formal left-wing alliance

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/soc-dems-leader-holly-cairns-rules-out-formal-left-wing-alliance/a/153490971.html
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u/theuninvisibleman social democrat 2d ago

I really feel all this talk of a left-wing alliance is not helpful to any of the parties in it anymore. Its almost as if the media are characterising it as "Well they haven't all united into one party so they must all hate each other and it'll never work" and so far the "left-wing alliance" has seen a president elected, a TD from its members elected, and a right-wing nutter prevented from being elected.

We've got years before the general election, saying yes let's lock into all the scandals, drama, and personalities of a bunch of other people we can't control sounds like terrible leadership.

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u/Dennisthefirst 1d ago

It's more than likely FF/FF pushing this narrative anyway. You're right, it's fat too soon for alliances but they will need to be very clear closer to election day

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u/DMC-1155 16h ago

Yeah, calling for VLTL and saying a Left Government would be preferable if possible is easier, and probably more realistic to expect parties to stick to. Which is pretty much what Cairns has said.

"I think it's clear that there is a difference between parties on the left. I think it's clear that we have moire in common with each other than with parties on the right," Cairns said.
"The best way to approach this in the lead-up to the next election is to say to voters, 'Give the party on the left the first preference that you want' because there is a difference, and then, 'Please vote left, transfer left'"

Seems a very reasonable approach to take to me
(I couldn't access the article online, but I have the physical copy, I am assuming they are the same)

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u/Madhc 1d ago

The election isn’t for three years so the smart move for the centre left at the moment is to cultivate and create demand for popular policies in the public eye and maximise their brand recognition so that when the election comes, they’ll be in a stronger position to negotiate coalitions.

What the political left needs to do is a harder question to answer, but my feeling is there will be much more factional struggle.

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u/ItalianIrish99 1d ago

Absolutely right in my view

Massively hubristic and entitled IMO for parties of the Left to pre-empt the electorate and tell them "all you're getting is this alliance we've formed or you can shag off"

And you could spend from now til the next General working on such an alliance and still not agree anything meaningful that won't be entirely disregarded by local SF Cumainn (and maybe also local branches of SD, Labour, Greens) when it suits them. And all of that simply feeds into the Centre Right commentariat who will say "the Left can't organise and mobilise themselves"

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u/Dennisthefirst 1d ago

Why? It worked well for the Presidential election.

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u/ItalianIrish99 1d ago

Presidential was a single issue, single candidate with the worst opposition ever fielded and no competition intra-Left for votes/seats.

It is simply impossible meaningfully or reasonably to try and extrapolate from the Presidential to the next General.

And even in the Presidential, didn't SF slow walk their way to joining the alliance and only really get there because they had no credible candidate of their own?

Like if SF felt they had a candidate with a credible chance of winning does anyone think they would have forfeited the opportunity for the first ever SF president for loyalty to the cause of the Left in Ireland?

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u/DMC-1155 16h ago

Labour also seemed to join only to follow the momentum because they had no way to nominate a candidate of their own. Multiple labour branches pretty much refused to participate in the campaign. SF, PBP and SD were most active where I was. Especially SD and PBP. Greens I didn't seem much of, but I didn't hear anything about them refusing to participate in the same way as Labour.

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u/ItalianIrish99 11h ago

Well Labor had historical beef with CC so some reticence on their past would be completely understandable.

Not so SF.

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u/DMC-1155 11h ago

SF had the option to run their own candidate. At least for SF there was a choice.
For Labour, their choices were either sit it out, or follow the Socdems and PBP nomination. SD and PBP, between the two of them, and a few independent senators and TDs, and 100% Redress, had the signatures without Greens, Labour or Sinn Féin.

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u/ninety6days 1d ago

100% correct. See also : mcguinness running against higgins.

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u/Dennisthefirst 1d ago

Well that's the end of them then.