Last night, Dublin City University and Professor Gary Murphy hosted a debate between five independent candidates for the European Parliament constituency of Dublin.
The five candidates were (from left in photograph); Eamonn Murphy, Malachy Steenson, Stephen O’Rourke, Robin Cafolla and Brendan Ogle. The debate was presided over by a still sprightly and acerbic Vincent Browne and conducted in a generally friendly manner despite sharply differing views on some issues and the partisanship of most of the audience whose occasional interventions were limited by the ever vigilant moderator.
Murphy’s main issue is the defence of the unborn child and he also supports a moratorium on immigration into Europe. Steenson, who is also a candidate in the Dublin City Council elections, takes a strong line on immigration, crime, free speech and has called for a “cull” of the NGO sector. O’Rourke’s main concerns are mental health and addiction services and a “smart immigration” policy.
Cafolla is the candidate of Rabharta Glas, a left split from the Green Party and was notably pessimistic on the future of the planet in contrast to a sunny prognosis for the movement of millions of refugees into Europe and Ireland.
Rabharta did not manage to have the party name registered in time so Cafolla will appear as non- party on the ballot sheet. Ogle, who is known for his involvement in the trade union movement and the water rates protests, is running as an independent left candidate and told the audience that he wants to place issues affecting Dublin at the heart of the European Parliament.
A notable aspect of the debate was the emergence of somewhat of a consensus among most of the candidates which illustrates the rather meaningless descriptives which have been deployed in placing people on a spectrum ranging from “far left” to “far right.”
That was particularly noticeable when Brendan Ogle and Malachy Steenson appeared to approve of one another’s proposals with regard to housing and the need to tackle vacancies and the buying up of property by overseas vulture funds. That coming together was also reflected in applause for the rival candidates from both sets of partisans who it would be fair to say would regard each other as “unfriendly forces.”
Ogle, interestingly, having initially rejected the idea that immigration was in any way responsible for the housing crisis and other problems affecting the country, agreed that there ought to be a moratorium on migration until the state is better able to deliver on housing and other public provisions. He also called for a much speedier processing of asylum applications and the deportation of persons whose claims were not accepted.
Browne did attempt every so often to insist that most of the issues that were the focus of the debate between the candidates were not the direct responsibility of the European Parliament, but to little avail. He and Eamonn Murphy engaged in a short but sharp exchange around Murphy’s insistence that he, if successful, would use his election to oppose abortion.
While Browne’s point regarding the role of the Parliament in the sort of issues that are of most concern to Irish voters has some validity, Malachy Steenson pointed out – and this was recently stated by sitting MEP Seán Kelly – 70% of the legislation that comes before and is approved by the Oireachtas here originates in European Union directives and legislation, often only requiring the nod of approval from the Irish government and parliament with little or no room to alter those decrees.
There are 23 candidates on the ballot for the Dublin constituency contesting for four seats. Three of them; Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil, Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party and Clare Daly of Independents for Change are sitting MEPs. If the bookies odds are any guide only Malachy Steenson of the DCU debaters would appear to be given any chance of perhaps taking a seat.
However, given the high polling figures for independents over the past year or so, with some polls indicating that independents will get a larger share of the vote than any single party, it is quite likely that independents will be elected in all of the three constituencies in Ireland, and that there might even be more than one in some constituencies. At the very least, the bloc of votes of independents will have a significant impact on the outcome of the election that takes place on Friday week, June 7.