O* April 7th the people of the Republic of Ireland will go to the polls. Their decision will be made after an astonishingly short campaign in which few of the basic issues can be publicised. This is, however, no reason why they should not be considered here. The decision for holding the General Election belongs to Sean Lemass, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) since 1959, and its Minister for Industry and Commerce before that, spasmodically since 1932, His Government has praised as marking the end of the problems of the old Ireland by its new economic policy. To a certain extent this is true; unemployment has declined and, with it, emigration; there is increased interest in education and, thus, the Catholic Church’s position in this sphere is being weakened; in January, it was made clear that the new policy was making the Republic more popular in Northern Ireland than it been since partition began. What then, is the snag? In fact, the “Trish miracle” has been accomplished at the expense of the workers. Prices have risen steadily; in addition, P.A.Y.E. has been initiated, and the natural price rise has been augmented by an increasing reliance on indirect , as opposed to direct, taxation, culminating in the imposition of a turnover tax in the 1963 Budget; only 6% of public expenditure is devoted to social welfare. In short, the Government’s entire policy, covered by an_ inaccurate schema of economic programmes, is a purely economic one, accepting the institutions of Irish bourgeois society, and dedicated to growth on the terms dictated by the leaders of these institutions. The only problem in these circumstances concerns the relative power of the various groups composing the Irish power elite. Of these gtoups, it is fairly clear that the traditional manipulators, the Catholic Church and the state bureaucracy, are being replaced by a new state capitalist-manageri group, while the isolated Anglo-Irish business inte- Tests (most notable is, of course, Guinnesses) remain in a dominant position, albeit an increasingly threatened one, as the B. and I take- Over would seem to show.
by D. R. O'Connor Lysaght
_ Outside the controlling groups are
the groups controlled: the majority of
the population. Of these, the medium
(mainly dairy) farmers are in a strong
Position through their cO-operative movement. The shopkeepers and small businessmen are, as elsewhere, both hurt by the Government policy and unwilling to attack the initiators of that policy to whom they feel sympathetic. Both more interesting and more important are the other two manipulated groups: the small farmers and the wage-earners of the countryside and of the towns,
The small farmers dominate the west and north-western constituencies of the Republic of Ireland (they represent about one-third of all the seats in Dail Sirann). In the long run, their problems can only be solved by their own transformation into equal partners in co-operative units. There Is evidence that this is beginning to be recognised by various groups of them (primarily in Glencolumbkill in Donegal where there js a notable small farm tive scheme). But it is not accepted by their representative bodies — the National Farmers’ Association, and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association—nor by the leading opposition Party, Fine Gael, which draws the bulk of its support from the small farmers. All these groups maintain that the small farmer can exist on ever-increasing state subsidies, as indeed he can, as long as the other groups in the state will allow him. The proletariat is divided from the small farmowners; many skilled urban workers tend to enjoy a_ higher standard of living than’ the average small farmer, while the latter (as a landowner) — distrusts also. the wretchedly underpaid farm labourers, who align themselves with the urban employees. The workers’ problems have been mentioned: hi i
Irish worker is more his British counterpart, he has problems arisi his very organisation. A Supreme Court decision in 1961 cast doubt on the freedom to picket. At the same time, the administration has associated trade union leaders
in the advisory councils behind its
Programmes. Perhaps most debilitat-
ing is the Irish worker’s reluctance to
break with Fianna Fail, the govern-
ing party, in favour of the Labour
Party, to which his own trade union
may well be affiliated;
for this lie in the splits created by
the Civil War in the 1920s in both
the bourgeois and the Labour move-
ments, and maintained by various
tactical errors on the part of the
Labour Party’s leaders,
Thus the Labour Party is isolated
from the bulk of the urban workers
and also (due to the failure of its
rather turgid agricultural manifesto)
the small farmers. Its main support
comes from the agricultural workers
(ignored by the two major parties)
and the transport and building
workers. Nonetheless it is the third
party in the country, and there are
causes for hope; its active support is
stowing at a steadier rate than that
of its opponent and, more hopeful,
it has gained the membership of the
independent Socialist Deputy, Noel
Browne, who had for years opposed
its former clericalist leadership. But
it needs money and considerable re-
organisation at constituency level,
The only other Left-wing party is
the once mighty Clann na Poblachta,
which is now little more than a front
for the whims of its isolated, ego-
centric leader, Sean MacBride.
the major parties have Left
wings; that of Fine Gael (the party
in Opposition) is, naturally, the more
active; for nearly a year it has been
Pressing upon the leadership Pra
economic gramme, includi a
planned ae Shree control of bank-
ing and private enterprise, and of
prices, and more social benefits, The
latest rumour (as yet it is no more)
implies that the bulk of | this pro-
gramme has been accepted. This is
uncertain cause for rejoicing; the
determination of the left of Fine
Gael is only equalled by the power
of the party’s right (the leader
thereof, Sweetman, was indisposed at
the crucial policy meeting). Further-
more, the whole of the proposed
policy is limited in scope; its
draughtsman, Costello, seems to con-
sider that all social problems can be
cured with a few more shillings on
the Old Age Pensions,
The Irish General Election - contd. The General Election is likely to be inclusive. Few ple are satisfied with Fianna Fail’s record, but few are likely to be ready to believe ialistic” Fine policy under the present leadership; Labour will probably not put up enough candidates to get 4 majority of the seats. One can only hope that the Labour Party will avoid the temptation to enter a Coalition with one of the pourgeois parties as it did in 1948-51 and 1954-7 (both times to its disadvantage). Whether it does so, Or not, depending as it does on the verdict of the polls, is likely to be the most important matter decided on April 7th. JAMAICAN