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One of the fun things that sociologists and others like to do is categorize people according to the generation they were born into.
Accordingly, we have generational categories such as the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and more recent groups such as Millennials (1981-96) and Gen Z (1997-2012). The fun thing here is not just tracking these respective groups’ quirks and economic fortunes but also their political loyalties.
In Ireland as in most western countries it is obvious that the Boomers have swept the boards in just about every category there is. The generation that came of age in the 60’s and 70’s were well placed to take advantage of not just new economic opportunities but of a political ideology which emphasised individual freedoms and liberal ideology.
If you want evidence of that in Ireland consider the fact that all of Ireland’s presidents since 1990 were born within a 14 year period between 1941 and 1955. In fact, when President Connolly completes her term of office in 2032, we will have had an unbroken spell of 42 years of Boomer presidents all of whom share the same liberal, left of centre world view.
Of course, not everyone born between 1946 and 1964 shares that left of centre world view. Equally, many Millennials and Gen Z are amongst the most ardent supporters of that same Boomer and left of centre world view.
The Boomer narrative on 20th century Ireland is both stark and simple – Ireland was one of the most miserable and repressed countries not only in Europe but on the planet.
No one doubts that 20th century Ireland was poor but then so were most countries in Europe at the time. Neither can anyone deny that there wasn’t cruelty and repression either although the Irish version pales in comparison with what those in countries like Spain, Portugal, East Germany and a host of other countries endured at the same time.
But Irish Boomers are having nothing of that – as far as they are concerned Ireland was the most miserable country in the world in the 20th century.
That Boomer narrative of 20th century Ireland has been advanced relentlessly in contemporary popular literary culture. The doom-laden misery has now become a cinematic staple with its endless procession of dark authoritarian figures such as nuns, priests, guards and parents.
If you want an example of this, then consider Fintan O Toole’s (born 1958) best-selling book We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958. Despite receiving an education in a Catholic school and the attendant career opportunities which that brought including stable employment and home ownership, O’ Toole appears convinced – in the best Boomer tradition – that he grew up in one of the most oppressive countries on earth.
O’ Toole’s literary work resonates not only with his fellow Boomers but also with Ireland’s Millennials and Gen Z. The irony of that, of course, is that many of his younger readers are unlikely to ever enjoy the benefits of stable employment, house ownership, pension entitlements etc all of which were features of O’ Toole’s hellish 20th century Ireland.
Today, that Boomer liberal ideology rules supreme in Ireland. It is embedded in the country’s political system, its state-funded NGOs and even in its increasingly state-funded media. Indeed, the office of President of Ireland has now become something of a trophy to be passed around between retiring Boomers who, these days, tend to use it as a pulpit for airing their own political views. This is in spite of the office being expressly described in the Irish constitution as a non-political position.
Yet, the reality for any regime is that the only thing that is more difficult than taking power is maintaining a grip on that power and that is now where Ireland’s Boomer liberals are at. In liberal Ireland these days, the incessant extolling of lofty ideals and high principles is matched only by the constant vigilance for anyone or anything that might challenge its power and privilege.
This has now moved well beyond the ‘far-right’, the catch-all term that increasingly seems to apply to anyone who dares to even question liberal dogma. In modern Ireland, the Pride parade now fulfils the same sort of function that the Mayday parade did in communist countries of old. In both cases, the most important thing was (and is) is to be publicly seen to be onside with the ruling liberal political establishment.
This is especially so now if you are a prominent politician in what was formerly a centre-right political party – hence the near mandatory photos posted on social media of prominent Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians marching behind a rainbow banner. The subliminal message to their liberal masters would appear to be that even a former centre-right party can be trusted with the liberal agenda.
Those political machinations were also on display with the recent Sinn Féin motion on the removal of the three-day waiting period for abortion. After a bad general election in 2024 and two recent bye-election defeats, it’s no secret that the leadership of Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald is under pressure from the Social Democrats Holly Cairns, the new face of Boomer liberal ideology.
It is notable that McDonald refused to support a similar motion by Cairns opting instead for her own abortion slam dunk and the bragging rights that come with getting the taoiseach and tánaiste of the country to vote for your motion. Whether McDonald’s political stroke will revive her ailing leadership remains to be seen. However, what it clearly showed is that in liberal Ireland the political careers of politicians still count for more than the welfare of women and their unborn babies.
A feature of liberal Ireland is the way in which the meaning of words like ‘equal’ and ‘free’ have been hollowed out and rendered meaningless. This is now a country where its political establishment preach relentlessly about tolerance and inclusion but practise intolerance and exclusion.
More than a quarter of a century into the 21st century, it’s clear that many of the high principles associated with a liberal and progressive ideology have now themselves become twisted and perverted in order to suit the interests of those in positions of power and privilege. Nothing quite describes the Boomers’ liberal Ireland like the old adage that asserts that ‘power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
That’s clearly the case for Ireland’s Millennials and Gen Z who increasingly look like the ones who are going to be pauperized by the policies in force in a country presided over by Ireland’s Boomer liberals.
Perhaps it really is time for not only a generational changing of the guard but also an ideological changing of the guard.
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