Landlord Government Boastful As Independent Wave Helps Break Sinn Féin Rise

Simon Harris was in great form as he spoke to the media over the weekend: “The people knew exactly what Sinn Féin were saying, and they didn’t want to buy it,” he said.

“The story here is not a surge in support for Independents, the story here is the absolute collapse in support for Sinn Féin” he grinned.

Despite these boasts from the posh boys and girls in Fine Gael the government parties hadn’t had a great result themselves - Fine Gael were down 2% on their 2019 performance but up 2% from the 2020 general election.

While Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael combined were up 3% their partners in crime in the Green Party were down 3.5%. They’d stabilised their rule but the way they are yapping on the media you’d swear they’d doubled their support!

These establishment goons were happy because they’d come through a period where there actually was the possibility of an alternative government but with help from Independents Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were able to save their century old corrupt regime.

One thing was true though - Sinn Féin had taken a hit. Despite their numbers being up from a poor local election in 2019 the 2024 results were much lower than their 2020 Dáil election percentages would have delivered.

They were down 12.7% while Independents and others were up by the exact same amount.

That’s why the government and its friends in the compliant Dublin 4 media went on and on about immigration for the last few months. They wanted to talk about anything except the housing crisis and their friends in the far right gave them a helping hand.

That’s no surprise to any working class person paying attention to how the game works - divide and conquer - that’s how the old saying goes. And it works a treat every time the system is in trouble.

So why did Independents, many of them former members of the establishment in new clothes, get so many votes?

First of all - most people just did not vote.

In every demographic 50% voted and 50% didn’t and in the poorer working class estates that fell to just 30% voting. In those areas, worst hit by the housing crisis and decades of inequality and neglect, two thirds of people ignored the election and said “screw them all!”

Hardly a round of applause due to the government for that one. Most people are so demoralised and frustrated with lack of progress on the housing crisis that they didn’t bother voting. That suits the establishment parties - if workers stay at home and the voters of the establishment turn out - hey presto they gain ground!

Then again the soft left has to shoulder some blame for the humiliation working class people feel. We didn’t feel humiliated when we were out tens of thousands strong on water charges - we felt united and strong.

If the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had called a series of major marches on housing they could have transformed the anger out there into hope and helped to weaken the century old landlord regime.

Instead the union leaders sat on their hands, did next to nothing, and thought they’d just wait for a Sinn Féin government to get into power. But the demoralisation they’ve helped to sew is now eating away at the prospect of any change.

Not that Sinn Féin in government would upset the apple cart too much - that’s not what their leaders are about. But removing Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael could at least have set us up for further progress with the radical left using people power to discipline a wavering Sinn Féin whenever they bottled it.

It’s a wake up call to anyone in Sinn Féin that thinks you can leave your past as a party of campaigning behind and just wait for the Ministerial cheques to arrive and that the working class will be happy to leave you to it.

They also flip flopped from calling out those who want to divide communities to echoing their talking points. They wavered on Palestine. They have got into the habit of making decisions based on the latest opinion poll.

These flip flops just pissed off every side of their voter base.

But key is the lack of focus on mobilising working class communities to fight for housing, to strike for better pay, to campaign for services - it has left people stewing and frustrated and ready to lash out.

It’s no surprise far right grifters have been able to get a hearing in our estates and then misdirect anger away from the establishment and onto other poor people. The whole situation has demoralised many workers to the point that they simply didn’t vote at all.

In a situation where the government had been able to use the immigration debate to cut off Sinn Féin’s rise, the small steps forward made by the socialist left are all the more remarkable.

We went out to fight for every single vote - activists like Madeleine Johansson were able to increase their vote, new candidates like Conor Reddy from Finglas and Darragh Adelaide in Clondalkin were able to make a breakthrough for the fighting left.

That’s why the arrival of a candidate from the Irish Freedom Party into the mix in North Clondalkin took votes away from Sinn Féin and not from Madeleine Johansson. She fights too hard for the community and is known for sticking to her principles.

These moderate gains don’t take us back to the heights we reached during the water charges - when the socialist left had 28 councillors in 26 counties as well as councillors up North - but it gives us a presence in a number of council chambers to be the voice of working class communities and give people hope again.

In South Dublin County Council alone People Before Profit will have 4 councillors including veteran water charges and Jobstown Not Guilty campaigner Kay Keane, Madeleine Johansson, Jess Spear and brilliant young activist Darragh Adelaide.

Re-elected Cllr Madeleine Johansson explains how they won their seats:

“We fight like hell for the working class communities we represent. I have brought forward motions to compulsory purchase derelict homes to make sure homeless families are housed. We went door to door in the estates with leaflets with clear solutions to the housing crisis and a call for our class to mobilise on housing.

At the same time when we came across people who were directing their anger at immigrants we explained the government was gaining from this and we’d end up with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in power forever if we didn’t see through their game of distraction.

We will continue the fight for an end to the housing crisis, for resources for working class communities, and against establishment division tactics inside and outside South Dublin County Council!”

Sinn Féin’s base is fracturing to the right - but the strong socialist vote in a few key areas shows you can also maintain and grow a real working class base for the fighting left. If you have principles. And if you fight.