“Getting the working class out to vote” has basically been the pipe dream of every revolutionary left wing movement in the west for decades now.
There is no substitute, in the Irish system, for going out and building up a client base. Helen McEntee has done it, and most of her harshest critics – Willie O’Dea aside – have not.
The long term trajectory of Irish politics is broadly unchanged. B
Politicians were warned about the horrors of Canada; they chose to embrace that horror
However bad the civil war parties are, the alternative will always be worse to a clear majority of voters
1967
Shoutouts to Nick Delehanty and Gavin Pepper for driving innovation.
Election 2024
If you want an alternative to RTE, anyway.
Also: Election observations and predictions, some of the usual TDS, and we’ll see you all tomorrow.
In the UK, at least, they’re debating it openly and from all perspectives. It would be a welcome surprise were the same to happen here.
Here’s to hoping that in this and future election cycles, the voices of women who offer a different narrative to the current constant fixation on “reproductive rights” and who remain unafraid to speak for the next generation.