Here’s a basic statement of fact that nevertheless might not be immediately obvious: In most political parties, the politicians are just the frontmen. Take away Fianna Fáil headquarters, or its equivalents in Fine Gael or Sinn Fein, and each one of those organisations would be hobbled. It is the backroom staff who print the leaflets, issue the press releases, workshop the policies (to the extent that anyone cares about policy) and recruit and train the candidates.
For a big party, the existence of a backroom staff laden with experience is one of the key competitive advantages that candidates for that party hold over Independents or smaller parties. For a new party, or a small party, the calibre of the backroom staff is absolutely critical.
That is why the departure of a woman called Elaine Mullally from Independent Ireland yesterday is such a big deal.
“I have made the difficult decision to step away from Independent Ireland, as it no longer aligns with my values and principles”, she says:
Over the past year, I have dedicated myself as an unpaid volunteer to creating a meaningful political alternative for those of us seeking real change. My goal has always been to build a political party that genuinely listens to and understands the needs of the Irish people, free…
— Elaine Mullally ☘️ (@_mullally_el_) July 7, 2024
What this alludes to is, of course, not hard to divine. Last week, I wrote rather scathingly of Independent Ireland’s decision to align, in the European Parliament, with the European Democrats. The European Democrats may well be a very fine bunch of people, but their values are not, at first glance, very well aligned with the electorate that is most likely in Ireland to give its support to Independent Ireland. The European Democrats are in favour of a militarised EU, in favour of hate speech laws continent-wide, in favour of an EU Superstate (or an approximation of one), opposed to national vetoes over almost any EU policy, and have a mandatory position in favour of abortion laws even more liberal than Ireland’s.
When I published that piece, I received some pushback from those who argued that the alignment with the European Democrats was in essence the decision of just one newly-elected MEP, Ciarán Mullooly, and that the whole party should not be judged on his choice. However, I was aware at the time and remain aware that Independent Ireland as a whole was and remains in negotiations to join the European Democrats en masse.
That decision – it appears – has now cost the party the support of a woman who was a founding member. She is also one of the three persons registered as an officer of the party with the electoral commission, and as such entitled to nominate candidates on its behalf. We’re not talking here, about a small player in the new party.
The extent of the catastrophe which this represents for Independent Ireland cannot be overstated. While it is true that some of its TDs – like Michael Collins and Michael Fitzmaurice – have won before and will win again as independents, the whole point of forming the party was to build an organisation that could add more TDs and Senators in order to work towards entering Government. To do that, the party had to acquire a committed activist base. That is where Elaine Mullally came in.
Parties need people like Elaine Mullally because there is always in politics an inherent tension between what the hardcore activist wants to achieve, and what a party can achieve realistically. The importance of a figure like Mullally is that she can act as a go-between and a mediator, simultaneously letting the politicians know what the supporters will tolerate, and letting the supporters know what they can realistically expect and when they are being irrational (as supporters, and indeed politicians, can be).
So what happens when it’s your go-between who resigns and says “this party no longer aligns with my values”?
The answer, I suspect, is that much of the activist base walks away. As do a great many potential candidates.
That this is a catastrophic outcome for Independent Ireland is one thing, but the far more troubling point, from the party’s perspective, is that it was an entirely avoidable catastrophe. They are just a month removed from a very successful first electoral outcome, and yet have managed to implode an enormous amount of trust and goodwill in near record time, to the extent that one of their founders is resigning. And for what? One gets the distinct impression that an entire political party has been sacrificed on the altar of Ciarán Mullooly’s desire to be able to show his face in the RTE staff canteen as a liberal in good standing.
It is very telling that since I published my piece above last week, there has not been one single statement on the record from Independent Ireland. The approach of the past few days appears to be that sticking heads in sand and hoping the problem will go away is the best course of action.
I might humbly suggest that this will not work. As I wrote last week, we live in an era of low trust. Voters who landed on Independent Ireland in many cases did so having been messed around – as they saw it – by FF and FG and, in many cases, Sinn Fein. Once bitten, voters tend to be twice shy. This issue is a cancer that is going to eat away at Independent Ireland until, and unless, it is addressed.